The United States government entered a partial shutdown on December 22, 2018. It is late January, and the shutdown is still in effect today, surpassing the 22-day record for longest government shutdown in U.S. history. This unusually long shutdown has caused many to wonder how it will affect them and/or their business – especially those who do business with the government.

Following the award of your GSA proposal, you’ll be required to fulfill several reporting requirements as well as ensure that your pricing stays up-to-date and in compliance with the Price Reduction Clause. Being a new GSA Schedule vendor, these new requirements may seem overwhelming at first, so that’s why it’s important to stay in front of the requirements by knowing when and how to handle them.

On November 27th, the General Service Administration announced its intention to modernize federal acquisition and transform the Multiple Awards Schedule (MAS) program as we know it. GSA plans to consolidate the agency’s 24 Schedules into one single Schedule for both products and services and operate under a single solicitation with compressed terms and conditions.

During the government’s Fiscal Year 2017, federal agencies purchased nearly $70 billion worth of professional services making it the second-largest category of Government Spend. The General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) Professional Services Schedule (PSS) currently holds 4,258 awarded federal contractors to provide government customers with professional services, and new contractors are being added continuously, but only after what has become an average 12-month review wait time for New Offers under the PSS Solicitation.

Applying for a GSA Schedule can be a great way to grow your business, but it is not an easy and quick task, as many companies already know. What’s surprising is that the “fun” part, in the full sense of the word, begins after your contract has been awarded. Many companies achieve successful sales and retain their contract with the Government for 20 years, while others don’t even last 2 years or less from the inception date.

As a GSA MAS Schedule Contract holder, it’s important to stay current with all solicitation refreshes and potential changes to your Schedule contract. Each Schedule undergoes updates via refreshes periodically, and often, GSA will release a Request for Information to compile feedback and pertinent data from those whom the changes directly affect.