Subcontracting reporting was due November 14, 2025, this year for large businesses holding federal contracts. Just a few days prior to this deadline, it was announced that the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) portal is set to be decommissioned the week of November 24th. This announcement was made in SAM.gov. The information we’ve been given so far is limited, but here’s what we know about the retirement of eSRS, what comes next, and what it will mean for federal contractors.
eSRS is the federal government’s website that manages all small business subcontracting reports for federal contracts over the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT). For large business contractors that hold a General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract, they submit their Summary Subcontracting Reports (SSRs) and their Individual Subcontracting Reports (ISRs) through this portal, depending on which type of subcontracting plan was awarded to their MAS contract.
eSRS has some ancillary functionality after its primary function of subcontracting reporting. It has a repository of resources including user guides, training materials, sample reports, and FAQs. In addition, eSRS also provides contractors access to previous reports they’ve submitted through data it retrieves from the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS).
eSRS was originally commissioned by the government in 2005 to move subcontracting reporting to an internet-based tool, eliminating the need for paper submission and processing of subcontracting reports. Twenty years later, eSRS has become aged and is now a target for IT modernization initiatives in the federal government.
The group leading the modernization of eSRS is the Integrated Award Environment (IAE) initiative. IAE is under the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) branch of GSA, and manages a suite of systems that are part of the federal awards lifecycle. These systems include SAM.gov and all its functionality absorbed from decommissioned legacy systems, eSRS, FPDS, the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act Sub-Award Reporting System (FSRS). IAE also runs the Federal Service Desk that provides online support for these systems.
Modernization efforts are part of a broader initiative in the federal government to keep the government’s IT tools efficient, secure, and cost-effective. There are similar efforts impacting federal contractors, such as the transition of MAS catalog listings to FCP, and the DoD’s recent implementation of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requirements for its contractors.
With the announcement that the current eSRS is being retired, the SBA also announced that a new eSRS portal will be implemented “at some time in the future.” There has not been confirmation on when this portal will go live.
What we do know is that the functionalities of subcontracting reporting and recordkeeping is expected to transition to SAM.gov, a site that maintains other contracting functionality, such as opportunity and award postings, entity identification, wage determination data, and more. SAM.gov also already manages some subcontracting reporting, not currently including the SSRs and ISRs that MAS contractors submit.
eSRS will go down the week of November 24th, so subcontract reports should be submitted and processed in the system by then. The reporting deadline for contractors was November 14th, but if you haven’t gotten it in yet, it’s critical that you do so now. If you have submitted your subcontracting report, the SBA recommends that you email your Contracting Officer reminding them of your pending report in eSRS to get it expedited.
As of now, there has been no direction for contractors that don’t get their reports submitted before eSRS goes down. But if this happens to you, don’t expect to be alone. Reach out to your Contracting Officer on next steps if this happens to you, and continue to monitor announcements from the SBA and GSA for further instruction.
While eSRS is down, contractors may not have easy access to past reports, so it’s a good idea to download your most recent reports or ones that you think you may need. This is especially pertinent for contractors that are submitting a Final ISR for a contract nearing its completion date.
Small business subcontracting plans and reports are mystifying enough without a website transition thrown in the mix. But keeping up with your subcontracting reporting is important part of MAS contract compliance. A GSA consultant can help you prepare and submit subcontracting reports, and can help you prepare for non-routine events such as a legacy website retirement. If you’re interested in learning more about these services, reach out today.