Working with the General Services Administration (GSA) can be difficult. Many times, the information contractors need is already out there in the universe, released by GSA, but the trick is knowing where to find it. One of our specialties as GSA Schedule consultants is pinpointing the right resources for our clients and helping them learn how to use those tools. One of the most underutilized GSA tools is the Contract-Awarded Labor Category, or CALC, tool. The CALC tool is valuable to contractors by helping with market research, particularly for labor categories offered to GSA. Let’s dive in to understand more about the GSA CALC tool.

When you receive your GSA Schedule contract award, you are not entering into a binding document, but rather a contract that will live and breathe with your company. As we know, a lot can happen in 20 years, from technological advancements to changes in company personnel and updates to your products or services. This is where GSA Schedule modifications come in. When you make a change that affects your GSA contract, you will need to submit a modification in the eMod system. But as with any process related to your GSA Schedule, it’s not necessarily an easy or fast process. In this blog, we’ll cover best practices for GSA modifications so you are setting yourself up for success.

GSA has been developing a slew of Information Technology (IT)-related contracts recently from Polaris, to the Ascend Cloud Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) and now Alliant 3. GSA has recently released the draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for Alliant 3, one of the largest contracts in the works that will focus on the acquisition of advanced and emerging IT technologies. Alliant 3, a follow on from Alliant 2, will be a government-wide Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Best-in-Class (BIC) contract, with an estimated ceiling of $75 billion. Since all questions and comments on the draft RFP are due on January 6, 2023, we’re going to cover what you need to know about this upcoming contract vehicle so your company can get involved early on.

In the past few years, change has been a constant in the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program. From the consolidation to aligning North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes with Special Item Numbers (SINs), government contractors have needed to be very alert and flexible to change. As of October 27, 2022, we have more to add to that—the NAICS Association has released changes to NAICS Codes, which could affect your business. Here’s what you need to know about the NAICS Code changes and how you may be impacted.

Now that we are past government Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and have the opportunity to take a breather and regroup, what’s next? FY 2023 is in full swing and it’s time to start making GSA Schedule goals for the upcoming year. A good place to start is taking a closer look at federal government FY 2023 funding—how much money is allocated, which industries and agencies will be procuring the most, and what trends will we see? Let’s discuss what’s in store for the next year.

If you’re interested in selling to the government through a GSA Schedule contract, you might be wondering how government agencies will find your products and services and what the buying process will look like. If a government buyer wants to purchase a product, they can’t just hop onto one of the mega online retailers to find what they need because there are several requirements that need to be met. Instead, they use government online shopping and ordering sites like GSA Advantage!.