There is no single application that a company can fill out to obtain a GSA Schedule or get on the GSA list. Companies interested in getting on the GSA Schedule must undergo a lengthy and time-consuming proposal process. The following details the steps invovled in getting a GSA Schedule Contract.

 

The first step to getting on the GSA Schedule is determining if your company/organization is eligible to receive a GSA Schedule Contract Award. Before beginning the GSA Schedule proposal process the following must be met:

There are currently over 11 million products and services available through nearly 50 GSA Schedules. It is important you pick the appropriate Schedule for your product/service offerings. Depending upon your offerings, the appropriate Schedule may be immediately obvious, or may require an in-depth analysis of your products/services in comparison with the scope of various Schedules. If the correct Schedule is not identified before beginning the proposal process, you risk wasting months worth of work preparing a proposal that will be rejected. A list of GSA Schedules can be found on the GSA eLibrary website.

 

Once you have identified the appropriate GSA Schedule, download the corresponding solicitation from the Federal Business Opportunities website, FedBizOpps (http://www.fbo.gov). Links to the GSA Schedule solicitations can be found here.

 

In general, each solicitation will require data including, but not limited to: corporate and financial information, past performance, commercial practices, and a proposed GSA price list. The exact information and format required will vary from Schedule to Schedule. If your company/organization chooses to pursue a GSA Schedule Contract without outside assistance, this may be the most time-consuming step of the process. The Solicitations are not always clear and contractors frequently end up submitting proposals that are incorrectly formatted, incomplete, and swiftly rejected by GSA.

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TIP: Be cognizant of a possible Solicitation Refresh. Many companies who decide to take the GSA acquisition project in-house can take anywhere from months to over a year to complete the proposal. In this time GSA can issue a Solicitation Refresh which is an amendment that can potentially change the entire scope of the Solicitation. Once a Refresh is issued, contractors are typically given a set amount of time to submit proposals under the old Solicitation. After this time, proposals submitted under the outdated guidelines will be rejected.

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Your completed GSA Schedule Contract proposal should be submitted to the appropriate GSA Regional Office. Once there, it will be assigned to a Contracting Officer who will conduct an intense and thorough review. During this review the Contracting Officer will request additional information and/or clarifications.

 

The purpose of the GSA Schedules Program is to leverage the government's vast buying power to pre-negotiate discounted pricing. Once your Contracting Officer has completed a satisfactory review of your proposal, a conference call will be scheduled to negotiate pricing. It is crucial that you plan a negotiation strategy in advance to ensure the agreed upon discount is favorable to both potential government buyers and your company/organization.

 

After negotiations are complete you will prepare and submit a Final Proposal Revision (FPR) that synopsizes your entire proposal and includes the finalized pricing as negotiated with GSA.

 

Contractors will receive a Contract Award and GSA Schedule Contract Number approximately a week after submitting the Final Proposal Revision. Once awarded, you may begin selling from you Schedule immediately.