If you were recently awarded a GSA Schedule contract, you have likely been inundated with all the tasks required to manage your awarded contract. One key compliance requirement is completing your Baseline modification in GSA’s FAS Catalog Platform (FCP). GSA only recently made the change from the legacy SIP software to FCP for catalog management, so even contractors experienced with GSA may be unfamiliar with FCP. In this blog, we’ll go over the steps to complete an FCP Baseline modification.
What is an FCP Baseline Modification?
Before starting your Baseline modification, it’s important to understand what its purpose is. The name can be slightly misleading, as a Baseline modification isn’t modifying anything about your contract. The Baseline modification establishes a starting point (or “baseline”) for your products and services in FCP. Simply put, it’s the initial upload of your contract data into FCP. It’s important to understand that the Baseline modification is intended for you to upload your contract information as it was awarded—changes are not permitted during the Baseline process.
All offerings, pricing, and contract terms must match what was agreed upon when your contract was awarded. If you want to make any changes to your offerings, you will have to complete the Baseline modification first.
How Do I Initiate a Baseline Modification?
In order to begin your Baseline modification, you must first complete your Seller Profile in the FCP. The Seller Profile action involves entering basic data such as your company name and address, and the names and addresses of any dealers or distributors. One small but critical component of the Seller Profile is the Catalog Offerings selection, where you will select whether you offer products, services, or both.
This is a key step, as your selection here determines what kind of Baseline modification you will complete. The Baseline modification for products and services is slightly different, and if you offer both products and services, you will have to complete a separate Baseline modification for each catalog type. There is also a third option that will not trigger a Baseline modification—the “Price Proposal Template” option is used in very rare cases, for specific items that are too unique to fit in a Services Plus or Product File.
Once you have completed your Seller Profile (and it has been approved by a contracting officer), you will need to log into eMod to create a Baseline modification. After creating the modification in eMod, you will return to the FCP to create a new Catalog Action—the Baseline action. When creating the Baseline in the FCP, you will link it to eMod using the eMod ID generated when you created the modification.
How Do I Complete a Baseline Modification for Products?
Once you have created the Baseline action in the FCP, the first step for a Products Baseline is uploading the Product File. The Product File templates for offer submission and awarded offers are slightly different, so make sure to transfer all of your information to the correct template before uploading your product file. After you submit your product file, the FCP will attempt to process the file. If there are no errors in the Product File, the FCP will send the file for market research and return a Compliance and Pricing (C&P) Report.
The C&P report contains both market research and compliance information. Most contractors won’t have any flags that need to be addressed during the Baseline, since Contracting Officers generate a similar report and address compliance issues before award. If there are issues, the FCP allows you to perform a Quick Update to remove noncompliant products. Once you have reviewed the C&P file, you will upload the Product File with C&P that was generated during the C&P process, and send the file to eMod. Once the file has been sent, you will return to eMod to submit the modification. The FCP file will automatically appear in eMod, and you will also need to upload a signed Baseline Cover Letter.
How Do I Complete a Baseline Modification for Services?
The process for a services Baseline is similar to the Products Baseline, but without the C&P file. After creating the Baseline Action, you will upload your Services Plus File. Be sure that you have entered the correct date on the “Contract Begin Date” tab so that pricing for additional contract years will be calculated. After uploading your Services Plus File, you will send the file to eMod, then log in to eMod and submit the modification. As with the Products Baseline, you will need to submit a signed Baseline Cover Letter with the Modification.
What if There are Errors in My FCP Files?
When you initially upload your files, the FCP will perform a series of data validation and business rule checks. If there are any errors in your Product or Services Plus File, the FCP will send an email notifying you that the file did not pass validation. The email contains a link to the FCP-generated error file, which is a spreadsheet containing a list of all the errors in your uploaded file. You will need to correct the errors in your Product or Services Plus file, and the reupload the file. Because of the way the FCP runs its checks, you may receive new errors after correcting all the errors from the initial error file. Once you’ve reuploaded your corrected files, you can proceed with the Baseline as normal.
Still Have Questions About the FCP Baseline Modification?
While the FCP is a big improvement over SIP, it’s still not a perfect system. Even if you follow these steps, you may still encounter errors. The FCP’s Help Resources page contains guides and FAQs for common actions in FCP, including the Baseline Modification. If you’re having trouble with your FCP Baseline Modification, Winvale’s experienced consultants can help you with the process.
