Maintenance and compliance are a huge part of being a successful GSA Schedule contractor. One of the more important compliance requirements for GSA contractors is submitting sales in the Federal Acquisition Service Sales Reporting Portal, also known as FAS SRP. The FAS SRP supports the collection of data required by FAS procurement programs including Multiple Award Schedules and other Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACS).
Currently, the FAS SRP houses about 15,000 active MAS contracts, making it an essential system for GSA Schedule contractors to understand how to use. Here’s what you need to know about the program.
What is the FAS Sales Reporting Portal (SRP)?
The FAS Sales Reporting Portal (SRP) provides a safe, secure, and user-friendly portal for contractors to report both transactional and aggregate level data, as well as multiple payment options for remitting the fee required in their GSA Schedule contract. This portal allows for complete transparency between contractors and the government.
One of the ideal features of the FAS SRP program is that it allows contractors to enter their sales reports and make Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) payments on the same site (we’ll go into further detail on the IFF below). Every month or each quarter, depending on whether you are using Commercial Sales Practices or Transactional Data Reporting (TDR), you will go into this portal and record your sales.
If you aren’t sure which reporting method to choose or which one you are subject to, check out our blog “Commercial Sales Practices vs. Transactional Data Reporting.”
How to Access the FAS SRP
To access the FAS SRP, contractors will need to be listed as an IFF Point of Contact (POC), an administrative representative, or an authorized negotiator. Contractors must also first register to be able to gain access to FAS SRP with a valid GSA FAS ID. The GSA FAS ID is a multi-factor, secure identity management system contractors can access with one email and password.
You are required to access the system at least once every 90 days to prevent your account from being suspended. You can enter the SRP by clicking the “Contractor Login” and entering your credentials and validating your entry with the code sent to you by either phone or e-mail.
Once you are on the landing page, you will see a list of all contracts associated with your e-mail address. Your landing page will give essential details on status of your reporting, including:
- Reporting Frequency: “Monthly” for TDR/ “Quarterly” for IFF and Commercial Sales Practices (CSP).
- Last Reported: The last date you submitted reporting for that line item.
- Report Period Ending: Reporting period that is due.
- Total Outstanding Balance: If you have entered your sales data and not paid the IFF yet, there will be an outstanding balance noted in red.
Recording Sales in the FAS SRP
When you are ready to enter your sales into FAS SRP, you can use the “Reporting” tab drop down on the left-hand side of the main page, and then select “Form Entry.” Here, you will enter you quarterly totals for each SIN on your contract.
Even if you are reporting $0 is sales for that specific quarter, you will still be required to enter that field as $0.00. While completing the sales reports, you can click “save” anytime to maintain your progress. Similarly, once you have completed entering your sales reports, you can officially submit your data by clicking “submit.”
If you would prefer to not enter your sales manually, you do have the option to upload a file containing your sales reports. To do this, use the Reporting Tab drop down, and select “File Upload.”
Making Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) Payments
The Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) is an integral part of GSA. Since GSA is one of the few self-funded agencies of the U.S. federal government, it doesn’t use American tax dollars to keep it running. Instead, it is powered by the IFF.
In addition to reporting GSA sales, GSA Schedule contractors are also required to pay their IFF Fee each quarter.
As a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract holder, you will have 30 days from the close of a quarter to report your quarterly GSA sales and remit the IFF payment. For instance, sales reports and the accompanying IFF payment from the quarter January-March will be due on April 30.
The IFF is calculated as 0.75% of a contractor’s quarterly sales reporting totals. For instance, if a contractor is reporting $1,000 is quarterly sales, their corresponding IFF payment would be $7.50.
You should only report sales for products and services through your GSA Schedule contract. You can’t pay the IFF until your sales are reported, so make sure to have them in on time so you don’t turn your IFF payment in late.
IFF Payment Options
There are four main ways to submit your Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) to pay.gov. Before we get into the different options, it’s important to note you should access the pay.gov link through the FAS SRP portal. If you simply type the web address into your search bar, it won’t have all your information and the government will have to track you down to figure out where to put your payment.
Here are the main ways to submit an IFF payment:
- Credit Card: Maximum of $24,999
- Debit Card (no limit)
- PayPal: Max $10,000
- Automated Clearing House (no limit): this works better for larger companies
There are two other options available to pay your IFF fee without using pay.gov. You can use Remittance Express (REX) which functions like a bill pay system and has no limit. Or, you can go old school and pay with a check. GSA highly suggests using this method only as a last resort. It requires additional work for the contractor and government, and if the contract number isn’t written on the check it can significantly delay the processing time or funnel the money into the wrong place.
To make a Payment on the FAS SRP site, contractors will need to select the “Payment” drop down tab in the left side column. After selecting “Make Payments,” contractors will be taken to a page where there will choose their preferred payment method. After making a payment, they will generally take 24-48 hours to post.
How Do You Maintain Your GSA Schedule?
Having a general understanding of the FAS SRP will go a long way in improving your comfort with filing your sales reports. Although sales reporting is an important step in keeping up with your GSA Schedule, there are other requirements you need to follow to properly maintain your contract.
For more information regarding GSA compliance and maintenance, check out our blogs “Top 9 Compliance Risks that Can Affect Your GSA Schedule,” and “How to Maintain Your GSA Schedule: An Essential Checklist.” A lot of our clients discover they don’t have the bandwidth or experience to maintain their Schedule on their own, so they choose to hire a consultant to help with GSA Schedule maintenance.
If you have any more questions about the FAS SRP or if you need help keeping up with your contract, reach out to one of our consultants.
