U.S. General Services Administration
Assemble Your Offer
Assembling your offer for a Schedule contract is a multi-step process that will require work and time. You'll need to gather and fill out documents about your company's finances, experience, products and services offered, and your company's business dealings.
There are two major components to this process:
- Complete forms we provide
- Compile information on your own.
You'll complete and upload some documents into eOffer as an attachment, and you'll enter some information directly into text fields in eOffer.
You'll need a digital certificate to access eOffer to view, download, and complete documents.
Complete These Forms
Many parts of your offer involve completing templates. We explain why the forms are required and how to complete them below. Where possible, we include examples and resources.
To locate full solicitation information, go to eOffer.
Agent Authorization Letter (if applicable)
If you have a third-party agent, such as a consultant helping you prepare or negotiate your Schedule offer, you will need an Agent Authorization Letter. If your authorized agent will also be authorized to sign contracts, you must also upload a valid digital certificate for that agent.
Next steps & more information about agent authorization lettersLetter Of Supply (if applicable)
If you (the offeror) are not the manufacturer of the product(s) being proposed, you need to provide an acceptable Letter of Supply. Required elements of the Letter of Supply vary based on the type of products you sell. The Letter of Supply Template provided will lay out the required components of the letter.
Pricing
Price Proposal Template
When completing a price proposal you will provide this information on a template based on the type of services and/or products you have selected. Currently MAS has two options related to pricing requirements, in both options your company provides a list of proposed prices for all offered products or services, including any additional descriptive and supporting information. The two options differ in the following ways:
- The Commercial Sales Practice or Traditional route. When opting to provide pricing information, you will complete a price proposal template. Also, you will provide the various discounts your company currently provides in the commercial and federal arena, please see the Commercial Sales Practice section below. We’ll use this document to verify that you are offering your best price to the government, i.e., the price you charge your Most Favored Customer (MFC). We must consider your MFC price highly competitive and determine it to be fair and reasonable for us to accept it. To complete your price proposal, use information that corresponds to published commercial price list(s) or market rate sheet(s), such as catalogs, invoices, contracts, etc. This will then be utilized to create a discount ratio that your company will be required to track and maintain throughout the life of the contract.
- Participate in the Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) pilot. Your list of proposed pricing will be compared to like or similar items and a pricing variability will be applied for negotiation. With TDR you do not submit your various discounts your company provides nor is your pricing tied to a MFC. Below is a list of participating TDR SINs under the consolidated Schedule.
| LARGE CATEGORY | SUBCATEGORY | SIN(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Facilities | Facilities Maintenance | 561210FAC |
| Facilities | Facilities Services | 238320, 541690E, 561730 |
| Facilities | Facilities Solutions | 541513 and 811310MR |
| Facilities | Facilities Supplies | 322291, 326119, 339994, 333318F, and 339113G |
| Facilities | Food Service Equipment | 311423, 333241, 335220, 336999, 332215T, and 333415REM |
| Furniture & Furnishings | Flooring | 314110SBSA |
| Furniture & Furnishings | Household, Dormitory & Quarters Furniture | 3FURNISH |
| Industrial Products and Services | Cleaning Supplies | 325611 and 325612 |
| Industrial Products and Services | Hardware and Tools | 332510, 333112, 532310, 332510C, 332510S, and 333TOOL |
| Industrial Products and Services | Industrial Products | 314120, 324110, 324191, 325320, 325998, 325998W, 335220D, and 335220E |
| Information Technology | ||
| Information Technology | IT Hardware | 33411 |
| Information Technology | IT Software | 54151 and 511210 |
| Miscellaneous | Apparel | 315210 |
| Miscellaneous | Personal Hair Care Items | 335210 |
| Miscellaneous | Complimentary Special Item Numbers | ANCILLARY* and NEW* |
| Office Management | Audio Visual Products | 334310, 334290OS, 334511T, and 541990AV |
| Office Management | Office Supplies | 339940, 339940OS4, and 339940OVER |
| Professional Services | Technical and Engineering Services (Non-IT) | 541330ENG, 541420, 541690, and 541715 |
| Scientific and Management Solutions | Testing and Analysis | 541380 |
Sample Labor Category Matrix
You must provide a detailed position description if your offer includes services. In the description, include functional responsibilities, minimum years of experience, minimum educational/degree requirements, and any applicable training or certification requirements.
If you usually substitute experience for education, explain how you calculate it (e.g., five years of experience equates to a BA/BS degree). The labor category matrix should also include information for three previous contracts that show what you charged for these labor categories.
Non-professional services must include a matrix that outlines the Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS), formerly Service Contract Act (SCA), categories with corresponding wage determination numbers and relevant pricing.
Compile This Information
You need to have information about your company and the work you have done. After you gather this information, have it ready to upload or input into eOffer. Each element you will need and what each will be used for is described below.
