A GSA Schedule, also known as Federal Supply Schedule and Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), is a long-term government-wide contract with commercial companies that provide access to commercial products, services, and solutions at pre-negotiated pricing. The GSA Schedule was developed to assist federal agencies in purchasing products and services. The contracts contain pre-negotiated prices, delivery terms, and other terms and conditions that have been agreed upon between the government and the contractor. The GSA evaluates each offeror to determine if they are responsible contractors, according to FAR Subpart 9.1. Once a company is awarded a GSA Schedule contract, they can have it for up to 20 years.
GSA Schedules have been synopsized in Contract Opportunities on SAM.gov and satisfy the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (Pub. Law 98-369) and FAR Part 5, Publicizing Contract Actions. Therefore, in general, competitive (fair opportunity) Schedule Orders and Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) are not required to be synopsized on SAM.gov.
In the eyes of a government buyer, a GSA Contract legitimizes a Contractor as a trusted source. You are not required to get a GSA Contract to do business with the government, however, it is the preferred contracting source for many buyers. Every GSA Contract holder has access to online GSA systems, such as GSA Advantage!, GSA E-Buy, GSA Reverse Auctions, and are easily found by buyers seeking out a particular product or service.
