Some of the Latest on GSA & VA Schedule Contracts

GSA manages forty different schedules including ones specific to the Veteran Administration (VA) as well as a few that allow purchases from multiple schedules at once. Both the GSA and VA schedules offer a wide variety of products and services that the federal government seeks to procure. With a multitude of contract vehicles for which customers can use, even the GSA says that simply being awarded a GSA Schedule contract does not guarantee sales; you are going to have to market it to the various federal agencies.

Contract Type and Schedule Mismatch Continues

The federal government typically uses one of three contract types:

• fixed-price
• time & material, or
• cost-reimbursable

While each of these varies slightly from the other, they are, for the most part, basic federal contract types. It is important to note that sometimes the GSA schedule is not a good match for the contract type being awarded. However, the GSA schedule is primarily commercial market pricing, so for many service contracts this equates to T&M or hourly billing rates.

GSA Schedule Contracts based on T&M Billing Rates

When a cost-reimbursable or cost-plus-fixed fee contract is awarded using a GSA schedule and is based on T&M billing rates, you need to determine how to bill actual cost incurred. Consider what the customer expects to see in terms of billing as well. These issues need to be discussed during the solicitation phase, before your price proposal. This must be addressed because your indirect cost burden in the GSA schedule rates could be out of line with your current or provisional indirect cost rates.

Cost and Pricing Requests for a GSA Schedule Contract Award

Some solicitations will say they are being awarded under a GSA schedule, but then request cost and pricing data. Wait a minute! Is not the point of using the GSA schedule to reduce the procurement effort for both the customer and the vendor? Based on when your GSA schedule started as well as the number of economic price adjustments granted, your current cost and pricing data may not equate to the same labor category pricing.

Consolidation – Good News is On the Way for Professional Services Firms

According to an article in FCW, Efforts are underway to consolidate GSA schedule lists. It appears that the main focus of this consolidation is professional services. In a September 2014 post on GSA’s Interact Community, GSA is consolidating its professional services schedules from eight into (ideally) one. They have removed non-professional service SINs without sales from the existing Consolidated Schedule. Soon, all non-professional services SINs, including those with sales, will be removed from the current Consolidated Schedule and reassigned to more appropriate schedules. Their stated time to complete this is November 2015.