Know About 5 Years GSA Schedule Contracts to Understand the Time Period

If you want to obtain a 5 years GSA contract then before submitting your offerings to the GSA, there are some basic areas that you need to review. Consider these areas before pursuing GSA Schedule contracts.

 

The GSA Schedule is a long-term governmentwide contract. These contracts between the federal agencies and contractors have a definite time duration. Millions of commercial products and services are available to federal customers. These products and services are offered at reasonable and balanced prices to the federal agencies due to the GSA Schedule program.

The blog will give an idea about the time frame which will help readers to understand the stages of the contract. The years of the GSA Schedule contract are divided into various kinds of activities and concerns.

So that is why it is important to understand all the stages of GSA contracts. Therefore, readers must be aware of all the 5 years of GSA Schedule contracts.  

Gather experience at first

If you have a business with no experience then you need to wait. So, if you have a start-up company then it is most likely you need to wait before diving into obtaining GSA Schedule contracts. It is because commercial companies or contractors need to provide at least 2 years of financial documents.

Basically, applicants for 5 year GSA contracts need to gather an ample amount of experience and generate revenue to obtain GSA Schedule contracts. Your company must have at least 2 years of experience. That is why gathering experience is necessary before diving into the procurement process of government contracting.

In case, you are going to pursue IT Schedule 70 then there is a program designed by the government of the United States. This program is called ‘Start-up spring board’. By getting to this program you can submit even without having 2 years of experience. The GSA Schedule contracts continue for 20 years. The duration of each option or phase is 5 years that can be renewed 3 times.

How much time does it take to obtain a GSA Schedule contract?

In order to obtain a 5 year GSA contract, you need to have patience and go through the process which is time-consuming. The time duration for obtaining a GSA schedule contract can be divided into 2 parts. Each part has specific concerns and activities associated with the process.

Time duration for making preparation for your proposal. The review process of your proposal by GSA and the time period for negotiation of your contract award. If you can understand these two parts then going through the process of the GSA Schedule contract would be clear to you.

It takes time to make preparations for getting the desired outcome. It can take anywhere from a few months to over a year to prepare your proposal on your own. After finishing the preparation of your proposal you can submit it to the GSA.

The second stage is the time period for reviewing the proposal that you have sent to the GSA. Going through the process of reviewing this stage will determine whether you will be able to a 5 year GSA contract or not. The time of reviewing process varies depending on the category of the GSA Schedule that you are pursuing in the federal market. The review process can take up to 2 to 3 months on average. If your proposal gets accepted then you will be able to obtain a GSA Schedule contract for the first 5 years. 

Renewal of GSA Schedule Contract

We have already said that the 5 year GSA contract continues for 20 years. Once your proposal gets accepted by the GSA then you will be able to obtain the contract which will have 5 years duration. After each 5-year period, you can renew your GSA Schedule contract. In this way, you can continue for 20 years. This is an option for extension of the GSA Schedule contract. With the option of 3 times renewal, the time period is divided into 4 sections and each section contains 5 years option period. You will be getting an email regarding a contract option extension from the contracting officer. They will send you an email six months before to give you a remainder. So basically, 5 years GSA contracts can be extended up to 20 years.

Conclusion

So start preparing for your government contracting goals and acquire a GSA Schedule contract for the first 5 years. We understand it is a time-consuming process but it is worth putting effort to generate stable income for 20 years. Make sure to stay committed for a long time as these are long-term contracts that can be extended up to 20 years.