The fourth quarter (Q4) of the government fiscal year is here! July 1st through September 30th is typically when federal agencies rush to spend their remaining budgets for the year, resulting in an increase in procurement opportunities. Below are a few tips to successfully market your GSA Schedule contract during Q4:
Have A Strong Web Presence: By maintaining an informative section for your government products and/or services on your company website, you can easily direct potential federal customers to your contract information and capabilities.
Understand Demand: You should research agencies’ missions and goals to assess which potential customers you should be targeting with your products or services. Using databases such as SAM.gov and USAspending.gov, you can review recent and historical award data as well as budget information to understand agencies’ buying behaviors and how your offerings might suit their upcoming needs.
Use GSA Procurement Tools: MAS contractors have access to GSA’s free procurement sites, including GSA Advantage! and GSA eBuy. Contractors offering products through GSA Advantage! should optimize their catalog by adding keywords, accurate photos, and informative descriptions. It’s also important to frequently review current RFPs, RFQs, and RFIs available through GSA eBuy to ensure you don’t miss any opportunities.
GSA Schedule contractors should actively maintain their presence in the federal marketplace throughout the entire year, not just Q4. Additional strategies for government marketing are detailed in our recent blog.
Join GSA and the Department of Health and Human Services Grants QSMO to learn about the Grants Management SIN, how your business can apply, and how cooperative purchasing potentially expands your customer base.
Join the Professional Services and Human Capital (PHSC) New Contractor Orientation, specifically designed for newly awarded MAS contract holders to enhance GSA Schedule Contract management skills.
Government spending is ramping up now that Q4 is here—are you ready? The federal government’s Q4 runs from July 1 through September 30, and is the busiest period of the year for many government agencies, as they seek to obligate their remaining funds before the end of the fiscal year. It’s not too late to take advantage of these opportunities. Join us for a webinar on how you can optimize your GSA Schedule during Q4.
We’ll discuss:
Why Q4 is important for contractors
Important GSA Schedule contract maintenance tips and common pitfalls
Strategic ways to enhance your GSA Schedule contract
The basics of marketing to federal customers
Make sure to join us to learn how you can maintain and market your GSA contract to finish out Q4 strong.
Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) became mandatory for all GSA Schedule holders on July 1st. For new TDR participants, the first monthly sales reports which include transactional data elements are due by August 30th (for sales data from July). Contractors already participating in TDR also have some changes to make: Effective July 1st, there are 6 newly required data fields (if applicable to your GSA offering): Ship Date, Order Date, Zip Code Shipped To, Federal Customer, UCID, and Cloud Service Type.
To allow new contractors to acclimate to TDR requirements, GSA has announced a grace period, which will last through the reporting period ending on December 31st, 2026. While sales are required to be reported, contractors will not be penalized for noncompliance or discrepancies during this time. Instead, errors will receive “soft flags” on missing or invalid data. This grace period also applies to the newly required fields for existing contractors. For more information on TDR requirements and reporting, check out our recent webinar on the topic.
QUICK TIP
A Quick Guide to Reviewing Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
Now that Q4 has begun, you'll see a lot more RFPs come across your desk. It might be overwhelming to figure out how to review and vet them all in a timely manner, so here are 3 tips to help you streamline and make the most out of the process:
Start with the Main Sections: Don't read the solicitation from front to back like it's a book, you need to start with the heart of the document so you know if you meet the requirements first:
Instructions and Proposal Deliverables (Section L)
Evaluation Factors (Section M)
Statement of Work (SOW) and Performance Work Statement (PWS) (Section C).
Create Milestones for the Review Process: Once you have decided you want to go after the RFP, you need to be organized in your proposal creation and review. You should divide your review into color teams:
Pink Team: Review when draft is 60% completed, focused on content not grammar or style.
Read Team: Review when draft is 90% complete, all main edits and graphics completed. Focus on compliance and clarity here.
Gold Team: Focus on high-level win themes and make sure your differentiators are strong and the proposal pricing is competitive.
Don't Bid on Every RFP: It's tempting to go after every opportunity, but unless your team has endless time and resources, not every RFP will make sense to put the effort and time in. Choose the ones that make the most sense and have the best ROI for you.
EMERGING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Technologies, Products or Services for Development of Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Crew stations
U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), on behalf of the Crew Optimization and Augmentation Technologies (COAT) program, has released a sources sought under NAICS Code 541715 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)) to identify contractors with near or completed production of commercial technology, products or services with MilSpec’d, but minimally automotive/industrial quality, that can survive the operating conditions on combat/tactical vehicles. The offering must provide new or improved crew station capabilities in terms of performance, efficiency or reliability, embedded training systems for learning how to better operate and utilize the crew station equipment inside the crew’s actual combat vehicle, virtual experimentation modelling and simulation, and development and testing tools with engineering services that are specifically designed for the development or integration of crew station capabilities. Interested contractors should complete the COAT RFI Data Collection Template and attach any supporting documents. Responses should be submitted by August 2, 2026. Additional information is available under Notice ID: OPSEC10785.
Small Business Providers Software Publishing
The Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA) Management & Operating Contractor of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) owned Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has released a sources sought under NAICS Code 513210 (Software Publishers) to identify vendors that can supply commercially available software products, software licensing, updates, maintenance, and technical support solutions. INL conducts research and operational activities requiring secure, compliant, and reliable software solutions, and vendors will be responsible for providing Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software, licensing and renewals, maintenance services, cybersecurity-compliant software solutions, technical support, and product expertise. Interested vendors should submit an Expression of Interest that includes a description of software products and solutions currently offered, relevant experience providing software support services, technical support capabilities, and fulfillment capacity to the primary point of contact by August 4, 2026. Additional information can be found under Notice ID INL-26-043.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
In February 2026, GSA decommissioned the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) that managed subcontracting reporting for all applicable GSA MAS vendors. In its place, SAM.gov, has taken over subcontracting reporting. While GSA is still working out the kinks ,and the deadline for this year’s subcontracting reporting has already been extended twice, here’s some frequently asked questions on the subject.
Q: Who In My Company Can Access the Subcontracting Reporting?
A: To access the subcontracting reporting portal in SAM.gov, you must have an account with SAM.gov (it’s free) and be assigned as an Administrator or Data Entry role on your company’s SAM.gov registration. Further, your role must have the “Manage Subcontracting Plan Reporting” Permission enabled. If you are not either of these things, you must have an Entity Administrator at your company assign you to the position.
Q: How Do I Start the Process to Submit a Subcontracting Report in SAM.gov?
A: To start a subcontracting report, you must be logged into SAM.gov. In the homepage, you can navigate to your workspace and select “Entity Reporting”. From there, you can select “Create New Report” to start the process. Below are some links that will continue to walk you through the process of subcontracting reporting:
Q: What Do I Do If I Can’t Submit My Subcontracting Report?
A: The transition to SAM.gov from eSRS has had plenty of roadblocks. Many contractors have run into technical issues with the system when trying to submit their reports. If you encounter issues like this that are preventing you from completing your report, open a ticket with the Federal Service Desk (FSD). In addition, reach out to your Contracting Specialist to let them know you’re having technical difficulties so that they’re aware.
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