1. Preparing the GSA Schedule Pricing Proposal
Today’s Objective:
Help you understand the Requirements of the GSA Price Proposal Instructions so that you can Create and Submit a successful Proposal. 1

2. Dinora Gonzalez Federal Procurement Advisors, LLC 614. 434
Dinora Gonzalez Federal Procurement Advisors, LLC Art Brown LeScot Enterprises, Inc your connection to federal contracts

3. Topics We Will Cover: Basic Pricing Guidelines
Fair & Reasonable Pricing
Basic Pricing Guidelines
The Proposal Price List Template & Calculating the Industrial Funding Fee (IFF)
Labor Categories & Service Contract Act Requirements
Organizing your Data / Information
Describing your Commercial Sales Practices
Supporting Documentation: Making Your Case

4. The GSA Schedule Program
Review:
The GSA Schedule Program
GSA Schedule Manual 4 4

5. A "PRE-APPROVED FEDERAL PRICE LIST."
4/19/2017
Pre-negotiated contracts where prices; contract terms; and, conditions have been agreed to in advance and are considered “fair and reasonable” by the government;
Agreements between the federal Government and eligible vendors who agree to honor negotiated prices, terms and conditions IF and WHEN an agency places an order.
What is a GSA Schedule Contract?
A "PRE-APPROVED FEDERAL PRICE LIST."
DG Federal Procurement Advisors, LLC

6. 4/19/2017
How Does It Work?
Pre-Approved Vendors are listed on the online shopping catalog called GSA Advantage. Buyers are allowed to purchase through this catalog.
Download and fill out the appropriate solicitation for products or services;
Submit pricing and technical capabilities as specified by the solicitation;
Go through a past performance evaluation
DG Federal Procurement Advisors, LLC

7. Features of the GSA Schedule Contract:
4/19/2017
Features of the GSA Schedule Contract:
Widely Used by Federal Buyers:
Streamlined Procurement Process
5 Year Basic Contract with 3 five year option periods
Non-Bid Contract: Vendors can apply for a GSA Schedule Contract by filling out and submitting the appropriate solicitation
Vendors can offer their commercial price (with a discount)
DG Federal Procurement Advisors, LLC

8. Participation Criteria
4/19/2017
4/19/2017
Participation Criteria
Sales: $25,000 in sales per year (or show potential)
Registration / Certification
Duns & Bradstreet:
(866)
Systems Award Management:
Experience / Performance History
Open Ratings (
Accept Credit Card as payment
GSA Schedule Manual 8 8 8

9. Basic Pricing Guidelines

10. Commercial Items with Established Catalog Prices: Offerors shall submit a copy of their established commercial catalog (published and dated), internal business memorandum, pricing guide, rate card or other documentation with relevant SIN
Commercial Items without Established Catalog Prices: Offerors shall provide documentation to substantiate proposed pricing (e.g., agreements with corporate customers, internal policies, market prices, quote sheets, invoices, etc.). The pricing documentation shall assure that customers, effective period, pricing and price related terms and conditions are clear.
Cost-Based Rates: Offerors shall demonstrate rates, profit, overhead, G &A and Industrial Funding Fee; showing the calculation of the proposed fully burdened rates for each labor category in each respective SIN. Provide documentation to substantiate pricing (e.g., agreements with corporate customers, internal policies, quote sheets, and invoices, etc).
Commercial Items (as defined in FAR 2.101) with Established Catalog Prices: For proposed pricing based on commercial catalog pricing, Offerors shall submit a copy of their established commercial catalog (published and dated), internal business memorandum, pricing guide, rate card or other documentation and indicate the applicable SIN for which services are being offered to the government. Draw a line through labor categories, services, or goods not proposed; otherwise, the government will assume all items on commercial catalog are proposed.  
2. Commercial Items (as defined in FAR 2.101) without Established Catalog Prices: For proposed pricing with no established catalog pricelist, internal business memorandum, pricing guide, rate card or other documentation. Offerors must demonstrate how they arrived at the proposed price. The Offeror shall provide documentation to substantiate proposed pricing (e.g., agreements with corporate customers, internal policies, market prices, quote sheets, invoices, etc.). The pricing documentation shall assure that customers, effective period, pricing and price related terms and conditions are clear.
3. Cost-Based Rates: For proposed pricing based on a cost build-up, Offerors shall demonstrate rates, profit, overhead, G &A and Industrial Funding Fee; showing the calculation of the proposed fully burdened rates for each labor category in each respective SIN. Identify all costs, profit, and any other factor, which contributes to the total proposed rate. Provide documentation to substantiate pricing (e.g., agreements with corporate customers, internal policies, quote sheets, and invoices, etc).

