GSA Modifications and Why They are Good for You

Welcome to all... To the Premier Blog for the most boring of subjects: Federal Government Contracting. The good news is that you will find nuggets of information that you can trade in for payments from the government. Hey, send me a question or two and I'll have more fun blogging! GB. Summer, 2012.

Are you ignoring an opportunity to make more money with GSA? Once you get on contract, you can update your prices yearly with a contract modification (mod). And if you don’t update prices regularly then you are losing money, simply due to inflation. For example, the Department of Labor (DoL) publishes a yearly cost of living index used to help calculate salaries and wages. If you don't adjust prices, you are falling behind. And if you sell products, chances are that your suppliers have increased their prices.

In fact, you can update prices up to three times per year under special circumstances, such as rising prices of fuel or raw materials. Always check with your contracting officer first to see if a contract modification is right for you at this time.

There are plenty of other reasons besides pricing why you might want to mod your contract, such as personnel changes, moving your business to a new location, adding products, deleting products, and so on. You can even lower your prices to be more competitive (it happens).

The following list comes right from GSA eMod, the electronic portal for contract modifications. Note that you will need a “digital certificate” to access eMod; one of our earlier Blogs talks about digital certificates. Fortunately, we can use the GM Beckert digital certificate while you obtain yours, so there is no delay in processing the modification.

We can’t cover every one of the contract mod types here, but this list will give you a good idea of things you can do. Since there are different mod types, the information required for each one is different. You will need supporting information and maybe a revised “Commercial Sales Practices” (CSP) form. The mods need not take too long, if your modification package is complete. We use the Rapid Access Modification (RAM) for most changes, so let me know if you need to make more money from GSA.

Additions

• Add Labor Category
• Add Product(s)
• Add SIN
• Add Service Offerings

Administrative

• Contract Administrator/Point of Contact (POC)
• Authorized Negotiator
• Email Address Change
• Fax Change
• Point of Contacts for Manufacturers, Dealers, Resellers, Agents
• Telephone Change
• Website Address Change

Cancellation Or Deletions

• Cancel Contract
• Deletions
• Delete Labor Category
• Delete Product(s)
• Delete Service Offerings
• Delete SIN

Legal

• Change of Name Agreement
• Novation Agreement

Pricing

• Temporary Price Reduction
• Economic Price Adjustments (EPA) with Commercial Price List (increase)
• Economic Price Adjustments (EPA) without Commercial Price List (increase)
• Permanent Price Reduction (Based on Most Favored Customer)
• Permanent Price Reduction (Industry Partner requested)
• Wage Determinations

Technical

• Change in geographic coverage (scope)
• Part(s) Number Change
• Product Descriptive Change
• Service Descriptive Change

Terms And Conditions

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
• Create/Manage Clause Exception(s)
• Disaster Recovery
• E-Verify
• Re-representation of Non-Novated Merger/Acquisition
• Re-representation of Business Size
• Revise Terms and Conditions

Of course, you can do a modification yourself, and the GSA web site at www.eoffer.gsa.gov gives an overview of the process, especially on the digital certificate. Just remember each schedule has its own unique requirements, and each mod type needs specific information.

If this seems like a lot to do, and a little difficult to navigate the process; contact GM Beckert at (321) 795-3849 or email gmbeckert@gmail.com for more information. We handle all mods for one low fixed price, so there are no surprises. Even if you just have a quick question, give us a call for no-charge advice. Take care, and stay tuned for more fascinating information on government contracting and the magic of GSA!