Or perhaps you're being pulled by the "carrot": you know there are customers out there you haven't yet met who'll consider buying your stuff once you've been awarded a GSA contract. Your market will likely get bigger, in other words.

Chances are it's a combination of these two factors.

So what do you do to get on the Schedule? The purpose of this article is to provide a rough outline of what you'll be facing, whether you go it alone or hire a consultant.

Overview Of The Process

The GSA Federal Supply Schedule Contract, formally known as the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Contract, has rules and legal implications different from other government contract types. The applicable rules are in the GSAR, not the FAR.

Generally speaking, you can get a contract after you've gone through the following steps:

• Prepare a proposal that completely responds to the solicitation, making sure that your pricing disclosures are current, accurate and complete.
• Submit the proposal to GSA and respond to CO requests for clarifications and discussions.
• Draft your final proposal to define the "basis of award."

If you win an award, you'll receive a contract number with a copy of your original proposal and all correspondence.

You'll then prepare a publishable version of a price list that reflects the awarded contract and submit copies to GSA. You'll also submit your final price list in a specific database format for upload to GSAAdvantage.gov.

The Solicitation Package

GSA expects you to return a complete solicitation package, including a filled out and signed Standard Form 1449, along with the following:

1. The basic solicitation. You must complete all clauses that require responses.
2. Your company's commercial pricelist. Two copies of your dated (or otherwise identified) commercial pricelist and catalog containing the products you plan to offer must be submitted with your offer.
3. Commercial Sales Practice Format (CSP-1).
4. Additional data. This may include, but is not limited to, a letter of supply from the manufacturer of the products offered, and documentation to support the difference between the discount offered to the government and the best discount available.

Basis Of Award

This long, crazy process really comes down to establishing for the government your commercial pricing. GSA will try to lock in pricing based on that of your most favored customers.

The most complicated proposals to prepare are the ones for companies that have large product lines and complex or poorly documented discount practices. Such companies are particularly good candidates for consulting help, because it is important to disclose your pricing accurately, while, at the same time, establish the best pricing you can.

Analysis and explanation of pricing is critical: you don't want to get locked into deep discount pricing that will harm your bottom line in the years to come; and, too, you don't want to fail to disclose important information that would've been a part of the basis of award. That can get you in trouble.

Post Award

You have to keep your contract current. When there is a change in pricing or discount practice, you need to file a modification request reflecting that change. Price increase modifications must be carefully justified. All approved modifications require an update to your price list and a re-upload to GSAAdvantage.gov.

You must also report the amount of sales under the contract each quarter and pay GSA 1% of that amount. (Good news: the fee goes down to 0.75% in January 2004.)

Conclusion

Getting on the Schedule isn't easy, but you have a shot at doing it properly if you're careful and persistent. If you need help, let us know. We'll explain what we do and how we might assist you. Send us an email: editor@fedmarket.com.