All About GSA Schedules Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center.

All About GSA Schedules

Arkansas ProcurementAssistance Center

Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center

“Helping Arkansas companies serve and supply public agencies and their contractors nationwide.”

Main Office: Metro Satellite: All locations: 127 West 5th Street Malvern, Arkansas 72104 Phone: 501/337-5355 Fax: 501/337-5045

P.O. Box 391/2301 S. University, Rm.110 Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 Phone: 501/671-2390 Fax: 501/671-2394

email: [email protected] Visit our website at: http://www.arcommunities.org/

Training and resources for Government contractors

All About GSA Schedules 2


Unlocking GSA Contracts• How the U. S. General Services Administration does

business• Office of Enterprise Development• Federal Acquisition Service (formerly FSS)• Public Building Service• Department of Veterans Affairs• Other agencies with similar IDIQ & GWACs• Resources available on GSA website (handout)



How GSA Organization LooksU. S. General Services Administration

Federal Acquisition

Service

Federal Telecom Service

Office of Enterprise

Development

Public Building Service

Services Acq. Ctr.

Manage-ment

Services

IT Acq. Center

General Products

Off. Supp. & Admin Services

Facilities Maint &

Hdwe

National Furniture



Other Than GSA Supply Service• Veterans Administration handles the medical supplies

& services Schedules for GSA.• Corps of Engineers issues large IDIQ multi-year

multi-award contracts with very challenging innovations.

• GSA Public Building Service issues multi-year multi-award IDIQ contracts.

• DOD e-Mall is similar to GSA Advantage• Many others have similar programs.



Typical Process• Find & download the correct solicitation• Analyze and make checklist• Compile data and prepare proposal• Call the PTAC for “scrubdown” appointment• Submit completed proposal to GSA• Wait 2-3 months or more for clarification letter• Clarify, negotiate, resolve issues, submit BAFO• Contract award often takes 4-6 months• Get onto GSA Advantage, and market to agencies



Characteristics of MAS Solicitations• Open season – no due date – Refresh method• Negotiated method – not sealed competitive bids• Very broadly written to include everything• You pick which items you want to offer• You quote your best long term prices, fob destination• You define what you offer for the prices• Intended for “commercial items” only• No guarantee of any purchases, but $25,000 req’d• Base period is 5 years, plus options up to 20 years



Contents of Solicitations• No standard format, sometimes similar to FAR Part 15• Cover page is 3-10 introductory pages – Ignore it• SF1449 is “Page 1 of x” not counting attachments• “Basic solicitation” means SF1449 and its pages• Attachments for specific commodities• Other attachments for proposal elements

– Past Performance– Product/service lists and pricing information– Service Contract Act Wage Determinations

• Variations in different commodity versions• Checklist or Summary of What To Submit



Getting Orders• After contract award, market to feds & get orders.• Keep track of all sales, and report to GSA quarterly,

pay the 0.75% Industrial Funding Fee.• Clients report all orders to PTAC as they occur• Update CCR and Dynamic Small Business Search

(Pro-Net) with new references as they occur• Maintain $25,000 sales per year minimum• Price adjustments may be submitted annually.• New products may be added annually.



Reassurance: Help Is Available

“This will seem daunting. Do not be discouraged. Your PTAC counsellors are here to help. Just call, identify yourself as a student in this class, and ask your question, or if you don’t know the question, express your confusion. You will get answers and advice and encouragement. We are not from the government and we are here to help.”


Break

Please return in 10 minutes.



Solicitation Analysis• Fill in SF1449, blocks 12, 17, and 30.• Find list of items, check the ones offered• Cross out in red all not-applicable parts• Mark all actions required after award• Mark all actions required in proposal• Fill in all blanks, identify items to attach• Compile checklist with tasks assigned



Classroom Exercise• You should be arranged into table groups of 6.• Each table has a different solicitation document that

you will work on together for the afternoon.• Get yourselves organized, somebody take notes on

the big poster sheets, divide the document so 2 or 3 people can work on each section.

