Once you have been awarded a GSA Schedule, your job is unfortunately not over. You must continue to be diligent and maintain your Schedule by complying with government regulations. This includes ensuring your company’s information is frequently updated and relevant to your current offerings, as well as consistently tracking and reporting your sales. Ultimately, lack of compliance with GSA’s regulations can result in the termination of your contract, so let’s focus on what you need to be doing to successfully stay on top of your GSA Schedule.
Compliance Actions to Take with Your GSA Schedule
We know the government contracting world can be complicated and overwhelming. Some compliance measures for your GSA Schedule may only need to completed every once in a while, or don’t require much action on your part. However, there are aspects to GSA contract compliance that require you to be more involved. So, let’s go over some of the tasks contractors have to actively keep an eye on with their GSA Schedule.
Submitting GSA Schedule Modifications
Since your GSA contract can last up to 20 years, change is expected. If you want to make changes to your GSA Schedule,, you will need to submit a contract modification through GSA eMod. Below is a list of a the types of modifications you may come across:
- Administrative
- Addition of Products/Services
- Deletion of Products/Services
- Price Reduction
- Economic Price Adjustment (EPA)
- Technical
- Terms and Conditions
- Change of Name/ Novation
- Cancellation
If you want to learn more about each type of modification, you can check out our blog “What Are the Types of GSA Schedule Contract Modifications?”
Each modification requires different actions, which can be found on the MAS Modification Guide. Once you know what is necessary for your modification, you will be ready to submit a contract modification on GSA eMod.
Updating Your Pricelist/Textfile
Keeping your pricelist current is crucial since you will inevitably discontinue certain items or increased/decreased your prices throughout the life of your contract. To update your pricelist/textfile, you’ll need to complete an upload through the Schedule Input Program (SIP). SIP is the backend for GSA Advantage! and GSA eLibrary. This program can be difficult to navigate so we have created a short training blog: “Schedule Input Program (SIP) Training for GSA Contractors.”
It's important to note that GSA plans to sunset SIP soon and introduce the FAS Catalog Platform (FCP), formerly known as the Common Catalog Platform. This web-based platform will make it easier for contractors to manage their product details.
Updating Your GSA Advantage! Catalog
As some of you may know, GSA Advantage! is often referred to as the government version of Amazon. GSA Advantage! is where contractors publish their pricelists for quality products and services. More specifically, the catalog contains detailed product information, photos, descriptions, and the GSA approved price. If your company has added a new product/ service, you’ll want to make sure to quickly make those updates for GSA and interested customers browsing through your offers.
Annual SAM Registration Renewal
One of the very first steps contractors take is registering their entity in SAM.gov. Once you have registered, it’s essential to remember it needs to be renewed annually. The renewal is not automatic. Therefore, setting a reminder is highly recommended, especially if you tend to forget important dates. Additionally, the SAM renewal is free of charge. If you receive an email requesting payment, you are most likely being scammed. If you want to learn more about renewing/updating your SAM registration, check out our blog, “A Complete Guide to SAM.gov”
Sales Reporting
GSA sales reporting is a task you need to have boldly written on your to-do list. If you have opted for Commercial Sales Practices (CSP), you must report your sales quarterly. However, those who have opted for Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) need to submit their report monthly.
Regardless of sales and pricing method, the Federal Acquisition Service Sales Reporting Portal (FAS SRP) will be the location of entry. To understand the differences between Commercial Sales Practices (CSP) and Transactional Data Reporting (TDR), you can check out are blog on “Commercial Sales Practices vs. Transactional Data Reporting.”
Mass Modifications
Mass modifications are GSA-initiated and generally come in the form of a Solicitation Refresh. When GSA sends out a refresh, the authorized negotiator for the contract will receive an email regarding the mass modification where you will be asked to visit the eMod site. Once you have logged into eMod, you can review and accept the mass modifications within the 90-day period of the release date. The terms and conditions of the MAS Solicitation are updated periodically, so be sure to stay alert. The most recent refresh is Solicitation Refresh #16, which is anticipated to be released on May 16th.
If you still need help understanding Mass Modifications, you can check out our blog, “What is a Mass Modification?”
Maintaining your GSA Schedule
We know post-award maintenance can be daunting, so we hope we were able to offer some valuable insight on GSA Schedule compliance. Having the knowledge of compliance actions, reading informative blogs, and subscribing to GSA Interact are some ways to help you be more successful as a contractor. If you are still feeling a little lost or need some help managing your Schedule, we would be happy to assist you.
