Government Contracting Blog

While the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) acquisition process can be a long and drawn out process, the work doesn’t end once your Schedule has been awarded. GSA Schedules have a potential life span of 20 years (four 5-year option periods), so it’s rare that a contractor’s GSA Schedule offerings, Special Item Number (SIN) selections, administrative information, etc. remains the same throughout the life of the contract. GSA Schedule contract holders can update or change essentially every part of their contract throughout its existence through a modification. In this blog, we will discuss the types of modifications, and why they are an integral part of GSA Schedule compliance.

As a modern business, you are probably aware of the importance of web presence. You likely wouldn’t allow your own website to have outdated information, omit key information, or lack photos. However, sometimes product contractors under the GSA Schedule are not as well versed in how to ensure that their web presence in GSA meets the same standards. GSA has several procurement platforms to help contractors list their solutions and bid on contracting opportunities, but the most important site for selling products is GSA Advantage!.

Crafting a proposal for the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) involves drafting and collecting numerous documents. Many of the items needed for a successful proposal can be easily found in a company’s records, but others are less familiar. One document that can be a stumbling point for many new contractors is a small business subcontracting plan. All large (Other than Small) businesses are required to draft a subcontracting plan, but for offerors who have never created a subcontracting plan, this document can seem daunting. In this blog, we’ll go over tips and tricks for drafting a subcontracting plan.

Whether you’ve been a GSA Schedule contractor for a few months or a few years, you’ve probably noticed that GSA regularly makes changes to the Multiple Award Schedule program, from Solicitation refreshes to system updates. One major change from the last few years is the launch of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Catalog Platform, more commonly known as FCP. GSA has rolled out FCP gradually since 2023, releasing periodic updates on the timeline for onboarding contractors and sharing information on the platform’s functions. Let’s go over GSA’s recent FCP updates, so you can be well prepared to transition your contract to the new platform.

Contractors reviewing the latest update to the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation under Refresh #23 will notice that many of the changes are technical updates regarding templates and modification guides. Some of the most notable updates include revised instructions for several Special Item Numbers (SINs) and edits to sample cover letters available on the available offerings for modification and mass modification guidance page.

Immediately after the release of Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation Refresh #23, GSA announced Refresh #24 which is expected to come out in January. Solicitation Refresh #24 includes updates that were removed from #23 along with some other changes to the overall Solicitation as well as specific Large Categories. Let’s review what we expect to see in this Refresh and how it may impact you as a GSA Schedule contractor.