**Artifact** from Bead: Gsa Schedule · [canonical source](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/22fb8955-2113-4dcd-a46f-29d968acbb38/2026-06-26/artifacts/gsa-schedule-loe-and-process.md) · session 2026-06-26 · discussion: Talk: Gsa Schedule
**Prepared:** 2026-06-26 · **Bead:** [`22fb8955`](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/22fb8955-2113-4dcd-a46f-29d968acbb38/about.md) · **Status:** decision-support draft (not legal/contracting advice) · **Scope:** four offerings — hardware, software (SaaS), annual subscription, GIS services > **Reverify before filing.** SIN numbers, thresholds, and program rules below are > training-knowledge as of Jan 2026. Confirm against [gsa.gov MAS](https://www.gsa.gov/mas), > [SAM.gov](https://sam.gov/), and the live MAS solicitation (the consolidated solicitation on > [eOffer/eMod](https://eoffer.gsa.gov/)) before acting.
## 1. TL;DR - **One contract, four SINs.** Since the 2019–2020 consolidation there is a single GSA **Multiple Award Schedule (MAS)**. Simtable files **one offer** and elects the SINs for hardware, SaaS, subscription, and GIS services. It is an IDIQ "hunting license," not a guaranteed order. - **Timeline:** **6–12 months** typical end to end (≈3–6 of that is your prep; the rest is GSA review/negotiation). Faster (~4–8 mo) with a consultant; slower (12–18 mo) DIY with stumbles. - **Cost:** DIY ≈ **200–400 internal labor hours**; consultant ≈ **$15k–$40k** to prepare and negotiate the offer, plus a smaller annual retainer for compliance. - **The gating risk is the hardware's Trade Agreements Act (TAA) country-of-origin.** Resolve *where the units and their major components are made* before you spend a dollar on the rest. - **Recommendation:** strongly consider whether **MAS is even the right first vehicle**. For IT hardware + SaaS to federal buyers, **NASA SEWP V** or selling **through an existing schedule-holder/reseller** is often faster and lighter than holding your own MAS. Hold your own MAS when you have (a) repeat direct federal demand and (b) the bandwidth for ongoing compliance.
## 2. What the GSA Schedule is (and what "getting on" buys you) The MAS is a government-wide **IDIQ contract**. Award gives Simtable: - A GSA contract number and a listing on **GSA Advantage!** and **GSA eBuy** (where COs post RFQs). - Pre-negotiated ceiling pricing, so agencies can buy without a full open-market competition. - Access to **cooperative purchasing** (many state/local/tribal buyers can use IT and security SINs). It does **not** guarantee sales. You still market, respond to eBuy RFQs, and compete. There is a **minimum-sales expectation**: ~$25,000 in the first 24 months and ~$25,000 each 12 months after, or GSA may cancel the contract.
## 3. SIN map for Simtable's four offerings A single offer can carry all of these. (Reverify SIN numbers against the live solicitation.) | # | Offering | Primary SIN | Alt/secondary | Large Category | Key requirement | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | **Hardware** — sand-table units, projectors, depth sensors, peripherals | **33411** Purchasing of New Electronic Equipment | 332999 / OEM-specific | Information Technology | **TAA country-of-origin**; letters of supply for any resold OEM components; product price list | | 2 | **Software (SaaS)** | **518210C** Cloud & Cloud-Related IT Professional Services | **511210** Software Licenses | Information Technology | Cloud-deployment terms; FedRAMP question; published subscription SKU pricing | | 3 | **Annual subscription** | **518210C** / **511210** (term/subscription SKU) | — | Information Technology | Clean per-unit annual price; renewal/auto-renew terms compliant with FAR | | 4 | **GIS services** | **541370GEO** Geospatial Services | **54151S** IT Professional Services | Professional Services / IT | Labor-category descriptions + rates, education/experience mins, escalation | Notes: - **518210C vs 511210:** put pure cloud-hosted SaaS and the subscription on **518210C**; put any installable/term license on **511210**. Many vendors carry both. - **541370GEO vs 54151S:** 541370GEO is the geospatial-native SIN and reads best for "GIS services." Use 54151S if the work is framed as general IT professional services (custom dev, integration). You can hold both; map each labor category to the SIN it best fits. - **Hardware is optional to the offer.** If TAA blocks the hardware, you can still file SINs 2–4 and sell hardware through open-market or a reseller.
