Company Profile

Your company profile is the foundation of Cothon's AI-powered procurement intelligence. A complete, accurate profile enables precise opportunity matching, intelligent capability scoring, and high-quality proposal generation.

Why Your Profile Matters

Cothon's AI uses your company profile as the primary reference for every analysis:

Opportunity Matching: The platform scans thousands of government tenders daily. Your profile determines which opportunities appear in your personalized feed and how they're ranked by relevance.

Capability Scoring: When analyzing an RFP, Cothon compares each requirement against your documented capabilities, certifications, and past performance. More profile detail means more accurate scoring.

Proposal Generation: AI-generated proposals pull directly from your profile—capability statements become proposal content, past performance becomes case studies, and certifications become compliance evidence.

Competitive Intelligence: Your UNSPSC codes and certification profile help identify competitors and track market positioning across procurement categories.

Profile Sections Overview

Your company profile consists of six interconnected sections:

1. Basic Information

Core business identifiers and contact details that enable government registration verification and procurement participation.

Key Fields:

• Business Number (BN) - Federal tax identifier
• Procurement Business Number (PBN) - Unique procurement identifier
• GST/HST registration numbers
• Legal business name and operating names
• Primary address and regional offices
• Contact information and points of contact

Why It Matters: Government procurement systems use these identifiers for vendor lookup, compliance verification, and payment processing. Incorrect or missing identifiers can delay contract awards or disqualify bids.

Learn more about Basic Information →

2. UNSPSC Categories

United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC) is a hierarchical taxonomy used by government procurement systems worldwide to categorize goods and services.

Key Features:

• 4-level hierarchy: Segment → Family → Class → Commodity
• 50,000+ standardized product/service codes
• Primary and secondary category assignment
• Automatic opportunity matching by code

Why It Matters: Canadian government agencies tag tenders with UNSPSC codes. Your selected codes determine which opportunities appear in your feed and how they're prioritized.

Example Hierarchy:

81 - Engineering and Research Services
  81.10 - Engineering Services
    81.10.15 - Civil and Construction Engineering
      81.10.15.01 - Highway and Road Engineering
      81.10.15.02 - Bridge Engineering
      81.10.15.03 - Environmental Engineering

Learn more about UNSPSC Categories →

3. Certifications

Socioeconomic certifications and diversity status that qualify your business for set-aside contracts and preference programs.

Key Certifications:

• Indigenous business (PSAB certification)
• Women-owned business (WBE)
• Veteran-owned business
• Disability-owned business
• Small business designation
• Minority-owned business
• LGBTQ+-owned business
• Regional certifications (provincial programs)

Why It Matters: Many Canadian government contracts are set aside exclusively for certified businesses. Some procurements offer evaluation point bonuses for diversity suppliers. Missing certification documentation can exclude you from high-value opportunities.

Learn more about Certifications →

4. Capabilities

Your capability statements describe what your company does, how you do it, and why you're qualified. The AI uses these statements to match requirements and generate proposal content.

Key Components:

• Core competencies and service offerings
• Technical capabilities and methodologies
• Geographic coverage and service areas
• Team size and expertise
• Equipment, tools, and infrastructure
• Quality standards and frameworks
• Differentiators and unique strengths

Why It Matters: Every bid analysis compares RFP requirements against your capability statements. Vague or generic capabilities produce low-confidence matches. Specific, detailed capabilities enable precise AI scoring and rich proposal content.

Example - Generic vs. Effective:

❌ Generic: "We provide IT consulting services."

✅ Effective: "We provide enterprise IT modernization services specializing in cloud migration (AWS, Azure, GCP), legacy system integration, and DevSecOps transformation. Our team of 45 certified engineers has completed 120+ federal migrations totaling $85M in contract value, with an average project duration of 8 months and 97% on-time delivery rate."

Learn more about Capabilities →

5. Past Performance

Contract history, client references, and performance ratings that demonstrate your track record and build AI confidence in capability matches.