• I will lead you through the first few steps of the Solicitation Analysis

• Share contact information with each other.



Techniques For Teaching It• PTACers should prepare their teaching copy before

their class, so they can find the parts to teach.• Have students download & print theirs before class,

make them punch and put in ring binder w/dividers• Show them the parts that will be demonstrated• Provide sticky tabs or notes to mark each page, also

2 colors of hiliters, red pens• Have them cross through the useless “cover pages”

with red ink. It makes them feel better. • Show them how to fill in SF1449 first. Goal in #1.



Yours should be partially filled in by the customer. For Schedules, do not fill in blocks 19-24 which are labelled “See Schedule”. In #12, put “None”. In #17, put all possible contact information. In #30, identify your signatory.



Keep Your Eye On the Goal



Things to Cross Out• Cover pages, compares to last version, useless• Size standards with NAICS, already know that• Estimated government purchases for each• Subcontracting Plan (but if you are “large”, we will

help you later)• Clauses related to exporting – you can add it later• Post-Award provisions and clauses – save for later• Make sure to do the red cross-out. It helps.



Fill-Ins To Demonstrate• Find list of SINs, have select yours and make a note• Find the Reps & Certs, compare to ORCA• Find the administrative fill-ins, usually in the “Basic

Solicitation” sometimes in attachments• Find the pages for entering price quotes• Find Past Performance “Open Ratings Inc.” Chart• Find CSP1 Commercial Sales Practices Form• Table groups take time to find these



Open Ratings Inc., Past Perf.• GSA contracts with a subsidiary of Dun &

Bradstreet, called Open Ratings, Inc., to evaluate your Past Performance

• You pay $125 for this service.• Each solicitation contains either a form for

you to fill out or a link to ORI’s website where you enter your references online and pay.

• Do not submit this until about two weeks before your proposal is ready to submit.



How To Do the CSP-1 FormTop Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4-b

SIN Last year’s Public Sales $ (w/dates)

Next year Federal $ forecast

Is Gov’t getting the best deal

Is any deal better than chart 4-a?

123 $300,0001/1/07-12/31/07

$25,000+ Yes No

456 $100,0001/1/07-12/31/07

$5,000 Yes No



Pricing Strategy• Government wants to be your “most favored

customer”, meaning they get your best prices.• FOB Destination means shipping & handling

costs are included (RFID tags, MilStd129)• GSA gets .75% Industrial Funding Fee so add

that to your price.• Add in any additional costs of doing business

with the Feds (extra clerical labor, bank fees, regulated wage & fringe, etc.)


Break

Please return in 10 minutes.



Narrative Parts of Proposal• Some commodity contracts have no narrative• Some require excrutiating detail to support price list• Most services contracts require description of similar

projects completed recently• Each table search your document: which is it?• Identify all items that offeror must prepare• List on poster sheet what you found.



Table Groups Report & Discuss• Each table present the oddities it found in its version

of the solicitation• Point out items requiring special attention, which you

will need to discuss with your PTAC counsellor• Everybody discuss how best to deal with these

requirements. • By sharing with each other, you get a better

understanding of how to do yours, and you come to realize if they can do it you can do it.



What Did We Learn Today?• It’s very hard to do and frustrating• It has peculiar requirements• It might not be worth the effort• It can be lucrative if done right• PTAC clients get the contract and make a profit

because we teach them to do it right• Report all sales through your contract in Quarterly

Report of Sales to GSA, pay the IFF, with a copy of it to your PTAC showing number of orders and total $.



Meet your APAC Staff• LaDonna Turpin, Procurement

Technical Assistance• Steve McDonald, Procurement

Advisor• Richard Evans, Procurement

Advisor• Sue Coates, Instructor &

Program Director• Jane Kriigel, Secretary II• Jan Rogers, Secretary II



How To Reach Us127 West 5th St. at Locust

Malvern AR 72104

Phone: 501-337-5355 Fax 501-337-5045

[email protected]

http://www.arcommunities.org APAC“Helping Arkansas firms serve & supply public agencies”



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All About GSA Schedules Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center.

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