the questionnaire is an Excel file with multiple tabs will that be recognized

Multiple tabs are recognized per tab

Yes, that is recognized. The system searches each tab separately for question patterns, so an Excel with for example a tab "General", a tab "Governance" and a tab "Scope 3" is processed in its entirety, not just the first sheet. This is common with procurement portals that send one workbook with a tab per theme, or with a separate tab for explanatory notes and scoring alongside the tab with the actual questions.

What does vary is the quality of recognition per tab. A tab with a neat question-answer table is recognized better than a tab with merged cells, color coding or a matrix where the question only follows from a combination of row and column headers. In case of doubt about a specific answer — for example whether the ISO 9001 certificate applies to the requested tab, or which figure applies to annual turnover belongs when there are multiple fiscal years in one tab — the starting point remains the same: you confirm yourself per answer with yes or no before anything is submitted.

Processing is based on recognized content, not on file format

The file format itself — Excel with tab 1, 2 or 10 — is not an obstacle, because the recognition works on the content of each worksheet separately, not on the file as a whole. There is no separate regulation prescribing how a supplier must submit a questionnaire; this follows from the way the tool is built, not from a standard such as EFRAG's VSME basic module or Article 21 paragraph 2 of the NIS2 Directive. These standards do determine what can be asked, but say nothing about the form of the file in which the question is presented.