11. Other Direct Costs: Other Direct Costs (ODCs) include such things as materials, commercial production, equipment rental, labor, etc. that support the services to be performed.
Labor as an ODC is usually a subcontractor. The pricing proposal should include supporting documentation for the actual ODC expenses paid by the offeror.
Cannot be procured as a stand alone item or service.
ODCs are items that directly support the service being contracted
ODCs may be handled in-house or through subcontracting that is necessary to complete a project.
Pricing support for significant ODCs must consist of either commercial catalog prices or evidence of price acceptance for these items/services from previous projects. Supporting documentation may be invoices, quote sheets, cost summations, bid preparation documents or other documentation indicating the actual price charged and paid by the contractor. It is best if you can provide the highest amount paid for each ODC since government agencies will use them as a guide and ceiling to demonstrate what can be expected for various types of projects. The prices listed based on the documentation submitted will be ceiling prices only and the dollar value for other direct costs will vary as the actual projects costs vary. Overhead, G & A, and Profit may not be included in these offered ODC prices.

12. Price Template
Price proposals to the Government should be priced the same way as price proposals to commercial customers.
Offerors are required to include a 0.75% Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) in the prices submitted with their offer (See contract clause )
Prepare an Escalation Rate Matrix if requesting an annual escalation rate under EPA Clause I-FSS-969 (b) (1); OR – indicate economic indicator (normally Department of Labor BLS Table 5) under EPA Clause I-FSS-969 (b) (2)
Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) Clause:
An Escalation Factor or Market Indicator must be proposed for the base period (5 years) and option periods which will be used in determining future price increases (only with non established catalog pricing) in accordance with Clause I-FSS-969 – Economic Price Adjustment – FSS Multiple Award Schedule (JAN 2002).

13. Developing a GSA Labor Category and Pricing Strategy:
GSA labor categories should reflect your business practices and your people:
Be prepared to demonstrate commercial sales of all labor categories proposed.
Labor categories should resemble commercial or internal labor categories.
Providing a crosswalk between labor categories may be necessary during negotiations.

14. Developing a GSA Labor Category and Pricing Strategy:
Labor category descriptions should contain clear and quantifiable requirements including:
Minimum years of experience;
Minimum education;
Functional roles and responsibilities of the position;
Any applicable training, licenses or certifications;
A methodology for substituting experience for education.
For services not on a commercial pricelist (commercial non-catalog), price adjustments are subject to the economic price adjustment clause (I-FSS-969). If the offeror proposes an annual escalation rate in accordance with I-FSS-969, it should only be for the five-year base period. The escalation rate for the option periods will be negotiated prior to exercise of the option(s). The offeror must provide an explanation of the methodology for any proposed price escalations, e.g., DM forecasts (Data Resources Inc.), etc. Price adjustments are also subject to
, Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Act-Price Adjustment (Multi Year and Option Contracts).

