r/GovernmentContracting

Formed an IT/AI services LLC in Illinois this spring after ~6 years building payments infrastructure on AWS at a large bank. Solo for now. SAM registration in, CAGE finalizing, SDB self-certified, AWS SAA certified. Niche is cloud-native development — serverless, containers, and LLM/AI pipeline integration — which seems to be in demand on IT modernization task orders.

Current plan, in order: APEX Accelerator counseling, state/county MBE certifications (Illinois), DSBS profile + prime supplier portals, small commercial contracts to build reference-able past performance, then pursue subcontract/teaming with primes on unclassified task orders. 8(a) is a 2028 target.

For those of you who actually made the jump from "registered and credentialed but no govt past performance" to a first subcontract:

1. What was the actual mechanism of your first win — SBLO outreach, industry day, a relationship from a prior job, SubNet, something else?
2. As a solo technical founder, did primes take you seriously for 1-2 person task order roles, or did you need a teammate/bench first?
3. Anything in my sequence above you'd reorder or drop as a waste of time?
4. What do new subs consistently get wrong in their first year that you'd warn me off of?

Happy to share back what works as I go.

Hey all.

I have a PhD in social psychology and work for a contractor. I hate my job. It’s so slow and the works feels nebulous and pointless. I make $115k though so it’s been very difficult to find a role that pays the same amount. I don’t have a business degree, both my degrees are essentially in psychology.

I feel like my soul is slowly dying at work. I need/want a job that is more fast paced, profit driven, where my tasks actually seem to have a point to them. If this job was remote that would be one thing, but forcing me to commute and do pretty much nothing all day is just torture.

I live in Colorado. I am willing to work for very low, seriously even just $25/hr, if the role would be in federal accounts or sales or proposal writing or proposal analysis or literally anything on the business side of GovCon. I have a clearance. Please help, I’m ambitious, I’m hard working, I want to have a career! Thanks.

I previously worked for a small government contractor. i was new so didn’t participate but I observed people writing in skills people didn’t actually have into the key personnel resumes to make them better qualified for the proposal and also saw someone sign a letter of intent for a key personnel that they didn’t actually speak to.

i really liked the job other than this but I left because I know that activity is wrong and refused to participate. was I overreacting because I quit because of that? people have been working there for years and were unbothered. it was such a relaxed job it’s a shame I had to leave lol

I wanted to get the community's thoughts on something that has been on my mind.

Many small businesses work for years to earn a GSA MAS contract. They invest thousands of dollars, spend countless hours on compliance, maintain their catalog, and build relationships with government customers.
However, if a compliance issue is found under one specific SIN or NAICS category for example, a product compliance issue or a mistake within a single area it appears that the government can terminate the entire
MAS contract.

As a small business owner, I wonder whether there could be a better approach.

Instead of cancelling the entire contract, would it make more sense to suspend or remove only the affected SIN or NAICS category? This would still hold the contractor accountable and prevent them from repeating the mistake, while allowing them to continue performing under the other SINs where they have remained fully compliant.

For example:
If a contractor has five SINs and a compliance issue only affects one SIN, why should all five be cancelled?

If the contractor has already corrected the issue, removed the non-compliant products, and implemented corrective actions, shouldn't there be an opportunity to continue operating under the compliant portions of the contract?

Would a targeted suspension be a more proportional remedy than terminating the entire contract?

For many small businesses, losing the entire MAS contract can mean losing years of hard work, future opportunities, employees' jobs, and the ability to compete in the federal marketplace—even when the issue was limited to one portion of the contract.
I'm not suggesting that contractors shouldn't be held accountable. They absolutely should. But perhaps there should be a graduated enforcement process where the government can remove or suspend the affected SIN or NAICS, require corrective actions, and monitor compliance before considering complete contract termination.

I'd really like to hear from:
Contracting Officers

Government attorneys

Procurement professionals

GSA contractors

Small business owners

Has anyone seen this approach used before? Is there a legal or regulatory reason why it isn't done? Do you think this would create a fairer balance between enforcement and giving small businesses an opportunity to recover after correcting their mistakes?

