Whether you were just awarded your GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) or you have held one for several years, GSA Schedule maintenance can be a heavy lift on your company. Since it’s a contract that is meant to grow with your business, there are not only occasional product/service, pricing, and administrative changes, but you are required to complete routine maintenance to remain compliant. One question our clients initially grapple with is: do you gather a team and try to tackle maintenance in-house, or do you hire a consultant to help you manage your contract?
We understand the dilemma. The decision isn't just about cost and value, it's about trust and figuring out whether you can successfully handle it internally or you need some outside help. We're here to guide you through both options so you can make an informed decision. By the end of this article, you’ll hopefully have a better understanding of the cost implications, benefits, and considerations of in-house vs. outsourcing GSA Schedule maintenance.
Understanding GSA Schedule Maintenance
Before we delve deeper into the two pathways, let’s first discuss what GSA maintenance is and what is required of you as a contractor. It’s hard to know how to ask for help or plan for it if you don’t fully understand the task at hand.
GSA Schedule requires ongoing attention to ensure it remains compliant, competitive, and aligned with government buying trends. Maintenance involves sales reporting, updating pricing, adding or removing products and services, ensuring compliance with federal regulations, and more.
Top Responsibilities for GSA Schedule Management
There’s a lot that goes into managing your GSA Schedule and it differs sometimes depending on your offerings and if you are a large or small business, but we’ll highlight the most frequent and common tasks that must be completed on a somewhat consistent basis:
- Sales reporting and remitting the Industrial Funding Fee (IFF)
- Submitting modifications (admin changes, product/service changes, pricing)
- Updating your price list/text file every 2 years or within 30 days of a modification
- Accepting Mass Modifications
- Annual SAM registration renewal
This is by no means an inclusive list, but gives you an idea of what needs to be regularly maintained. With that, let’s talk about in-House maintenance.
In-House GSA Schedule Maintenance
To successfully maintain your GSA contract, it’s important you have at least one person on your team who has government contract experience or has the time and resources to learn. You don’t have a lot of room to make mistakes, especially if sales reporting and your SAM registration renewal are not submitted on time. Managing your GSA Schedule can arguably be a full-time job, especially when paired with business development and contract sales.
Let’s discuss the advantages and challenges of managing the maintenance process in-house.
Advantages of Managing GSA Schedules In-House
Going the in-house route means you are in the driver’s seat. You have direct control over every decision, meaning you can respond on your timeline and gain a deep understanding of your own contract.
Challenges and Costs Associated with In-House Maintenance
However, this path requires tools, knowledge, and time. You need to invest in training your team, dedicating resources to stay informed about GSA regulations, and potentially facing the cost of trial and error.
Cost of In-House GSA Schedule Maintenance
In-house may seem less expensive at first because you are not hiring an external consultant. However, when adding up salaries, training, and potential missed opportunities due to inexperience, the cost can quickly surpass that of outsourcing.
If you do not have someone on your team already who has government contracting experience, you might want to hire someone full-time with experience meaning you are investing in a salary, benefits etc. If you want your current team to learn, you may spend money on training courses, or at least the cost of time for them to complete the courses and pick up the information. That being said, if you do have someone who has experience on your team and meet the bullets below, then in-house might be the best option for you:
- A dedicated team (or at least one full-time employee) knowledgeable in GSA Schedule policies
- Continuous training sessions and updates on GSA regulations
- Systems and individuals responsible for tracking and managing contract modifications, sales reporting, and other frequent contract actions
Just one expert maintenance person on your team including salary and benefits can be roughly $50k to $100k+ a year depending on their experience, position, and your internal salary ranges.
Outsourcing GSA Schedule Maintenance
The second option for handling maintenance for your GSA Schedule is hiring a consultant to help you complete all these tasks.
Let’s go into the advantages and potential downsides of outsourcing GSA Schedule maintenance.
Advantages of Outsourcing GSA Schedule Maintenance
Choosing to outsource brings expertise and efficiency, often with a team that's already equipped with the necessary tools and knowledge. They can navigate the complexities of your GSA Schedule, ensuring your contract is always compliant without the direct time investment from your side. You will also be able to relax more without having to constantly mine GSA sites and emails for important updates and deadlines.
Potential Downsides and Considerations for Outsourcing GSA Schedule Maintenance
The main concern here is cost and trust. Outsourcing requires a financial investment, and you're entrusting your contract in someone else's care, which means finding a consulting firm you can rely on to understand and work toward your business goals.
To mitigate the fear of hiring someone you don’t trust to do the work well, we suggest you do some research to find a highly rated and experienced firm that has many years in business helping clients manage their GSA Schedules.
Cost of Outsourcing GSA Schedule Maintenance
Maintenance support can also be unique to each customer. Depending on your needs, a consultant will help you stay on track and complete higher priority tasks, focus on certain areas you need more support in, or help you with your entire Schedule. A lot of firms will offer annual versus hourly maintenance packages. Choosing these depends on how much support you’ll think you need and how often.
Depending on the level of your need, we suggest budgeting $15,000 to $30,000 a year for GSA Schedule maintenance. While this range is large, it’s still significantly less than hiring a new person on your team to become a GSA Schedule maintenance expert, and you can save that salary for someone who can specialize in business development or contract sales.
This range is also wide because there are different types of firms that offer differing levels of support. For example, a full-service firm may be more expensive, but they will handle most of the post-award maintenance tasks for you while educating you on the process. Mid-range firms may give you adequate services but will often give you a template to complete the work, so you’ll still need to set aside some time and bandwidth.
How to Choose a Trusted GSA Schedule Maintenance Firm
It’s important when searching for a GSA Schedule consulting firm to look for a few things:
- Proven experience and success stories
- Full transparency in communication and pricing
- A clear understanding of your business needs and goals
- Clear about maintenance offerings and what the support looks like
- Not promising “hacks” or shortcuts with your GSA Schedule
If you want to hire a consulting firm to help with managing your GSA Schedule, or you would like to learn more about your options before you bring it to your leadership’s table, check out our blog on how much GSA Schedule maintenance costs. If you are still having trouble deciding or you aren’t sure you can convince leadership to hire a consultant, check out our blog on why hiring a consultant can save you time and money.
Whether you are ready to make your decision, or are still evaluating all the options, our consultants are here to help talk you through the process and find a solution that works best for your company.
