Secure a GSA contract by becoming GSA certified
What is GSA certification? How can you expedite GSA acceptance? Do you really need to look for GSA certification expert services? In this FAQ article we’ll try to summarize the answers.
What is GSA certification
GSA certification is an informal name for the process of acquiring a General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule contract. A business is considered certified when it meets all the criteria to apply for a GSA Schedule. However, you should understand that there is no such thing as a GSA Certificate per se. The General Services Administration does not issue such documents.
Advantages of Small Business GSA Certification
GSA certification allows a small business to acquire GSA contracts. This, in turn, means that many GSA contracting opportunities become available to the company through federal acquisition platforms such as GSA eBuy and GSA Advantage. Moreover, the GSA always reserves a portion of federal contracts to small businesses, so as a GSA certified small business you are eligible to compete for those contracts.
GSA certification requirements
Before you can acquire a GSA contract, you should make sure your company meets GSA certification requirements. Here are some of the most important ones:
- Your company must be qualified as a small business. Currently, the GSA classifies a business as small if it has less than 500 employees or if its annual receipts do not exceed $7.5 million.
- Your company must be in business for at least 24 months. That is, you should have been selling on the commercial market what you intend to sell to the government for 2 years already, before you can apply for a GSA contract.
- You should have at least 6 past performance references.
- You should generate at least $100K in gross annual revenue and be financially stable.
Of course, these are merely the tip of the iceberg. There are pricelist, labor rates, compliance requirements and more. But the above ones are fundamental. If your company does not meet them, you are not ready for government contracts, unfortunately.
How to apply for a GSA contract?
A common misconception is that you should simply fill out some GSA application form, and after approval you can start selling to the government right off the bat. It does not work this way; applying for a Schedule is a long-term and complex process that includes registering your business, completing special training, submitting a set of required documents through a special platform, correctly placing bids on the RFQ platforms, etc.
Needless to say, attempting GSA certification without proper knowledge and understanding of what’s going on is doomed to fail. If you want to learn more about the GSA certification process, please visit Price Reporter’s website, where we regularly publish expert articles about GSA contracting in our blog.