GSA to Add New TDR Fields and Data Quality Initiatives

If you’re a General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Awards Schedule (MAS) contract holder, then you’re aware of the frequent changes made to the Solicitation. With change comes new expectations you need to familiarize yourself with. As a leading agency, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) Pilot Program was recognized by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to help with the governmentwide Better Contracting Initiative (BCI) to ensure the federal government is getting better terms and prices when purchasing goods and services.

In late January, GSA announced that the FAS is implementing new TDR fields and data quality initiatives. The FAS Solicitation Management Office intends to post an advanced notice outlining information on these TDR fields prior to issuing a new Solicitation Refresh. Right now, this Refresh is anticipated in May 2024. Let’s discuss what these new fields and initiatives are and how they may impact you.

What is Transactional Data Reporting (TDR)?

You may be asking yourself, “What is TDR?” To keep it brief, contractors have the option to opt into either Commercial Sales Practices (CSP) or Transactional Data Reporting, if eligible when deciding how they want to conduct sales reporting. There are a few key differentiators between CSP and TDR.

Under TDR, contractors are required to submit their sales monthly and report on 11 individual elements for each order through the Federal Acquisition Services Sales Reporting Portal (FAS SRP). While TDR requires more specifics and time, contractors are not required to disclose their Most Favored Customer (MFC) and are not subject to the Price Reductions Clause. To learn more about the differences between CSP and TDR, check out our blog, GSA Schedule Sales Reporting: CSP or TDR?

TDR Data Validation & Feedback Enhancements

 The FAS is taking action to improve the quality and usage of TDR data. With the implementation of new controls for TDR submissions in the FAS SRP and new recurring contractor feedback reports, the FAS envisions sharing TDR-derived insights with industry partners to the maximum extent possible.

By sharing valuable insights, it allows industry partners to position themselves to have optimal success. Below we’ll discuss the relevant changes and what to expect:

The FAS SRP will enable real-time validation of Manufacturer Name, Manufacturer Part Number, Unit of Measure, and Unit Price fields against each contractor’s catalog. If errors are detected and flagged, contractors will be allowed to submit their transactional data into the SRP during the initial rollout of validations. After an acclimation period, some field errors will trigger hard rejects to prevent faulty data from entering GSA’s systems and tools.

To help contractors improve the way they input data into SRP, FAS is going to start rolling out reports, starting with a small group in Quarter 2 of the government Fiscal Year (FY). The reports will include month-over-month summary statistics, rolling counts of issue-based flags, and a view of comparative data quality performance based on SRP data.

3. TDR Field Changes

In FY24 Q3, FAS is introducing four new TDR fields:

• Order Date
• Ship Date
• Zip Code Shipped To
• Federal Customer

At first these fields will be optional, but as the acclimation period comes to an end, the fields may become mandatory. The addition of these fields aims to address data gaps to prepare new MAS Special Item Numbers (SINs) for the TDR pilot. These changes also make it possible to monitor pricing compliance, analyze data by location, access cycle times and contract compliance, and analyze data by treasury agency code.

As TDR matures, FAS hopes to improve six dimensions of data quality, including completeness, consistency, accuracy, timeliness, validity, and uniqueness. Ultimately, the purpose of these changes is to maximize TDR data accuracy. FAS’s goal is to prioritize products-focused TDR field changes in FY24 Q3 and services-focused field changes in early FY25.

Meeting GSA’s TDR Reporting Requirements

 While only a few SINs are eligible for TDR, all contractors should remain aware of TDR changes, especially since GSA plans to allow all contractors the opportunity to choose TDR sometime in the future. We understand keeping up with GSA changes can cause a lot of stress, especially if you’re not staying up to date with the release of new information. As reporting requirements for TDR slowly change and you find yourself overwhelmed, we’re here to help you. Whether it’s sales reporting, compliancy questions, or understanding the basics of a MAS contract, we can help. We also have plenty of resources, such as our blog, newsletters, and webinars.