Run the numbers
Pick your level today, the level you are considering investing to reach, and roughly what your scorecard-driven customers spend with you in a year. The result is the procurement value your invoices generate for them at each level — and the annual difference between the two.
What is a level worth to your customers?
Today (Level 8)
R500 000
what your R5 000 000 of invoices is worth on your customers’ scorecards at 10%
At Level 2
R6 250 000
the same invoices at 125% recognition
The difference
+R5 750 000
of recognisable spend, every year, in your customers’ hands
| Level | Points needed | Recognition | Your invoices count as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 100 or more | 135% | R6 750 000 |
| Level 2 | 95 to under 100 | 125% | R6 250 000 |
| Level 3 | 90 to under 95 | 110% | R5 500 000 |
| Level 4 | 80 to under 90 | 100% | R5 000 000 |
| Level 5 | 75 to under 80 | 80% | R4 000 000 |
| Level 6 | 70 to under 75 | 60% | R3 000 000 |
| Level 7 | 55 to under 70 | 50% | R2 500 000 |
| Level 8 | 40 to under 55 | 10% | R500 000 |
| Non-compliant | under 40 | 0% | R0 |
Levels and recognition percentages per Statement 000 of the Amended Codes (paras 9.1–9.2). The rand figures show the preferential-procurement value your invoices carry on a customer’s own scorecard — they are not cash paid to anyone, but they are why large customers steer spend toward better-rated suppliers. An EME or QSE that is at least 51% black-owned reaches Level 2 by sworn affidavit — see the status checker. General guidance, not advice.
How to use the number
The difference figure is the honest starting point for the question in choosing a structure: what do you actually need the rating for, and what is it worth? If moving from Level 8 to Level 2 makes your invoices worth an extra couple of million rand a year to your customers, you can weigh that against what a genuine ownership deal costs — and against the risk of losing a customer who is tightening its supplier requirements. If the number is small, that is worth knowing before anyone designs a structure.
Remember the level itself is earned across the whole scorecard — and that ownership is a priority element with a floor: score your structure on the ownership scorecard calculator to see whether the level you are pricing is actually reachable with the deal on the table.
Frequently asked questions
When your customer is measured on its own scorecard, its preferential-procurement points are earned on what it spends with rated suppliers — counted at each supplier’s recognition percentage. A Level 1 supplier’s invoices count at 135%, Level 4 at 100%, Level 8 at only 10%, and non-compliant at 0%. Your level directly changes how valuable your invoices are to your customer’s own compliance — which is why the pressure comes down the supply chain. See why ownership matters.
No. It is a multiplier your customer applies to its spend with you when calculating its own procurement score. The commercial effect is indirect but real: at tender or supplier-review time, the same invoice is “worth more” to the customer coming from a Level 2 supplier than from a Level 8 one.
For an EME or QSE, black ownership is the big lever: at least 51% (on the flow-through basis) takes you to Level 2 by affidavit, and 100% to Level 1 — check the status checker. Above R50 million there is no shortcut: you are scored on the full scorecard, and ownership is usually where it is won or lost.