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?”

If you need something for your office, chances are you’ll hop onto a site like Amazon because it’s easy to search, the prices are reasonable, and it’ll arrive at your door in just a few days. If a government agency wants to purchase something, they can’t just order whatever they want from popular retailers, but they still need a simplified way to order products. So where do they go?

With over 11 million commercial products and services sold to government buyers, it’s clear the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program is a great business opportunity for companies. What’s not so obvious though, is the other ways to sell through a GSA Schedule without acquiring your own contract. One of the ways to do this is partnering with an authorized GSA reseller.

GSA has undergone some major transformations over the course of the 2020 year. From reducing 24 separate legacy Schedules down to one single Schedule, to migrating several GSA applications to one central location, Beta.Sam.gov, it’s safe to say there is much to stay on top of. And with more changes projected for 2021, we decided to compile a directory of GSA’s most useful tools and programs to help GSA contractors stay on track.

Prior to the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Consolidation, contractors looking to sell to the federal government would prepare offers under one of the 24 individual GSA Schedules organized by industry. In order to simplify and modernize the federal procurement process, the General Services Administration (GSA) recently made changes to how it organizes the Schedules through which federal agencies buy goods and services from contractors. Instead of 24 individual Schedules, there is now a single Multiple Award Schedule that houses 12 Large Categories.

Commercial enterprises that are interested in selling to the federal government have numerous different avenues available to reach this goal. However, many potential government contractors choose to sell their products and services through the GSA Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) Program.