Government Contracting Blog

It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year—if you look at the numbers, government Q4 (July through September) of each year are by far 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.

Professional services, electrical supplies, cloud solutions, power tools – if your company is selling it, GSA (probably) has a Special Item Number (SIN) for it. All contractors part of the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program have the ability to add any of the 315 SINs available to their contract at any given time or include any assortment of them in a MAS contract proposal.

As a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contractor, it can sometimes seem like a mystery how the “fair and reasonable” pricing determination can be reached. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) outlines parameters for how the federal government analyzes and makes these determinations, but the guidance does allow a certain amount of discretion.

Did you know that having a small business designation can fuel marketing and sales efforts for new federal business opportunities? Every year, the Small Business Administration (SBA) aims for certain percentage goals of budget spending that are designated for small business contracts. So, it’s critical to know if your company is eligible for small business set-aside contracts, but how can you be sure?

The world of GSA is full of acronyms--IFF, MFC, CSP, CAV, it can be hard to keep up. Contractors should be aware of all maintenance and compliance aspects associated with their GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract, and one of the most important recurring measures for GSA contractors is the Contractor Assessment Visit (CAV).

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.