We’re in the homestretch—federal government Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 ends in just 10 days. While many of you are probably a little weary from responding to the influx of orders and contracting opportunities, the possibility of gaining new customers and revenue is also exciting. The transition from the end of one year to another is a great opportunity to see what lies ahead and how you can prepare. So, here are some of the current and upcoming Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) updates heading into FY2025.
Updates to the FAS Catalog Platform (FCP)
The FAS Catalog Platform (FCP) has been a hot topic for quite a while now, and GSA continues to make updates. If you need a quick recap, the FAS FCP is a catalog management system that was created to replace SIP, or the Schedule Input Program. This system allows contractors to upload and update their catalogs and contract data into GSA eLibrary and GSA Advantage!.
GSA has recently announced that the transition of product contracts into the FCP is now on pause due to the busy end of the Fiscal Year. The onboarding will resume in FY25. There is no exact timeline now, but FY25 starts on October 1, 2024. Contractors will be notified in advance of their contract’s transition date.
If you are a vendor who has a product catalog and is not yet in the FCP, you can learn more about eligibility on the FCP FAQ page. If you are a service vendor and you are not yet in the FCP, you can expect to learn more about FCP soon. Right now, a small group of service vendors are participating in the FCP to test the waters out.
FAR Rule Updating Sustainable Acquisition Requirements Has Been Finalized
The Biden-Harris Administration has finalized a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rule recently that updates and modernizes existing federal sustainable purchasing procedures. This rule was updated by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to encourage federal buyers to purchase sustainable products and services to the maximum extent practicable.
To implement this rule into the MAS program, FAR clause 52.223-23, Sustainable Products and Services, was added in MAS Solicitation Refresh #21. Sustainable Products and Services are identified as products and services that meet statutory purchasing programs in FAR 23.107, and required Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) purchasing programs in FAR 23.108.
How can you ensure you are meeting these new requirements? GSA Schedule contractors can use the Green Procurement Compilation to see if the products or services your company is offering through the MAS program have purchasing programs applicable to federal procurement.
MAS Solicitation Refresh #22
We’ve already talked about MAS Solicitation Refresh #22 in a previous blog, but since the Mass Modification is still active, let’s have a quick recap. In August 2024, GSA released a Mass Modification for Refresh #22, which instituted a few changes and updates to the MAS Solicitation.
One of the bigger updates is GSA expanded the Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) program to 67 new Special Item Numbers (SINs). Also in this Refresh GSA has added Joint Venture (JV) requirements to the MAS Modification Guide and sample cover letters, updated Price Proposal Templates, and has made various updates to specific SINs and GSAR clauses.
Product Accessories Will Soon Be Standalone Items On GSA Advantage
Product accessories will be purchasable as standalone items on GSA Advantage! starting in mid-October. This means that accessories will be rebranded on GSA Advantage! as “Related Products”, and they will now be searchable so agencies can purchase them separately. For now, they will remain as accessories in FCP and SIP.
GSA says there’s no action required right now for this change, but if you don’t want your accessories to be available as standalone items, you’ll want to make sure they are removed from your Product File in FCP or in SIP. If you want your accessories to be listed as standalone items, GSA recommends they can actually function as true standalone items. If not, you’ll want to consider converting them to “Product Options”.
CMMC Rule to be Finalized Soon
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, or better known as CMMC, has been in the works for several years. Late last year a proposed rule was published to establish the CMMC program officially. This week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has finished its final review of the CMMC program rule, and it’s expected to drop in the Federal Register any day now. CMMC applies to contractors who do business in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB).
The Department of Defense (DoD) has also recently published another draft rule that will govern how CMMC is implemented in future defense contracts. We are getting closer and closer by the day for CMMC to be finally be added to solicitations. If you do business with the DoD or related agencies, now is the time to start prepping for the rule to become a reality soon.
Are You Staying On Top of GSA Updates?
This blog hopefully gives you a better idea of some of the big current updates and what’s to come in the next few months. However, the GSA world is always changing, and there’s a lot of regulations and changes to keep up with especially as you may be spending a lot of time just performing basic maintenance on your GSA Schedule.
If you want to keep track of all the GSA updates and insights, you can sign-up for our monthly newsletter and weekly blog recap. We’ll summarize and break down all the relevant updates for you in our resources. You can also sign up for monthly GSA events and monitor GSA Interact for future updates as they come out. If you have questions about your GSA Schedule in general, one of our consultants would be happy to help you.
