How To Prepare A GSA Schedule

Tim LinkerNC PTAC

What Are GSA Schedules?

Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contracts

Contracting vehicles allow contracting officers to buy goods and services quickly without going through the traditional solicitation process

Contracts where prices and offerings have been agreed to in advance and are considered “fair and reasonable”

What Can A GSA Schedule Do For Your Company?

Provides contracting officers a way of buying from your company in amounts above $25,000 without going to open solicitation

Allows your sales staff to close the deal quicker because GSA schedules are a preferred method of contracting

Offers new teaming possibilities with other schedule holders

Creates sales opportunities through the establishment of Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA)

Assumptions

That you are registered and current in Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and the Online Representation and Certification Application (ORCA)

That you have a base knowledge of federal contracting, i.e. the FAR

That your company has been in business at least two years

That your company has actual sales on the products & services you are offering

What Type of Products & Services Are Included In The Schedules?

Environmental Services(899)Office Furniture (71 I)Information Technology and Services (70)Shipping, Packing, and Packaging Supplies (81 1 B)Building and Building Materials (56)

Medical Equipment and Supplies (65 II A)Mission Orientated Business Integrated Services, MOBIS (874)Language Services (738 II)Publication Media (76)Office Products Supplies and Services (75)Hardware Superstore (51V)

Getting Started

Main GSA web page

Convenient access to GSA E-Library web page

www.gsa.gov

GSA E-Library

One-Stop-Information web page

Search by contractor, keyword, schedule, or Special Item Number (SIN)

Quick Schedule link

www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov

Identifying What Schedule Fits Your CompanyLocate the schedule that best fits your offerings

Companies that offer products or services on two different schedules can use the consolidated schedule, 00CORP

The Schedule Summary

Identify which SIN(s) your company would like to offer

Review your competition already on schedule

Who’s Your Competition & What’s Their Offerings and Pricing?

Each contractor that is a particular schedule is listed

You can review their SIN(s), corresponding prices, and other pertinent information

Remember that not all pricing is created equally

Schedule Sales Query (SSQ), Who’s Selling and How Much?

Enables you to create various GSA sales reports

You can search GSA sales by:

Schedule

SIN

Contractor

Fiscal Quarter/Year(s)

http://ssq.gsa.gov/

The Schedule Summary… Again

After reviewing your competition return to the schedule summary web page

Link to the schedule solicitation on FedBizOpps to download the document

FedBizOpps Solicitation

Linked from the GSA web page

Solicitations are on-going, with no closing date

Solicitations may be taken down periodically for refreshment

Downloading The Solicitation

Click on “all files” to ensure that you get all the necessary materials

Keep a paper copy and electronic copy of the solicitation for your records

Getting Down To Business, How To Prepare A Service Proposal

Schedule SectionsI. Administrative Section

- Fill in the blanksII. Experience Section

- Describes your business and what services you are offering

III. Pricing Section- Details your pricing structure and how it was established

IV. Attachments

Important PointsRead the entire solicitation at least twice

- Most mistakes made during the proposal preparation process are made because individuals did not read the entire solicitation package first

Instructions are provided in the solicitation package for almost all questions- When in doubt, review the solicitation

Type requested information in Bold ItalicsStandard Form 1449

- Only fill out boxes 12, 17a, 17b, 30a, 30b, and 30cRemember to adhere to all stated page limitsIf the section does not apply to you, write in N/A

I. Administrative Section (899)

Proposal Checklist Standard Form 1449 Basic Company InformationAccounting SystemCredit Card AcceptanceIndustrial Funding Fee CertificationSIN(s) Offered

Delivery & TimesPayment AddressPlace of PerformanceContact for Contract AdministrationRepresentations and Certifications8(a) RepresentationService Contract Act Determination (Attachment 3)

Filling In The Blanks

Offeror’s Name and Address

Business Size

Authorized Negotiators

Company’s TIN

Security Clearances

Accounting System

Credit Cars Acceptance

SIN(s) Provided

II. Experience Section (899)A. Financial Capacity

- Provides the contracting officer with evidence that your company is financially solvent

B. Executive Summary- Details your company’s expertise, services, organizational controls, etc

C. Corporate Experience- Details your company’s past projects

D. Past Performance - Open Ratings requirement (Attachment 2)

A. Financial Capacity

Provide two years of financial statements- Profit/loss statements, balance sheets

You must explain all negative financial information shown, including negative equity and/or income

Often a Dunn & Bradstreet financial report or GSA Form 527 will be required

B. Executive Summary

Provides a “snapshot” of your company to the contracting officer

Explains your field of expertise and specific services offered for each SIN

Defines your plan for accomplishing any workDescribes your organizational & accounting

controls, quality control, man-power abilities, types of personnel, and use of subcontractors

C. Corporate Experience

You must provide three related and similar projects for each SIN offered that the client found acceptable, usually within a certain period of time (899, 2-3 years)

Each project must detail:1. Name2. Description3. Dollar Amount4. Project Duration (actual versus planned)5. Contact Information (name, phone, email, address, etc)

Services often must provide a professional compensation plan and letter addressing uncompensated overtime

Dunn & Bradstreet Open Ratings Report (Attachment 2)

1. Overall, how satisfied do you feel about the performance of this company during this transaction?

2. How reliably do you think this company follows through on its commitments?

3. How closely did your final total costs correspond to your expectations at the beginning of the transaction?

4. How well do you think the product/service delivered matched your order specifications?

5. How satisfied do you feel about the timeliness of the product/service delivery?

6. How satisfied do you feel about the quality of the product/service provided by this company?

7. How easy do you think this company is to do business with?8. How satisfied do you feel about the attitude, courtesy, and

professionalism of this company’s staff?9. How satisfied do you feel about the customer support you

received from this company?10 How responsive do you think this company was to

information requests, issues, or problems that arose in the course of the transaction?

