Government Contracting Blog

The short answer to this question? Yes, you’re able to sell to the Federal Government without being a GSA Schedule holder, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should due to a multitude of reasons.

As a government contractor, you’ve probably run into NAICS codes more than a few times, and you likely know which ones are applicable to your products or services. But like many, questions still linger about their true meaning and function. Questions like: “What does the acronym even mean in the first place?” “How do they affect your business and how you work with the government?” “What is a size standard?”

The GSA Information Technology (IT) Schedule 70 is not a traditional government contract. The GSA Schedules Program is meant to screen and approve specific products and services sold by contractors at fair and reasonable prices to customer agencies. Being one of the larger contracts across the federal government, and as the top-grossing vehicle out of all the GSA Schedules, Schedule 70 is used by GSA customers to fulfill their IT product and service needs, because it significantly reduces time spent on the procurement process. Most IT product, software and/or service companies wanting to sell to government customers have heard of or considered obtaining a Schedule 70 contract, and Winvale is breaking down the To-Do List:

Every business has its own standard commercial sales practices that ensure the company remains competitive and successful within the marketplace. Many businesses have these successful commercial sales practices but do not track them in a way that easily translates to GSA’s requirements. Having a strong record of your commercial sales practices is a vital part of obtaining and maintaining a GSA Schedule. For companies considering entering the federal marketplace through the GSA Schedules Program, it is smart to start understanding the commercial sales practice disclosure requirements from the early stages.

Good news for General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule contract holders, as spending within the Multiple Awards Schedule (MAS) has reached new heights. It has been reported that in Fiscal Year 2018, spending on goods and services through the GSA MAS program grew to a record high of $33.1 billion. This is the highest spending level for GSA’s MAS program since Fiscal Year 2015, and with spending consistently averaging around $33 billion per year from 2015 to 2018, things are looking up.

“If You Build it, They Will Come” Having your GSA Multiple Award Schedule Contract awarded can seem like the light at the end of a lengthy tunnel, but it’s not the end of the journey. Once awarded your contract, the real work has only just begun. The payoff for becoming a successful GSA MAS contractor can be huge, but only if the right steps are taken from post-award day 1.