FEDERAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Federal Contracting Acronyms and Terms: A Glossary for GSA MAS Contractors

Federal contracting has more acronyms than a hardware store has fasteners. This glossary defines the terms GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contractors meet most often, and it flags legacy terms that still appear in older materials but no longer describe how MAS works today.

Which GSA and MAS terms should you know?

MAS

Multiple Award Schedule, GSA’s commercial contract vehicle, also called the GSA Schedule

GSA

General Services Administration

FAS

Federal Acquisition Service, the part of GSA that runs MAS

FSS

Federal Supply Schedule, the broader program authority under which schedules such as MAS operate

SIN

Special Item Number, a GSA category for a group of similar products or services

OLM

Order-Level Materials, a SIN that lets certain ancillary materials and other direct costs be handled at the order level, subject to solicitation terms

TDR

Transactional Data Reporting, the monthly line-item sales reporting required of MAS contractors

SRP

FAS Sales Reporting Portal, where TDR sales are reported

IFF

Industrial Funding Fee, the 0.75 percent fee on reported sales, remitted at least quarterly through Pay.gov

eOffer

GSA’s system for submitting MAS offers

eMod

GSA’s system for submitting modifications and accepting mass modifications

Mass mod

A GSA-initiated modification issued to many or all MAS contracts

FAS ID

The login used to access GSA systems, with multi-factor authentication

VSC

Vendor Support Center, GSA’s resource hub for MAS vendors

FCP

FAS Catalog Platform, the system for catalog submissions

VPP

Verified Products Portal, GSA’s system for verifying manufacturer product information

SCP-FSS-001

The MAS offer instructions

Pathways to Success

GSA’s training for prospective MAS vendors

Readiness Assessment

GSA’s pre-offer self-check

FASt Lane

A GSA pathway for expedited review of certain offers, subject to current terms

LOS

Letter of Supply, a manufacturer letter required only in limited cases

BPA

Blanket Purchase Agreement, an agreement an agency establishes for recurring purchases

RFQ

Request for Quotation, typically how MAS orders are competed on eBuy

TAA

Trade Agreements Act

GSAR

General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation

Which legacy terms should you retire?

These terms describe the old MAS pricing and reporting model or are simply incorrect. You may still see them in older articles, proposals, and consultant checklists.

CSP

Commercial Sales Practices, the disclosure format formerly required for MAS offers and modifications. It was removed by Refresh 31 in April 2026 for MAS. VA schedule requirements are separate

MFC

Most Favored Customer, the customer that received your best pricing under the old model

BOA

Basis of Award, the customer relationship used as the benchmark for old price reduction obligations

PRC

Price Reductions Clause, the older version tied to BOA. The TDR version, GSAR 552.238-81, addresses voluntary or GSA-requested reductions

72A

The former quarterly sales reporting system, replaced by monthly TDR reporting

CAF

Not a MAS term. The correct term is IFF

Open market items

Older term, now generally addressed through the OLM SIN

FedBizOpps

The former federal opportunities site, replaced by SAM.gov in 2019

What are common federal procurement acronyms?

CO

Contracting Officer

COR

Contracting Officer’s Representative

CLIN

Contract Line Item Number

CPARS

Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System

PPQ

Past Performance Questionnaire

FAR

Federal Acquisition Regulation

IDIQ

Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract

GWAC

Governmentwide Acquisition Contract

RFI, RFP, IFB

Request for Information, Request for Proposal, Invitation for Bid

SOW, PWS

Statement of Work, Performance Work Statement

NTE

Not to Exceed

BAFO

Best and Final Offer

COTS

Commercial Off-the-Shelf

OIG

Office of Inspector General

OSDBU

Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

SCA

Service Contract Act

NAICS

North American Industry Classification System

PSC and FSC

Product Service Code and Federal Supply Classification

SAM.gov

System for Award Management

UEI

Unique Entity ID, which replaced the DUNS number

CAGE

Commercial and Government Entity code

eSRS

Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System

ISR and SSR

Individual Subcontract Report and Summary Subcontract Report

What are common small business acronyms?

SBA

Small Business Administration

8(a)

SBA’s Business Development Program

HUBZone

Historically Underutilized Business Zone

WOSB and EDWOSB

Women-Owned and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business

VOSB and SDVOSB

Veteran-Owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business