Project Reference Management - Free Project Sheet & Portfolio Software

Project reference management software stores your firm’s completed projects in one database and generates the documents bids ask for - reference sheets, one-pagers, and portfolios - from those records. Enter a project once, with its client, contract value, dates, role, scope, and reference contact, and reuse it across every tender instead of retyping it into each form. The tool is free (0 EUR, no card required).

It is the project database at the center of SUNAGO’s free project reference suite, and it feeds the capability statement builder and the CV & skills tool. If you are here to learn what a reference document contains, see the definition of a project reference sheet; this page is about the software that manages them.

The problem it solves

Firms that win work by proving experience answer the same question in every bid: show us comparable projects. The evidence exists, but it lives in old proposals, a shared drive, and individual laptops. So every tender starts with someone rebuilding the project list from memory and copy-paste - and the version that gets submitted is rarely the best or most current one.

The failure is structural: firms store the document instead of the data. A reference sheet is a formatted view of facts (client, value, dates, scope) that each change on their own schedule. Store those facts once, and the documents become disposable exports rather than files you guard and re-version.

What the project reference manager does

• One record per project. Client and sector, contract value and currency, start and completion dates, your firm’s role (prime, subconsultant, JV partner), a scope description, measurable outcomes, key personnel, and a reference contact with current phone and email.
• Filter and select. Pull the three to five projects that match a specific tender by sector, value band, or service - relevance is what evaluators score, not volume.
• Export on demand. Generate a one-page project reference sheet, a project one-pager, or a full company portfolio in a consistent field order.
• Feed other documents. The same records populate the past-performance section of a capability statement, so your credentials documents never disagree with each other.

Why the fielded format matters

Public and private tender forms ask for the same core reference fields with remarkable consistency - under Directive 2014/24/EU, authorities may request lists of works from the past five years and services from the past three, each with client, value, and dates. Because the manager stores those as structured fields rather than as a paragraph, you can reorder and relabel them to match each notice’s required format, and you can produce a clean, comparable sheet for every reference in the same layout. Evaluators skim dozens of these; an identical field order across all your references makes your submission the easy one to score.

Free - and how the upgrade works

Building the database and exporting documents is free, with no expiring trial. Create a free account to save your data so it persists and can be reused across every bid. The manager is standalone: every export is a normal Word or PDF file, and nothing is locked in.

It is one module of SUNAGO Matrix, the project ERP for consulting and engineering firms, whose CV & References module - listed on the SUNAGO Matrix pricing page - is the same capability integrated with project delivery, timesheets, resourcing, and finance. Firms that want references managed alongside live project data can upgrade without re-entering anything; those that only need the reference database keep using it free.

Why not just a spreadsheet?

Most firms start with a shared spreadsheet, and for a handful of projects it works. It breaks down at scale for three reasons. First, a spreadsheet stores text, not documents - you still hand-build every reference sheet, one-pager, and portfolio from the rows, so the formatting work never goes away. Second, nothing keeps it current: reference contacts change jobs, values get finalized, and no one owns the update. Third, it does not feed anything else - the same project has to be retyped into each consultant’s CV and your capability statement, where the numbers quietly drift apart. A reference manager stores the facts once and generates every document from them, so updating a project in one place updates it everywhere it appears.

Use cases

Prequalification questionnaires. A contractor assembling a PQQ selects comparable projects by value band and exports them in the framework’s required field order, instead of rebuilding the list for each registry.

Bid libraries for proposal teams. A consultancy’s bid managers pull vetted, current reference sheets from the shared database rather than emailing around for “the latest project list.”

Client pitches. A firm attaches two or three relevant reference sheets to a proposal, generated in minutes, to show it has solved the exact problem before.

Build your project database

Start free: create a free account, enter five real projects, then export a reference sheet for your next bid. Pair the database with the capability statement builder for one-page credentials and the CV & skills tool for staff profiles - all three share the same records. For guidance on choosing and presenting references, see how to present project references in bids and tenders.