15. Price Proposal Guidelines & Best Practices

16. Challenges
Many contractors do not have a published commercial catalog for services. The GSA catalog was created to sell products and services.
Professional services business practices and pricing do not fit well within the current GSA contracting model.
Regulatory guidance not adequately updated

17. What is Price Reasonableness?
The concept of a fair and reasonable price has been described as the price that a prudent business person would pay for an item or service under competitive market conditions, given a reasonable knowledge of the marketplace.
Your price(s) should be easy to justify and one that reasonably reflects a price that you should expect to pay for your customer’s requirement.

18. Evaluating Fair & Reasonable Pricing (FAR 15.404-1)
Price analysis is the process of examining and evaluating a proposed price without evaluating its separate cost elements and proposed profit.
Cost analysis is used to evaluate the reasonableness of individual cost elements in addition to looking at the bottom-line total price.

19. PRICING MUST BE SUBSTANTIATED BY:
Established commercial catalog prices (published and dated pricelists)
offerors who do not use a published and dated commercial pricelist must submit cost or pricing information such as copies of contracts, invoices, agreements, internal business memorandums, quote sheets, or additional information requested by the contracting officer.
Proposed hourly and unit pricing should include direct and indirect costs, and profit, that contribute to the proposed hourly or unit price.

20. Bottom Line:
The pricing proposal should include sufficient information for each service offered to enable the contracting officer to perform a price analysis in accordance with far 15.4.

21. Commercial Sales Practices

22. Commercial Sales Practices*
You must disclose your current procedures / process for selling to the commercial market
Who is your Most Favored Customer?
What prices, terms, and discounts do they receive?
Describe any deviations from your normal pricing.
*FAR Clause , Preparation of Offer (Multiple Awards Schedule).

23. What are your Commercial Sales Practices?
What am I selling?
Products / Services / Both?
How do I price it?
Labor by the Hour (or other appropriate unit)
By Service / Task (does not matter how long it takes)
Time + Material (labor and material / equipment)
A Mix of the above

24. What are your Commercial Sales Practices (Cont. .)?
How are you selling it? (pricing structure)
Commercial Price List (Catalog Pricing)
Market Pricing
Do you have a discount policy?
Which customers receive your best (lowest) rate; discounts; and terms?
Do you have evidence / proof of pricing?

25. Supporting Documentation: Making Your Case

26. Organizing Your Data / Information Documents:
Review & organize your purchases orders / invoices / receipts:
Dated; must describe work or product being purchased at the rate you stated in your commercial sales practices.
Deviations must be explained.
Review Statements of Work (Master Agreements, contracts or letter agreements). Must be dated and describes the scope of work to be performed
Your documents should verify your pricing and the work performed.

27. Supporting Documentation Could Include:
Competitor’s Comparison Matrix / Historical Pricing Analysis
Detailed description of the analysis performed to arrive at the proposed prices.
Limited Cost Data or Price Analysis (If offering Market Pricing, you must show how you derived at price / cost. One way is to “back in” to your price by providing a breakdown of components and related price that makes up the total price).

28. Pricing Models Build a spreadsheet model to price the action
Use if offering market pricing without established catalog
Includes all cost elements & Profit
Model should validate accuracy of contractor’s proposed price
Cross-Reference with invoices; purchase orders; receipts.

30. Create a Price Reasonableness Narrative
Best Practice:
Create a Price Reasonableness Narrative
Overview of the business, its service offerings and organizational structure
Overview of customer categories (e.g., State & Local, Commercial, Healthcare, etc.).
Detailed description of the analysis performed to arrive at the proposed prices.

31. Price Reasonableness Narrative (cont. . .)
Explain any deviations from standard pricing practices and the frequency with which they occur.
Overview of the proposed BOA customer(s) and an explanation of why that customer is appropriate.

32. Federal Procurement Advisor
Dinora Gonzalez
Federal Procurement Advisor
GSA Schedule Manual

33. . . .your connection to federal contracts
Dinora Gonzalez
Federal Procurement Advisors
Good Luck!
Art Brown
LeScot Enterprises
Contact Information
. . .your connection to federal contracts