## 4. Eligibility prerequisites (the gate before you can even offer) 1. **Active [SAM.gov](https://sam.gov/) registration** with a **UEI** (Unique Entity ID). Free; allow 1–3 weeks if not current. 2. **Two years of financial statements** (balance sheet + income statement). The **Startup Springboard** program waives the 2-year *experience* requirement for IT/professional-services SINs by substituting documented key-personnel experience — relevant only if a *new* entity files; the operating Simtable company likely satisfies the standard rule. 3. **Past-performance references** — typically via a **Past Performance Evaluation** (open-ratings customer survey) or CPARS, plus project references. 2+ relevant references is the practical floor. 4. **Financial viability / D&B** profile. 5. **"Pathway to Success" training** (mandatory webinar) + a **Readiness Assessment** self-check before you submit. 6. **No disqualifying responsibility issues** (debarment, delinquent federal debt, etc.).
## 5. The process, end to end ### Phase A — Decide & prepare (your effort: ~3–6 months) 1. **Go/no-go + vehicle choice.** Decide MAS vs. SEWP vs. reseller/teaming (Section 8). If MAS: 2. **Resolve TAA on the hardware** (do this first — it can change the whole shape). 3. **SAM.gov / UEI** current; confirm NAICS codes and size status (small-business status helps). 4. **Pick SINs** (the four above). 5. **Pricing strategy + disclosure model.** Choose **TDR (Transactional Data Reporting)** to *waive* Commercial Sales Practices (CSP) and Most-Favored-Customer tracking — usually the lower-LOE path for a product+services mix — **or** do full CSP disclosure. This is the single biggest paperwork fork. *(Dollar specifics stay off-commons, bead `5f76451b`.)* 6. **Build the offer package:** - **Administrative/technical proposal**, corporate experience, quality-control narrative. - **Product price list** (hardware + SaaS + subscription SKUs) with TAA country-of-origin per line and **letters of supply/commitment** for anything you resell. - **Labor-category matrix** for GIS services: titles, descriptions, min education/experience, substitution rules, **proposed rates + escalation**. - **Past-performance** references / survey results. - **Financials**, reps & certs (in SAM), required clauses acknowledged. 7. **Pathway to Success** training + **Readiness Assessment**. ### Phase B — Submit & negotiate (GSA's clock: ~3–6 months) 8. **File via [eOffer](https://eoffer.gsa.gov/).** Requires a **digital certificate** for the authorized negotiator (allow time to obtain). 9. **Clarifications/deficiency cycle** with the assigned **Contracting Officer (CO)** — expect one or more rounds on pricing, TAA, labor rates, and missing docs. 10. **Negotiation + Final Proposal Revision (FPR).** GSA seeks "fair and reasonable" pricing, often benchmarked to your commercial discounts or to comparable schedule pricing. 11. **Award** — you receive your MAS contract number. ### Phase C — Activate & maintain (ongoing) 12. **Publish your catalog** to **GSA Advantage!** (via SIP/EDI or the modern catalog tool). 13. **Compliance & reporting:** - **Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) 0.75%** of schedule sales, remitted **quarterly** (TDR reporters file **monthly** transactional data; non-TDR file the 72A sales report). - **Minimum sales:** ~$25k / first 24 mo, then ~$25k / 12 mo. - **Modifications** (eMod) to add SINs, products, or adjust pricing. - **Price reductions clause** compliance (non-TDR), Trade Agreements certification, etc. 14. **Market it** — respond to **eBuy** RFQs; the schedule is a tool, not a pipeline.
