GSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is actively investigating alleged, third party fraudulent activity in the System for Award Management (SAM).  At this time, only a limited number of entities registered in SAM are suspected of being impacted by …

Effective May 15, all contractors will be required to create their bid using the free Bids software provided by the department on its BidExpress site.  Web training for contractors provided by the BidExpress team is scheduled for April 24 and April. …

Cybersecurity: System Security Plan Template The Computer Security Resource Center portion of the NIST website has published a Security Safety Plan (SSP) template for controlled unclassified information (CUI). It can be found by clicking “CUI SSP template” on the right …

On March 7, 2018, the House Small Business Committee heard from a panel of small business stakeholders about regulatory reform and President Trump’s Executive Order 13771, which requires the elimination of at least two prior regulations for every new regulation …

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) is the new Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, taking over the role from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). Shaheen was instrumental in achieving a number of small business contracting reforms while …

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan says cybersecurity should be a top priority for contractors, noting it’s “one of those things that should be uncompromising.”  Shanahan added, “We want the bar to be so high that it becomes a condition of …

The answer is: the FAR Council issued one final rule for the entire year.  It was the decision to reverse a previous FAR rule to implement the fair pay and safe workplace executive order. Besides that, dozens of other proposed …

Bid Express Electronic Bidding is coming to Alaska DOT&PF for all large procurement construction contracts advertised after May 14, 2018. February 1st Update includes: ■ Alaska DOT&PF AASHTOWare Vendor List ■ Announcement of Bid Express Web Training Dates & Times …

Did you self-certify as a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) when you registered your vendor profile in SAM.GOV, and are you indeed an SDB according to the federal government’s definition in 13 CFR 124.1002?

Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement: DFARS 252.204-7012, as revised on Dec. 30, 2015, is the cybersecurity rule issued by the Department of Defense (DoD) titled, “Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting.” The DFARS clause requires all DoD contractors and …

Get ready today to file your 2017 federal income tax return. Changes for the tax filing season include ITINs, delays in refunds and validating your electronically filed return. As tax filing season approaches, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers there are …

A growing sector in public procurement, reverse auctions lower costs for government agencies through direct competition among auction vendors. Are agencies using GSA reverse auctions? Absolutely! Corps of Engineers Huntsville established a policy that all commodity buys must be evaluated …

Every small business owner needs to be aware of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) ostensible subcontractor rule. In a nutshell, ostensible contractor affiliation occurs when a small business holds a prime contract – but a subcontractor hired for the job actually …

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a solicitation notice for a 10-year, $25 billion, professional services contract known as VECTOR, which will be set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. According to the Nov. 8 notice: A solicitation …

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is establishing a secure and easy-to-use web-based electronic bid protest filing and dissemination system (EPDS). EPDS will also provide automatic notice of a protest to the agency.  Once it is live, all protesters will be required …

Small business owners are temporarily unable to access new applications for the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program until Nov. 15, the SBA recently announced on one of its Web pages.  his is due to the SBA’s transfer of the …

Government contractors are subject to cybersecurity requirements, and some important deadlines are fast approaching.  An overview of cybersecurity requirements found in the FAR and the Department of Defense (DoD) FAR Supplement (DFARS) follows: FAR The FAR requires government contractors that handle …

As the final push for fiscal year 2017 contract obligations comes to an end, it’s helpful to take a step back and assess the contracting environmental trends that have emerged over the past year. Each trend lends itself to further …