Key Components:

• Completed government contracts
• Contract values and durations
• Client agencies and departments
• Performance ratings and evaluations
• References and contact information
• Case studies and success stories
• Awards and recognition

Why It Matters: Past performance is often worth 20-30% of evaluation points in government RFPs. The AI uses your contract history to strengthen capability matches and generate compelling past performance narratives in proposals.

Learn more about Past Performance →

6. Financial Information

Revenue data, bonding capacity, and financial health indicators that qualify you for contract size ranges.

Key Components:

• Annual revenue (last 3 years)
• Bonding capacity
• Line of credit
• Insurance coverage limits
• DUNS number
• Financial certifications

Why It Matters: Many opportunities have minimum revenue requirements or bonding thresholds. The platform uses financial data to filter opportunities that match your qualification level and avoid unwinnable pursuits.

The AI Matching Engine

Understanding how Cothon's AI uses your profile helps you optimize for better results:

Semantic Matching

The platform uses advanced natural language processing to understand meaning, not just keywords. Profile content is vectorized using embeddings that capture semantic relationships.

Example:

• Your profile: "We specialize in cloud infrastructure modernization"
• RFP requirement: "The contractor must have experience migrating legacy systems to public cloud platforms"
• AI match: High confidence (85%) even though exact phrases don't match

Multi-Factor Scoring

Each requirement match considers multiple profile elements:

1. Capability Statements (40% weight)
2. Past Performance (30% weight)
3. Certifications (15% weight)
4. UNSPSC Alignment (10% weight)
5. Financial Qualification (5% weight)

Context-Aware Analysis

The AI understands procurement context:

• Mandatory vs. rated requirements
• Minimum qualifications vs. preferences
• Set-aside eligibility requirements
• Regional or local preferences
• Contract size and complexity thresholds

Profile Completion Best Practices

Start with Core Identifiers

Begin with Basic Information to establish your business identity. Verify all government registration numbers are current and accurate.

Checklist:

• Business Number (BN) verified with CRA
• Procurement Business Number (PBN) confirmed in government systems
• GST/HST number matches current registration
• Legal name matches incorporation documents
• Primary contact information is monitored daily

Add Strategic UNSPSC Codes

Select 5-10 UNSPSC codes that represent your core offerings. Avoid selecting too many codes—this dilutes opportunity relevance.

Strategy:

• Choose specific commodity-level codes (4th level) for core services
• Add broader class-level codes (3rd level) for adjacent capabilities
• Review quarterly and adjust based on win rate by category

Document Certifications Comprehensively

Upload official certification documents, note expiration dates, and set renewal reminders. Expired certifications hurt your credibility.

Required Documentation:

• Certification letter from issuing authority
• Certification number and issue date
• Expiration or renewal date
• Supporting documentation (if applicable)

Write Capability Statements for AI

Use specific, measurable language that the AI can match against requirements.

Formula: [Action Verb] + [Specific Service] + [Technical Detail] + [Scale/Experience] + [Outcome/Quality]

Example: "We design and implement secure cloud infrastructure using Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, CloudFormation) for federal agencies, having completed 40+ migrations totaling 500+ workloads with zero security incidents."

Build a Past Performance Library

Add 10-20 representative contracts covering your primary service areas. Include metrics, outcomes, and client contacts.

Key Metrics to Include:

• Contract value and duration
• Team size and key personnel
• Delivery milestones and timeline performance
• Quality metrics (defects, customer satisfaction)
• Cost performance (on-budget percentage)
• Client references and evaluations

Keep Your Profile Current

Set a quarterly review schedule to update all sections:

Quarterly Updates:

• Add newly completed contracts
• Update revenue and financial data
• Add new certifications or renewals
• Refresh capability statements based on new experience
• Review UNSPSC codes based on opportunity quality

Profile Impact on Platform Features

Your profile powers every major platform feature:

Opportunity Discovery

Daily Tender Matching: Cothon scans 500+ new opportunities daily and ranks them by profile fit. Better profiles surface more relevant opportunities.

Similarity Search: Find past opportunities similar to current pursuits based on UNSPSC codes, requirement patterns, and agency.