11. What is the average purchase amount you made with this supplier in the past 12 months? (US$)

12. How long have you been doing business with this company?

QuestionsProvides a third-party assessment of your company

You must provide at least six references (up to 20)

Make sure that you notify your references and that they love your products/services

Submit your request three weeks before proposal submission

Cost: $125.00

A copy of your request is usually required in your solicitation package

III. Pricing Section (899)Prices must be “fully burdened” and include the

Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) - Currently ¾ of 1 percent (.0075%)- VA (medical supplies) ½ of 1 percent (.005%)

Provide SIN labor categories with corresponding duties, education, experience, etc

Offerors may provide both onsite and offsite ratesThere are different pricing requirements based on

whether you are using a commercial price or market price

Commercial Price List Requirements

Two copies of your Commercial Price List (CPL)- must be dated

One copy of your GSA pricing that contains your first year pricing only- increase is subject to the Economic Price Clause Adjustment (552.216.70)

Submit the Commercial Sales Practices Format-CSP-1 (Attachment 4)

Invoices supporting your Commercial Price List pricesNotation describing why your prices are fair and reasonable and

how it relates to your “Most Favored Customers”Rationale of your proposed annual sales through the schedule

Commercial Sales Practice Format (CSP-1, Attachment 4)

Offeror & SIN(s)

Sales in previous year and the dates

Estimated GSA schedule sales

Pricing better than or equal to your Most Favored Customer (MFC)?

Any other discounts or concessions?

CSP-1 Pricing Example

Commercial Labor Category

CommercialRates Per Hour

Most Favored Customer(s)

MFC Labor Categories

MFC Rates Per Hour

MFCCommercialDiscount

GSA Labor Categories

GSA Rates Per Hour

GSA Discount off MFC Rates

Biologist $60.00 Wake County Parks

Biologist I $54.00 10% Biologist $48.6 10%

Senior Biologist $80.00 Wake County Parks

Biologist II $72.00 10% Senior Biologist $64.8 10%

Hydrologist $45.00 Wake County Parks

Hydrologist I $41.50 10% Hydrologist $37.35 10%

Senior Hydrologist

$65.00 Wake County Parks

HydrologistII

$58.85 10% SeniorHydrologist

$52.65 10%

Environmental Technician

$35.00 Wake County Parks

Environmental Technician

$31.50 10% Environmental Technician

$28.35 10%

SurveyTechnician

$28.00 Wake County Parks

SurveyTechnician

$25.20 10% SurveyTechnician

$22.68 10%

Soil Analyzer

$60.00 Per Day

Wake County Parks

Soil Analyzer

$48.00 Per Day

20% Soil Analyzer

$45.6 Per Day

5%

GSA Price List

January 1, 2007

The Service Contract Act (SCA) Wage Determinations

McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act of 1965Provides a minimum wage rate and fringe

benefits for federal service contracts provided through service employees

All service contracts above $2,500 must provide the minimum wage and fringe benefits as detailed by the applicable wage determination

Consider what areas you feel that your GSA schedule work will take place and find the highest wage determination for that area

The Service Contract Act (SCA) Wage Determinations

www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/wage/main.htm

Search by category or alphabetically for similar titles or jobs

You may also search for wage determinations on-line, as your area may have been updated since the GSA solicitation was last posted

The Service Contract Act, Doing The Math

30090: Environmental Technician Wage Determination: Mecklenburg County, NC

US Dept. of Labor: No. 205-2391, 11-21-06

Wage: $19.09 Health & Welfare: $3.01Vacation: ¢.85 (10 days per year)Holidays: + ¢.85 (10 days per year)Total Hourly Rate:$23.80GSA Hourly Rate:$28.35

Attachments

1. Proposal Checklist- required for submission in many schedules

2. Dunn & Bradstreet Open Ratings Report3. Wage Determinations (SCA)4. Commercial Sales Practice Format (CSP-1)5. Small Business Subcontracting Plan

- not required for small businesses

Putting It All Together

Follow all the instructions in the solicitation, often multiple copies of various sections are required

Write a cover letter that introduces your company and any unforeseen issues that are lurking in your proposal

Create a table of contents and appendixPut your proposal in a three-ring binder, unless

you are told not to do soShip your proposal by courier and make sure

that you get a notice of receipt

Got Questions?

Tim Linker919.424.4453

tlinker@sbtdc.org