## 6. Level-of-effort estimate ### Timeline | Path | Prep | GSA review/negotiation | Total | |---|---|---|---| | DIY (first-timer) | 3–6 mo | 4–9 mo | **9–18 mo** | | With consultant | 1.5–3 mo | 3–5 mo | **~4–8 mo** | ### Internal labor (rough, DIY) | Workstream | Hours | |---|---| | SAM/UEI, eligibility, training, readiness | 15–30 | | SIN selection + market/pricing research | 20–40 | | TAA determination + letters of supply (hardware) | 25–60 | | Product price list (hardware/SaaS/subscription SKUs) | 20–40 | | GIS labor categories + rate build | 30–60 | | Past performance + financials assembly | 15–30 | | Technical/admin proposal writing | 30–60 | | eOffer submission + negotiation cycles | 30–80 | | **Total** | **≈ 185–400 hrs** | ### Cash cost - **Consultant** (proposal prep + negotiation): **$15k–$40k** one-time; some work success-fee or retainer. Cuts internal hours by 50–70% and the timeline materially. - **Digital certificate** for eOffer: low hundreds $. - **Past-performance survey** (Open Ratings): ~$185 per survey, if used. - **Ongoing compliance**: a few hours/quarter internally, or a small annual consultant retainer ($3k–$10k/yr) for reporting and mods. - **IFF**: 0.75% of schedule revenue (a cost of the channel, not an upfront fee).
## 7. Risks & Simtable-specific watch-items 1. **TAA on the hardware (highest).** Sand-table units assembled from non-designated-country (e.g., China-sourced) projectors/sensors/compute may be ineligible. Options: re-source to a designated country, document substantial transformation in the US, or drop the hardware SIN and sell hardware open-market / via reseller. **Determine this before anything else.** 2. **FedRAMP for SaaS.** Civilian agencies increasingly require FedRAMP authorization for cloud/SaaS. If Simtable's SaaS is multi-tenant cloud, this is a real, expensive parallel track (months + $$$). If it's deployed on-prem/at-edge to the customer, FedRAMP may not trigger — clarify the deployment model. 3. **Subscription on a fixed-price schedule.** Recurring/auto-renew terms must be FAR-compliant (no auto-renew that binds the government without a new obligation). Model the subscription as a priced annual SKU the CO orders per period. 4. **Pricing disclosure.** Electing **TDR** avoids CSP/Most-Favored-Customer disclosure and the price-reductions clause — usually the right call for a small mixed product+services vendor. 5. **Minimum sales + maintenance drag.** If direct federal demand is uncertain, the $25k minimums and quarterly reporting can make a self-held MAS not worth it vs. the alternatives below.
## 8. Alternatives to holding your own MAS (consider first) | Option | Best for | Trade-off | |---|---|---| | **NASA SEWP V** (GWAC) | IT **hardware + software + SaaS** to federal | Fast, low-fee (0.34%), agencies love it — but it's IT-products-centric; **GIS *services*** fit less well. Often the best home for offerings 1–3. | | **Sell through a reseller / schedule aggregator** | Getting hardware/SaaS to gov *now* without your own contract | A partner already holds MAS/SEWP and resells Simtable; you skip the whole filing. Margin share; less control. | | **Teaming / subcontracting under a prime** | GIS **services** on a prime's vehicle | No contract of your own; prime owns the customer relationship. | | **CIO-CS / other GWACs** | Niche IT | Similar to SEWP; vehicle-specific scopes. | | **Hold your own MAS** | Repeat **direct** federal demand + bandwidth for compliance | Most control + full price list, but highest LOE and ongoing burden. | **Pragmatic sequence many small vendors use:** start by selling through a reseller and/or list IT products on **SEWP**, prove federal demand, then file your own **MAS** (with the GIS-services SINs that GWACs don't serve well) once the revenue justifies the maintenance load.
## 9. Recommended next steps 1. **Answer the five open questions** in [`../notes/00-orientation.md`](https://redfish.acequia.io/guerin/.agents/22fb8955-2113-4dcd-a46f-29d968acbb38/2026-06-26/notes/00-orientation.md) — starting with **hardware country-of-origin (TAA)** and **SaaS FedRAMP exposure**. 2. **Confirm SAM.gov/UEI is active** for the filing entity. 3. **Decide vehicle:** MAS-only, SEWP-for-products + MAS-for-services, or reseller-first. 4. **Get 1–2 consultant quotes** to price the DIY-vs-consultant fork against the LOE above. 5. **Tighten this into a brief** for the chosen consultant/CO and move the work into an eOffer. *(Open items are presented as a checkbox decision form in the chat for the parciante.)*