Government Contracting Blog

If you’ve managed to find yourself reading Winvale’s regular blog series, odds are you’ve got an idea of what the General Services Administration (GSA) is by this point (if not, that’s okay, we have some articles on that too), but you may be wondering what the differences between a Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) and Veterans Affairs (VA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract are. They’re both federal government contracting vehicles administered by GSA as a whole but they vary in many ways in terms of structure, scope, and usage. This article will provide some answers to your most burning questions.

With government spending on a steady incline year over year, increasing your company’s footprint in the public sector with a GSA Schedule and other government contracts can help to grow your business’ revenue—but how do you actually invoice and receive payment from these agencies? In the private sector, it can be relatively straightforward in most cases, where the seller will specify the invoicing and payment schedule, and the buyer will (normally) oblige the established schedule for payment. However, in the government market, payment functions differently. Government buyers will reserve payment for something until it’s received.

As a GSA Schedule contractor, you are given access to a variety of tools and platforms for advertising and selling to government buyers. Arguably, the most important of these is GSA Advantage!. Much in the way that you and I would purchase items from Amazon or shop online during Cyber Monday, Contracting Officers for government agencies access GSA Advantage! to browse the full catalog of contractors and their offerings. Even if you’ve already established consistent relationships with existing buyers, your public sector footprint could grow even larger with the aid of GSA Advantage!.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—if you look at the numbers, government Q4 (July through September) of each year are far and away the busiest months for government contractors. In recent years, Q4 of the government fiscal year has accounted for roughly 1/3 of all government contract dollars awarded throughout the year. This increase in spending can be attributed to an array of reasons including later award dates due to delays in budget availability, greater negotiation leverage, and adapting to potential new requirements that may factor into a particular procurement.

The 4th quarter always seems to be the most important--whether it’s in a football game where a quarterback is running a 2-minute drill while down one score, a basketball team is rallying back from a deficit and banking on a buzzer beater to take home the win, or even discussing government spending toward the end of the fiscal year when government agencies are rushing to use up their annual budget. One statistic that stands out to rookies and seasoned contracting veterans alike is that nearly one-third (yes, 1/3!) of federal contract dollars are awarded during Q4 of the government’s fiscal year. With agencies spending the remainder of their annual budget, and a rising need to procure a larger volume of products and services, the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program becomes a key vehicle for both buyers and sellers.

Obtaining a GSA Schedule contract for your company can be a major victory for growing your public sector footprint and opening the door to untapped government sales. However, the process of getting on the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) can seem a little daunting considering the amount of information that is required to get a contract award.