Qualifying for a GSA Contract

A GSA contract delivers many GSA benefits, but obtaining a GSA Schedule contract can be difficult.  You must determine which Federal Supply Schedule best represents your products and services, download the GSA solicitation, prepare a GSA proposal including your proposed GSA pricing. Before you go through the process of getting on the GSA schedule, double check to make sure your firm qualifies.

Qualifying for a GSA Schedule Contract

Does your firm qualify for a GSA Contract? To be considered for a schedule, a company will be evaluated against a range of criteria having to do with:

• Government's need for your products or services,
• Financial stability,
• Responsiveness
• Past performance with other clients,
• Ethics, and
• Willingness to make the Government your most favored customer.  

Put another way, to obtain a GSA schedule, your firm must:

• Show that its services fit within the scope of a particular GSA schedule.
• Demonstrate that it is financially sound and able to carry out government contracts
• Has good client references
• Has actually performed work on projects similar to what you are proposing to GSA
• Offer GSA your best pricing (some exceptions to this however)

GSA Qualification Questions

There are many different Schedules, and some may have slightly different criteria, but consider the following on how to qualify with GSA:

• Have you already sold your product or service in the commercial marketplace?  GSA usually doesn't allow products/services that have not sold the product before.   
• Does the company have at least 4 customer references (who will say great things about your firm)? Plan on submitting 6-20 references to ensure that 4 response (the minimum required).
• Have you  been in business for at least 2 years? GSA generally believes early stage firms have not had time to establish adequate finances, sales, and clients.  There are some exceptions to this however. And the two years must be operational, not simply that you incorproated two yearas ago.
• Can you document past sales practices through product or labor rate sheets, proposals, paid invoices, internal pricing policies or similar documentation?
• Is your firm financially able to support task orders should the Government approve your Schedule proposal?
• For service firms, do you have written job descriptions, quality control plans, and employment and compensation policies?
• For resellers, can you obtain a letter of supply from manufacturers authorizing you to sell their products?
• Are your products Trade Agreement Act (TAA) compliant?
• Are you willing to make the government your most favored customer? In other words, give them your best discounts.  This is required for most firms however some firms, like manufacturers using dealers and resellers, may negotiate a different deal.
• Has your firm or its principals been disbarred from doing business with the Federal government or, within the last three years, or had a criminal or civil judgment against it with regard to Federal, state, or local government contracting?

If you answered yes to all but the last question, then your firm can be awarded a schedule.

The following free ebook provides lots of tips to help you decide if a GSA schedule is right for your firm and checklists to determine if you qualify.