GSA created a Consolidated Schedule (00CORP) for companies needing more than one Schedule to cover their offerings. It's a step toward a single GSA Schedule for all products and services, but it falls short in its coverage.

To make matters worse, several years ago procurement policy violations related to GSA Schedules came to light during the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq. An Army investigation identified employees of a federal contractor as interrogators implicated in the torture and abuse of prisoners. The interrogators were hired under an information technology GSA schedule.

The scandal caused GSA to become extremely sensitive to the "fit" of a company's products and services to a particular Schedule. This has increased the rate of proposal rejections based on scope of work issues (the "fit" of a product or service to a particular Schedule). Small businesses spend considerable amounts of money developing GSA Schedule proposals and a proposal rejection can be a major financial blow.

Answering the question "Which GSA Schedule fits my company?" requires experience and tenacity. The quagmire of GSA Schedule scope of work and red tape issues has spawned an entire industry of GSA Schedule consultants, present company included. Selecting the right Schedule for your company is crucial. If GSA rejects your proposal and you have to start over--let's just say that rewriting a 150-page proposal is not fun.

Once you have identified the right Schedule, read and make sure you understand the solicitation. The terms and conditions the solicitation contains are the rules for contract performance and administration that you will have to follow if you receive a GSA Schedule contract.