Financial Statements
Gather your company’s financial statements for the previous two-year period (audited, if available). At a minimum, each financial statement must consist of a balance sheet and income statement. We will use this information to ensure that your company is financially stable. Explain any information you disclose that reflects negatively upon your business.
Subcontracting Plan (if applicable)
Your company only needs to provide this subcontracting plan if your business is categorized as 'other than small.' 'Other than small' includes:
- nonprofit organizations,
- educational institutions, and
- 'large' businesses.
Your company size will be determined by the NAICS code that you believe the preponderance of work under your Schedule will fall.
GSA expects "other than small" businesses to provide opportunities to small businesses who can perform successfully as subcontractors.
Fill in and complete the subcontracting plan via eOffer. The sample template provided as part of the solicitation covers the 11 areas detailed in FAR clause 52.219-9(d).
Technical Proposal
The technical proposal details information and examples of your company’s experience that prove you can provide the products and services you are proposing to offer.
Your technical proposal must include narratives that you need to draft and submit via eOffer, along with the past performance evaluation that you previously obtained from Open Ratings, Inc. Depending on your Special Item Number (SIN), you might need to submit more documents in your technical proposal.
For more information required for the technical proposal, please review the category attachments and Available Offerings and Requirements incorporated into the solicitation. A contracting representative may request more documents during the review of your offer.
Professional Compensation Plan (if applicable)
You must submit a professional compensation plan for your employees if you are proposing professional services. The plan explains the company policies on salaries and fringe benefits for employees who will work under your contract. Individual compensation disclosure is not required.
Previous Notification of Determination to Not Exercise an Option Letters (if applicable)
Include with your offer copies of any cancellation or rejection letters received within the last two years for any previously awarded Schedule contracts or submitted Schedule offers.
Commercial Supplier Agreements (CSA) (if applicable)
If applicable, Commercial Supplier Agreements (CSA) must be submitted with offers. This makes it easier for us to review and negotiate each individual set of terms for compliance with federal law.
CSAs must be from the manufacturer. If you are the reseller of a product, any changes to the EULA must have a signature of approval from the manufacturer.
Agreements must be in an editable format (such as Microsoft Word), preferably with the portions of the documents that are federally non-compliant already removed.
Commercial Sales Practices Format (CSP-1) (if applicable)
Here you describe what you offer to your customers compared to what you are offering the federal government. We use this document to verify that you are offering your BEST price to the government (what we call your “Most Favored Customer” (MFC) pricing).
Our goal is to obtain equal to or better than your MFC under the same or similar terms and conditions. Depending on your Special Item Number/s (SIN/s), we may require you to submit more documents. We’ll ask for them after we’ve assigned a contracting officer to review your offer. Templates are provided in some cases for reference. You’ll enter information into eOffer directly.
CSP-1 information is only required with contracts that are not participating in the Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) Pilot.
Commercial Price List Or Market Rate Sheet
You should have already identified your business’s commercial price list while you were preparing your Price Proposal Template. You need this document to help show the prices you provide to your current customers. If you do not have a commercial price list, please provide a Market Rate Sheet if your firm maintains one.
We use these documents as a starting point to evaluate your companies pricing. This is also different than your Commercial Sales Practice that is listed above.
If you are participating in the Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) pilot, your list of proposed pricing will be compared to like or similar items and a pricing variability will be applied for negotiation. With TDR you do not submit the various discounts your company provides nor is your pricing tied to a Most Favored Customer (MFC).
Pricing Support Documentation
You must provide supporting documentation for each product and/or service you are offering and enter it into the Price Proposal Template. We use this to verify the information you are submitting is accurate.
Examples of documentation include published and publicly available catalogs, price lists, copies of invoices, contracts, quote sheets, etc. There must be a clear and relevant relationship between the supporting document and the proposed price it is meant to support. Each supporting document must be clearly labeled with the name of the corresponding proposed product or service.
If your current Commercial Price List (CPL) or Market Rate Sheet (MRS) does not cover the period of past sales reported on the Commercial Sales Practices Format (CSP-1), if providing an offer under the traditional clauses, you must also provide a copy of the CPL or MRS that does cover the majority of that period.
Price Narrative
Prior to a contract award being made, the GSA contracting officer must determine the proposed prices are fair and reasonable. Fair and reasonable means that the prices are highly competitive with the commercial and federal market.
If you are providing an offer through the Commercial Sales Practice/traditional format you need to demonstrate that this pricing is also the same (or better) than what you offer your Most Favored Customer (MFC). If a price offered to GSA is not equal to or better than the price offered to your designated Most Favored Customer, your narrative must explain the rationale for proposing such a price in a way that the contracting officer can determine that the rate is fair and reasonable. You must explain any deviation from your commercial sales practice, including the specific circumstances and frequency of the deviations.