Saved Searches: Set up alerts for opportunities matching specific capability areas from your profile.

Bid Analysis

Requirement Extraction: The AI extracts requirements from RFPs and categorizes them by complexity and type.

Capability Matching: Each requirement is scored against your profile with confidence levels:

• Fully Meets (80-100% confidence)
• Partially Meets (60-79% confidence)
• Cannot Meet (<60% confidence)

Gap Analysis: Identifies requirements you can't meet, suggesting teaming partners or capability development.

Proposal Generation

Auto-Generated Content: The AI generates proposal sections by pulling from your profile:

• Executive summary from capability overview
• Technical approach from capability statements
• Past performance from contract library
• Corporate experience from company history
• Team qualifications from personnel profiles

Compliance Matrices: Automatically populated with profile-based responses to RFP requirements.

Pricing Guidance: Revenue data and past contract values inform pricing recommendations.

Analytics & Intelligence

Win Rate by Category: Track success rate across UNSPSC categories to identify strengths.

Competitive Positioning: Compare your profile completeness and certifications against competitors.

Market Coverage: Visualize geographic and categorical gaps in your opportunity pipeline.

Common Profile Mistakes

Mistake 1: Generic Capability Statements

Problem: "We provide consulting services" tells the AI nothing useful.

Solution: "We provide cybersecurity consulting services (NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, ITSG-33) for federal agencies, specializing in Authority to Operate (ATO) package development with 95% first-submission approval rate."

Mistake 2: Missing Past Performance Details

Problem: Listing contract names without context prevents AI from understanding relevance.

Solution: Include contract value, duration, scope, team size, deliverables, and outcomes for every contract.

Mistake 3: Too Many UNSPSC Codes

Problem: Selecting 50+ codes dilutes relevance and floods your feed with noise.

Solution: Focus on 5-10 codes representing core capabilities. Use specific commodity-level codes.

Mistake 4: Outdated Information

Problem: Expired certifications, old revenue data, and stale capabilities reduce AI confidence.

Solution: Set quarterly profile reviews. Enable expiration alerts for certifications.

Mistake 5: Lack of Evidence

Problem: Claiming capabilities without supporting documentation lowers trust scores.

Solution: Link case studies, certifications, and reference letters to capability statements.

Profile Security & Privacy

What's Public vs. Private

Always Private (never shared outside your organization):

• Financial information
• Bonding capacity details
• Internal capability notes
• Draft content and work-in-progress

Shared with Government Systems (when bidding):

• Business Number (BN)
• Procurement Business Number (PBN)
• Certifications
• Past performance (client references)

Visible in Analytics (anonymized, aggregated):

• UNSPSC category participation
• Certification type (not specific details)
• General company size category

Controlling Visibility

You control profile visibility at multiple levels:

Organization Settings:

• Public profile (visible to other Cothon users)
• Private profile (only your team)
• Selective sharing (specific sections visible)

Sharing Analyses:

• Share bid analyses without exposing full profile
• Generate public links with capability summaries
• Control which past performance contracts are referenced

Getting Started

Measuring Profile Quality

Cothon provides a Profile Completeness Score to help you optimize:

Scoring Criteria

Quality Indicators

Excellent (90-100%):

• All sections complete with detailed information
• 10+ past performance contracts with metrics
• Current certifications with documentation
• 5-10 strategic UNSPSC codes
• Capability statements averaging 200+ words with specifics

Good (70-89%):

• Core sections complete
• 5+ past performance contracts
• Some certifications documented
• Basic capability statements

Needs Improvement (<70%):

• Missing critical sections
• Minimal past performance
• Generic capability statements
• No certification documentation

Advanced Profile Strategies

Strategy 1: Vertical Specialization

Approach: Build deep profiles in 2-3 UNSPSC categories rather than shallow profiles across many.

Implementation:

• Select specific commodity codes (4th level)
• Add 15-20 past performance contracts in those categories
• Write detailed capability statements with technical depth
• Obtain category-specific certifications

Result: Higher confidence scores, better opportunity relevance, stronger proposals.

