Dates to Mark on your GSA Schedule Contract Calendar
One-year point
If you have recently been awarded your GSA contract, congratulations. You are now on the clock. You have two years to generate $25,000 in GSA contract sales, a hard deadline which arrives more quickly than you’d expect (!). Begin executing your marketing plan immediately, and at the one-year point, we suggest you re-assess: Has your marketing plan generated the expected outcomes? Do you have enough potential business in the pipeline to meet your sales goal? It can take 12 months before you begin to see if a business development plan takes hold. Mark the one-year point, and reassess your current trajectory. Your contracting officer will reach out to you several months before your two-year anniversary to indicate the government’s intention to either continue their contract or to cancel it due to lack of sales. Be prepared.
EPA Date
After having a GSA Schedule contract for 12 months, contractors may be eligible for an Economic Price Adjustment. For many Schedules, you can submit three price increases per 12 month period, so long as the combined increases do not exceed the 12-month percentage cap.
Know the date you can submit your next EPA, and be forewarned. You are not able to recover missing a year’s EPA by doubling up on a request in subsequent years.
Contract End
Note your contract end date. Approximately 210 days (seven months) before that date, you’ll receive information regarding an option to extend your contract. Prepare, and expect this letter, as you have 45 days to respond.
Sunset Date
After your fourth and final renewal period goes into effect, you should begin to prepare a new GSA Schedule contract submission. Your current contract is still valid for the next five years, but every day past the renewal date shortens the length of time that a contract can be written against your GSA Schedule. If your company often wins one year BPAs with four year options, there’s bad news: when your BPA doesn’t span five FULL years, you won’t be eligible to compete for 1+4 contracts. It is imperative, then, to be preparing your new GSA Contract as soon as possible after your final option to extend has been exercised.
For more information, contact EZGSA at 301-913-5000 or Iwohner@ezgsa.com.