GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts have many compliance requirements to ensure that contractors provide products and services that align with federal procurement regulations. This fall, GSA renewed efforts to take action to remove non-compliant products from GSA contracts and GSA Advantage!. In the coming months, GSA will be removing items from a contractor’s Schedule if they are not in compliance with Trade Agreements Act (TAA) regulations, include prohibited hardware and telecommunications, as well as non-authorized refurbished items. Compliance with the terms and conditions of your Multiple Award Schedule is critical to the success of your contract, so let’s cover what you need to know about these non-compliant products.

As a federal contractor, you may think you are well acquainted with the System for Award Management (SAM) platform. After all, contractors must keep an active registration in SAM.gov to be eligible for contracting opportunities from federal customers. To keep an active registration, you need to regularly, at least annually, update and renew your company’s SAM registration. However, since many contractors only login to SAM.gov once a year to complete this, you may be shocked by the number of changes to SAM.gov over the past year. As such, I will be going over some of these changes so that you are prepared the next time you log in to SAM.gov.

In the past few years, change has been a constant in the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program. From the consolidation to aligning North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes with Special Item Numbers (SINs), government contractors have needed to be very alert and flexible to change. As of October 27, 2022, we have more to add to that—the NAICS Association has released changes to NAICS Codes, which could affect your business. Here’s what you need to know about the NAICS Code changes and how you may be impacted.

Now that we are past government Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and have the opportunity to take a breather and regroup, what’s next? FY 2023 is in full swing and it’s time to start making GSA Schedule goals for the upcoming year. A good place to start is taking a closer look at federal government FY 2023 funding—how much money is allocated, which industries and agencies will be procuring the most, and what trends will we see? Let’s discuss what’s in store for the next year.

The federal government uses Simplified Acquisition Procedures, otherwise known as ‘SAP,' to help streamline the contracting process. In layman’s terms, SAPs emphasizes the “keep it simple” approach. SAPs are governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), specifically FAR Part 2 and Part 13, and aim to reduce the overall administrative burden and time of awarding procurements below a certain dollar threshold. SAPs are designed for the purchase of relatively simple supply or service requirements. If you find yourself curious about the FAR in large and want to know more, please feel free to check out our recent blog post titled Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 101.

Think of the last deadline you missed in your current position or back in school. It happens to the best of us, but either way, we all want to make things right so you can keep your GSA Schedule compliant. One deadline in particular that we stress to not lose track of is your company’s Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) certification. In the past, required contractors just needed to self-certify, but as of this year, you need to officially register and certify through the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Contractor Portal.