GSA Schedule Consulting Cost FAQs
GSA Schedule | 6 Min Read
If you’re reading this blog, you’ve probably started your search to get a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), and you’ve recognized that you’re going to need some expert help. You may need help with the whole process, or if you have your contract already, you may just be looking for comprehensive or as-needed maintenance support. Either way, we understand if you’re already overwhelmed with which firm to go with.
During your search, you may have also noticed that the price range is all over the place for consulting services. Factors such as the level of support, type of firm, and the extent of your needs can greatly affect cost, but it’s a bit more involved than that. In this blog, we’ll cover your top GSA Schedule cost FAQs so you can be confident in which firm you are going to choose.
What is GSA Schedule Consulting?
Before we launch into cost specifics, let’s cover what firms can provide within the cost of GSA Schedule consulting. It’s important to note that not all firms offer the same level of support, so you can use this list to make sure the firm you’re interested in covers the kind of help you are looking for.
GSA Schedule Acquisition
If you’re looking to get a GSA Schedule, you’ll need help from the ground up. This includes:
- Ensuring registration on SAM.gov
- Assessing requirements and qualifications
- Collecting the necessary documents/information to create a GSA Schedule offer
- Strategically develop fair and reasonable pricing/discounts
- Crafting a GSA Schedule proposal
- Uploading and submitting offer in eOffer system
- Working with the Contracting Officer on contract Negotiations and Clarifications
- GSA Schedule contract award
GSA Schedule Maintenance
If you need help managing your GSA Schedule, here’s a comprehensive list of tasks consultants can support:
- Uploading your contract to GSA eLibrary and GSA Advantage! via SIP or the FAS Catalog Platform (FCP)
- Contract modifications
- Mass modifications
- Sales reporting
- Small Business Subcontracting Plan reporting
- Commercial Sales Practices & Price Reduction Clause compliance (if applicable)
- Trade Agreements Act (TAA) compliance
- Contractor Assessments
- gov annual registration renewal
- Business Development
How Much Does GSA Schedule Consulting Cost?
We’ll address the elephant in the room early on so you can focus more on the specifics—how much does GSA Schedule consulting cost? You have probably seen these ranges already, but here’s what we’ve seen in the market.
For GSA Schedule acquisition the general range is $15,000 to $25,000 assuming you are looking for a full-service firm. Anything below $15,000 generally is a “scammy” firm, or they’ll heavily rely on you to complete the bulk of the offer. We’ll go more into what drives prices up and down below.
For GSA Schedule maintenance, we suggest budgeting between $15,000 to $30,000 a year, or $1,250 to $2,500 a month depending on the level and type of support.
An important thing to remember when reviewing price (either by yourself or with your upper management), is it’s all about perspective. While consulting may seem expensive, your other option is to hire a full-time employee who has this kind of experience, but it’s going to be way more of an investment than hiring a consultant.
What Drives the Cost of GSA Schedule Consulting Up/Down?
The three main factors driving cost are: complexity of your offer, business size, and the level of firm you choose. If you are offering multiple Special Item Numbers (SINs) across multiple Large Categories, the offer is going to be more complex. Especially if you’re a large business with an extensive catalog of items.
If you’re also considered a large business, or “Other than Small” as the government puts it, then you will need additional support through the Subcontracting Plan and subcontracting reporting. For maintenance support specifically, it depends on if you need help with all the GSA Schedule tasks, or just a few.
The type of firm you choose/level of service you want also influences cost. We’ll dive into that next.
What Makes Some Consulting Firms More Expensive (or Cheaper) than Others?
If you are looking for a quick hit and a cheap price, then you may be looking at mid to lower tier firms. These firms tend to rely on templates and send you on your way. If you know a lot about the process and just need a touch of support, then this could be your option. A word of caution, however, is the price tag may be right, but you’ll have to be prepared to do the bulk of the work. If you are submitting yourself, you may have to worry about proposal rejection. Full-service firms inevitably cost more, but they will hold your hand through the entire process, offer strategy uniquely tailored to your company and situation, and do the work for you so you don’t have to worry.
It’s also important to learn more about the workforce within consulting firms and ask the right questions. Are they hiring 1099s or outsourcing overseas? How much experience does the firm have? Have they been around for a few decades, or are they just getting off the ground? Some cheaper firms tend to appear overnight (and quickly leave as they appear), and often outsource their work. It’s important to have a team in-house so you can get the highest level of support.
Are There Any Hidden Fees with GSA Consultants?
There shouldn’t be any fees if you’re hiring a reputable firm, but there’s some questions you should ask to make sure you’re getting the full picture.
- What does the acquisition/maintenance support cost include?
- Is it all-inclusive or are there limitations of SINs and line items?
- Is there an extra fee if the contract is awarded/rejected?
- Is post-award support included in the award? (It’s generally two separate services, but you should ask)
- Are fees based on your GSA Schedule sales?
- What happens if I’m not satisfied with the support?
Are GSA Schedule Consulting Services Worth It?
You may already be sold on needing help, but our clients often need buy-in from upper management. You can take this section to them if they ask if you really need this support as a company.
The most important factor to consider is the cost vs. time tradeoff. If you don’t have previous GSA Schedule experience, going through the process yourself can take a lot longer and lead to more roadblocks including proposal rejection. If you get a rejection, you have to build your proposal all over again, which can definitely cost you time (and energy). It also takes time away from other important tasks you could be focusing on.
With the changes under the new administration, the lead times are longer, and GSA is stricter than ever on compliance, so you don’t want to risk proposal rejection and start the long process all over, or a contract getting canceled due to noncompliance.
Ironically, hiring a GSA Schedule consultant can also save you money. If you run into roadblocks or rejection and end up wanting to hire a dedicated GSA Schedule consultant on your team to fix it, that will cost more than hiring GSA Schedule support. Of course, if you want 24/7 in-house support, that’s still an option. But if you want comprehensive support without the costs of a full-time employee, then consultants are the way to go.
What’s Next?
We hope the FAQs above helped you gain a better understanding of the GSA Schedule consulting cost and gave you the tools you needed to start searching more seriously for firms. If you want to learn more about hiring a consultant, check out the blogs below:
- Hiring a GSA Schedule Consultant: Questions To Ask and Red Flags to Avoid
- Do I Really Need a GSA Schedule Consultant?
If you are interested in learning more about our consulting services, or you have more questions about GSA Schedule acquisition and maintenance, we are here to help you.
