Want to make sure you qualify for a GSA contract? In this article we explain what the GSA qualification means and what requirements there are for hopeful GSA vendors to get certified.

What is GSA qualification?

GSA qualification or GSA certification is a process of verifying the future vendor and their capabilities including several vital parameters: financial stability, professionalism, expertise in the given field, GSA rules compliance, past performance, and so on.

The process of GSA qualification checks the eligibility of a company to sell to the government. In particular, a company must meet the following criteria:

• The company is a properly registered legal entity. This is crucial for qualification, because the government simply does not work with shady businesses.
• Past experience for at least 2 years. If you’ve established your company three weeks ago, we’re afraid you cannot apply for a GSA Award qualification. There must be actual financial results of your business activity for the last 24 months.
• Minimum of $100K
  per year. The government happily works with small businesses, but not too small. Home businesses have little to no chances unless they are ready to confirm at least $100,000 of annual revenue.
• Financial stability. Your sales statistics and accounting must clearly show that your company stands firmly on the ground. There should not be too much debt or financial inconsistency.
• Compliance. Your products or services must be compliant with GSA regulations. Actually, there are a lot of them, starting from FAR to TAA compliance.
• Good reputation and references from clients. There is a special procedure during the GSA qualifications: Past Performance Evaluation. The goal of this check is to make sure the company aiming for a GSA certificate really delivers good quality services and products. The GSA sends special requests to your past clients and gathers references from them , in order to come up with a quality score. Good scores are required for a successful GSA award.

How to get a GSA certificate?

While there are no physical obstacles preventing you from applying for a GSA contract yourself, we recommend delegating this fine work to specialists, such as Price Reporter. We can help you successfully pass through GSA qualifications and get awarded faster and easier, with a much higher chance of success. Knowing the pitfalls and nuances of the GSA contracting system, we will reliably guide you through the entire process of GSA qualification, to your first or yet another GSA contract.