Strategy 2: Geographic Focus

Approach: Optimize your profile for regional opportunities.

Implementation:

• List all service regions and local offices
• Add regional certifications (provincial programs)
• Include local subcontractors and partners
• Reference region-specific past performance

Result: Capture regional preference points, identify local set-asides.

Strategy 3: Partnership Profiles

Approach: Document teaming relationships to expand capability coverage.

Implementation:

• Add partner capabilities as "Available via Teaming"
• Include joint venture past performance
• Document formal teaming agreements
• Cross-reference complementary UNSPSC codes

Result: Qualify for larger, more complex opportunities requiring multiple capabilities.

Strategy 4: Capability Evolution

Approach: Update profile to reflect strategic capability development.

Implementation:

• Add new capabilities as they're developed
• Document training and certifications
• Include pilot projects and prototypes
• Mark emerging capabilities separately from mature ones

Result: Early access to opportunities in growing market segments.

Profile Maintenance Schedule

Weekly Tasks (15 minutes)

• Review new opportunity matches for relevance
• Adjust UNSPSC codes if seeing too much noise
• Respond to certification expiration alerts

Monthly Tasks (1 hour)

• Add newly completed contracts to past performance
• Update capability statements based on recent wins
• Review and respond to profile quality suggestions

Quarterly Tasks (3 hours)

• Comprehensive profile review and cleanup
• Update financial information
• Refresh capability statements with new examples
• Analyze win rate by UNSPSC category and adjust codes
• Review certification renewals for next 6 months

Annual Tasks (8 hours)

• Strategic profile refresh aligned with business plan
• Major capability statement rewrites
• Past performance library curation (archive old contracts)
• UNSPSC strategy review based on market analysis
• Complete profile quality audit

Getting Help

Profile Assistance Resources

In-Platform Guidance:

• Field-level tooltips explain what to enter
• Example text for capability statements
• UNSPSC code search with descriptions
• Profile quality suggestions with improvement tips

Documentation:

• Detailed guides for each profile section
• Best practices and examples
• Common mistakes and solutions

Support:

• Email: support@cothon.ai
• Live chat: Available during business hours
• Profile review service: Submit your profile for expert feedback

Next Steps

Ready to build your profile? Start with the section most relevant to your current needs:

• Basic Information → - Essential business identifiers
• UNSPSC Categories → - Opportunity matching codes
• Certifications → - Set-aside eligibility
• Capabilities → - Core competency documentation
• Past Performance → - Contract history and references

FAQ

Q: How complete does my profile need to be before analyzing RFPs?

A: You can analyze RFPs with a minimal profile (just basic information), but match quality improves significantly with completed capabilities and past performance sections. We recommend at least 5 capability statements and 5 past performance contracts for meaningful results.

Q: Can I have multiple profiles for different divisions or subsidiaries?

A: Yes. Create separate organizations within Cothon for each legal entity. Each organization has its own profile, opportunity feed, and analysis history.

Q: How often should I update my profile?

A: Update key sections monthly (past performance, certifications) and do comprehensive reviews quarterly. Set up alerts for certification expirations.

Q: Will competitors see my profile information?

A: No. Your profile is private by default. Only your team members can see it. You control exactly what's shared when collaborating externally.

Q: How does the AI use my profile differently than keyword matching?

A: The AI understands semantic meaning, not just keywords. It recognizes that "cloud migration" and "infrastructure modernization" are related concepts, matches capabilities to requirements even when phrasing differs, and considers context like past performance and certifications.

Q: Can I import profile data from other systems?

A: Yes. Cothon supports importing past performance from SAM.gov, capability statements from existing documents, and certifications from issuing authorities. Contact support for import assistance.

Q: What happens if my profile information changes (new certification, completed contract)?

A: Update your profile anytime. The AI uses the current profile for all new analyses. Past analyses remain unchanged but can be re-run with updated profile data.

Q: How do I know if my capability statements are good enough?

A: Use the Profile Quality Score as a guide. Capability statements should average 200+ words, include specific details, and be supported by past performance. Test by analyzing RFPs and reviewing match confidence scores.