As GSA Schedule consultants, we know firsthand just how confusing the acquisition process can be. If you’re new to the world of government contracting, you may feel like you have so many questions you don’t even know where to start. In this blog, we’ll go over some of the most frequently asked questions regarding GSA Schedule acquisition.
What is a GSA Schedule?
Let’s start with the basics—what actually is a “GSA Schedule”? The term GSA Schedule refers to the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), a contract vehicle created by the GSA to allow the federal government to easily purchase products and services. Getting on the GSA Schedule makes it easier for the government to purchase from your business, as your pricing will already have been determined to be fair and reasonable. GSA Schedule contracts have 4 option periods of 5 years each, and they are Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts. This means that there is no limit to how much you can sell—essentially, if the government wants to buy it, you can sell it.
Who Can Buy from a GSA Schedule?
As we already mentioned, the GSA was created with the federal government in mind. However, federal agencies are not the only ones eligible to purchase on the GSA Schedule. There are a variety of other entities who can buy from the GSA Schedule, such as certain tribal governments and qualified nonprofit agencies for the blind and severely disabled. Additionally, the Cooperative Purchasing Program and Disaster Recovery Purchasing Program allow state and local government entities to purchase certain products and services through the GSA Schedules program.
What is the Process of Getting a GSA Schedule?
Getting on the GSA Schedule is a somewhat complicated process. The process of getting on the GSA Schedule can be divided into two main parts: assembling the proposal, and the proposal review. We’ll discuss these below.
What Goes Into A GSA Schedule Proposal?
The first step to getting on the GSA Schedule is putting together a proposal. GSA Schedule proposals generally consist of three sections: Administrative, Technical, and Pricing. The Administrative section consists of basic background information about your company. This includes things like your SAM.gov registration, financial records, and organizational chart.
The Technical section goes a little bit deeper into your company’s background and expertise. In this section, you’ll include a corporate experience narrative and descriptions of past performance.
The Pricing section is exactly what it sounds like—lots and lots of information about pricing. You’ll provide a detailed breakdown of the prices you intend to offer on the GSA, as well as invoices from commercial customers to support your pricing. Once your offer is complete, you’ll submit it online through GSA’s eOffer portal.
What Happens Once I Submit My GSA Schedule Proposal?
After your GSA Schedule offer is submitted, it will be assigned a Contracting Officer (CO), who will be responsible for reviewing and ultimately approving your offer. After conducting an initial review, your CO will ask for clarifications regarding any inconsistencies or minor errors.
Keep in mind that clarifications are a normal part of the process, not a setback or a cause for concern. They are built into the process so that your offer doesn’t get rejected for small administrative errors. Once you rectify these issues, the CO will then try to negotiate lower prices. Once again, negotiations are a normal part of the process—no matter what your prices are, the GSA will always try to negotiate some sort of additional discount.
Once negotiations are finished, your CO will send a document called the Final Proposal Revisions (FPR), which includes any changes agreed to during negotiations. After you sign and return the FPR, your contract will be awarded.
How Long Does It Take to Get on The GSA Schedule?
After hearing about the process, many contractors want to know how long it will take. Unfortunately, there’s no set answer. Putting together a proposal typically takes around 8-12 weeks. If this sound like a long time, remember that GSA Schedule proposals require numerous different documents sourced from different departments of a company, as well as a fair amount of writing. The proposal preparation process is something you have some degree of control over—by doing your research and putting together a dedicated team, you can certainly speed things up.
Once your proposal is submitted, however, it enters the review process and is out of your control. Sometimes it can take several weeks for your proposal to even be assigned to a contracting officer, and then they still have to review it. There’s no way to know how long the review process can take—here at Winvale, we’ve seen reviews take as little as a few weeks, and as long as a year.
On average, however, it takes about 3-8 months for offers to be reviewed, followed by an additional month for the clarifications and negotiations process. From start to finish, including putting together the proposal, review time, clarifications, and negotiations, the entire process typically takes 6 months to a year. Getting on the GSA is not a quick and simple process—but the contract opportunities that come from being on the GSA are well worth it.
Still Have Questions About GSA Schedule Acquisition?
In this blog, we hit the highlights of the GSA Schedule, but there’s plenty we didn’t cover. If you still have questions about GSA Schedule Acquisition, or if you’re interested in getting on the GSA Schedule, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our dedicated team of GSA Schedule consultants is sure to have the answers you need.
