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.

SIP—it’s only three letters, but it can be a dense and frustrating program for GSA Schedule contractors. SIP, which stands for Schedule Input Program, is a software program created by the General Services Administration (GSA) for contractors to upload their contract information to GSA eLibrary and GSA Advantage! platforms. GSA contractors have to upload their catalogs and price lists to reflect the MAS Consolidation by March 31, 2021, so it's important you know how to use SIP.

[This article was last updated on November 10, 2020] Just as GSA contractors thought the updates were slowing down in frequency, the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) issued the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation 47QSMD20R0001 - Refresh # 5 on November 9, 2020.

Navigating the world of GSA with all its laws, regulations, and “government speak” is no small feat. Not only do you have to meet certain requirements and make sure you are abiding by certain laws, but you also have to learn a whole new language full of acronyms and abbreviations. How do you make sense of it all? That’s where consultants come in.

Once contractors acquire a GSA Schedule, they gain access to one of the largest buyers of goods and services in the world—the U.S. government. Since the U.S. government is one of the largest consumers, they want to receive the best values and prices available from contractors. This is where your Commercial Sales Practices (CSP) come in.