A three-supplier shortlist is small enough for a serious commercial review and large enough to preserve comparison. The difficulty is not choosing three names. It is ensuring that every candidate is being judged on the same account model, evidence standard, cost definition, and exit scenario.
Start with a gate, then score only the suppliers that pass it. This prevents a persuasive presentation from compensating for a missing legal payee, unclear account ownership, or an unsupported policy claim.
A supplier should not enter the weighted shortlist until it can answer four questions in writing:
Reject or pause any candidate that promises policy evasion, refuses to identify the payee, treats access and ownership as interchangeable, or leaves unused-balance handling undefined. Google notes that a client account retains its data and can unlink an owner manager; TikTok distinguishes owned accounts from partner-owned accounts and uses named access roles. Those platform concepts should be reflected in the supplier’s answer.
The weights below are an editorial starting point, not ratings of any named supplier. Change them before opening proposals if your risk profile differs.
| Evidence area | Weight | What earns points |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility and market fit | 20 | Supported platform, market, entity, vertical, and buyer workflow are confirmed with limits stated. |
| Account access and control | 20 | Ownership, roles, permissions, removal, suspension, and exit steps are documented. |
| Commercial clarity | 15 | Payee, currency, fee labels, taxes, conversion rules, and billing timing are comparable. |
| Funding and unused balance | 15 | Funding evidence, reconciliation cadence, adjustments, refunds or credits, and remaining-balance treatment are explicit. |
| Evidence quality | 15 | Current official-directory records, redacted samples, and documents have dates and traceable sources. |
| Escalation and exit | 10 | Issue ownership, escalation route, closure criteria, data handover, and offboarding are defined. |
| Data and security | 5 | Least-privilege access, credential handling, confidentiality, retention, and incident contacts are stated. |
Use a simple 0–5 scale for every criterion: 0 means no answer; 1 is an unsupported claim; 2 is partial evidence; 3 is adequate and current evidence; 4 is complete evidence with exceptions explained; 5 is independently verifiable and contract-ready. Multiply the score by the criterion weight divided by five.
Record the source beside every score: proposal page, official directory URL, dated screenshot, contract clause, or redacted process sample. If two reviewers disagree by more than one point, they should resolve the evidence gap before averaging. Do not silently convert sales language into proof.
One quote may describe service fees, another may bundle currency conversion, and a third may omit funding or account-replacement terms. First map every response to the same cost fields and assumptions. The total-cost quote comparison gives procurement a structure; the RFQ template helps collect missing fields.
Price should not be scored until the platform, market, billing currency, funding basis, service scope, account model, and comparison period match. If they do not match, label the quote “not comparable” rather than creating a false blended number.
For each finalist, keep one page with: legal entity and payee; proposed account model; permissions and buyer control; verified evidence links; total-cost fields; funding and unused-balance terms; escalation owner; exit steps; open questions; and score by category. Add an expiry date for time-sensitive evidence.
The final selection should include a written reason, two residual risks, and the next verification step. A high score does not remove the need for platform compliance, contract review, or a controlled onboarding test. It simply makes the trade-offs visible.
For broader supplier screening, use the buyer’s verification workflow. If you want a shortlist structure adapted to your platform and markets, send YC Global Tech the requirement set. We will separate verified facts, supplier claims, and open items rather than inventing scores or availability.
Sources checked 7 October 2026: Google Ads account access and manager ownership guidance; TikTok Business Center account access and ownership guidance.
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