Winning a GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract takes months of work, and the day it is awarded can feel like a finish line. It is really a starting line. A schedule that is not maintained becomes less useful to buyers and can drift out of compliance. With fourth-quarter ordering ahead, late spring is a good time for a maintenance pass, so that buyers who find you in July see accurate offerings, prices and contacts.
Keep offerings and prices current through modifications
Your schedule contract defines what you may sell and at what ceiling prices. Changes require modifications, which are requested through GSA’s electronic systems and approved by your contracting officer. Common modifications include:
- Adding new products, services or labor categories within your awarded special item numbers
- Adding special item numbers to broaden what you can offer
- Deleting items you no longer provide
- Economic price adjustments, made under the terms your contract allows
- Administrative updates, such as a new address or point of contact
Modifications take time to process, so plan ahead. A labor category or product you want to offer in August should be submitted well before then. GSA also periodically issues mass modifications, often called refreshes, that update the terms of schedule contracts. Read each one carefully and act on it within the time allowed, since an unaccepted refresh can leave your contract out of step with the current solicitation.
Keep the catalog accurate
Buyers search GSA Advantage and GSA eLibrary to find schedule holders and their offerings. Once a modification is approved, update your catalog or price list to match. Mismatches between your contract and your catalog confuse buyers and can cause orders to stall. Check product descriptions, part numbers, prices, delivery terms and contact details at least once a quarter.
Report sales and remit the fee on time
Schedule contractors report their sales under the contract each quarter and pay the industrial funding fee that supports the program. Reporting is expected even when a quarter’s sales are zero. Late or inaccurate reporting is one of the most common compliance problems, and it is easily avoided by putting the deadlines on a shared calendar with a named owner and a backup.
Watch the commitments that follow you
Depending on your contract’s terms, you may have obligations tied to your commercial pricing, such as a price reductions clause that requires you to pass along certain price decreases, or you may report transactional data instead. Understand which applies to your contract and keep the records that show compliance. Keep documentation of the commercial sales practices you disclosed during negotiations, and notify your contracting officer if those practices change in ways the contract requires you to report.
Schedule contracts also carry minimum sales expectations, and GSA can cancel contracts that do not meet them over time. If your schedule has been quiet, a mid-year review is a good moment to ask whether your offerings, pricing and marketing match what buyers in your category are ordering.
Expect review, and be ready for it
GSA may review a contractor’s compliance with schedule terms, including sales reporting, pricing, country-of-origin requirements and recordkeeping. Firms that keep orderly records rarely find these reviews difficult. Current guidance, training and the official systems for modifications and reporting are available at gsa.gov, and the FAR’s rules for ordering from schedules are at acquisition.gov.