I'm interested in hearing all perspectives.

I want to build a website that helps small and medium construction subcontractors find work.

Do you find it useful to be alerted about gov projects that just received permits ? Or do you already know about them before ?

Before there was a FAR, before there was SAM, before there were set-asides, there were contracts. The Continental Congress awarded contracts to suppliers for weapons, uniforms, and provisions during the Revolutionary War. Some of the first government contractors were the merchants and craftsmen who helped build a nation.

The scale has changed. The systems have changed. But the foundation remains the same: the government needs capable businesses to deliver what the mission requires.

Happy Independence Day from all of us at USFCR.

Hi all, full-stack software engineer (angular, java) here with 11 years in the industry, though some of that was non-dev work, 6 years backend, and 1.5 years front end.

I have a job offer (senior dev, non-lead) from a small business working on a giant contract with Customs and Border Protection. The company offering me the job is a subcontractor. I've interviewed with them and the prime contractor. The prime liked me and is all good for me to be brought on. From everything I've researched, the contract had an initial one year base period and 4 option years, which have already passed. Then there was a 2 year extension after that, and that extension consisted of a single base year and one option year. That second option year ends on September 29, 2026.

The job I'm being offered requires a background check. The job offer is contingent upon me passing that background check and the start date wouldn't be until after the interim clearance is received from Customs and Border Protection.

If I were to accept the job today, the background check would probably be complete and I would be able to start in early-mid August. Because this is such a large contract, it's impossible for the government to go through the entire re-compete and process to award the follow-on contract by September 29th. Thus, another extension of some sort is 99% likely to happen, however the exact type and length of extension is anyone's guess as far as I'm concerned, and we all know how unpredictable the government contracting world is.

Background context: I love my current company (it's a large gov't contractor). I enjoy my current job enough, however there's a 50/50 chance I'll be searching for another job internally in November anyway, due to the team shrinking after go-live. I'm making 98k in a medium COL area.

The offer is a 44k raise.....I know (and have known for a while) that I've been underpaid, and I've stayed because money isn't everything and it's literally my only complaint about my current company, however there's a point right? 44k is hard to ignore.

But I have a really hard time with the idea of joining a contract when its Period of Performance would be ending in 60ish days. The small business and their independent recruiter are of course re-assuring me that there will be an extension, which I am confident of, however for all I know it could end up being a 3-month bridge contract with just enough funding to keep important production apps running and all new development is paused and the subcontractor doesn't get funding. Or it could also be a fully funded one year extension and all would be great for me. I just don't have the insight to be able to place likelihoods on either situation or anything in-between.

What would you do here? It's been a week and I'm being asked for an answer preferably by Monday, apparently the prime is asking for an update.

My current plan is to propose a Conditional Employment Start Agreement, where I go through the background check and everything, however we agree that I don't start until

a. the government contract extension is official, AND

b. a contract between the prime and "my" sub is official, AND

c. I've been provided written notice/confirmation that the above conditions have been satisfied.

I don't anticipate them liking that, but I feel like just going forward as they'd like is an unnecessarily risky move that could work out great, or could leave me looking for a new job in 3 months (which...en esta economía?!). So to repeat, what do you think you would do in my situation?

Also, I'm not crazy for being extremely hesitant here, right!?

I'm inputting my company banking information in my entity info and I keep getting an error that all fields must have valid data in order to save the payment account. The only field that is red is the country even when i select "United States" from the dropdown. All of the info is valid. I'm not sure what the issue is here.

I currently work at CACI and recently interviewed for another position within the company. I was told I got the role, and the hiring manager said I won’t need to go through HR since it’s an internal transfer they’ll handle everything on their end to move me over to the new team.

My question is about compensation. Will I be paid the salary/range that was listed on the job posting, or do internal transfers usually just receive a merit increase?

I sent the hiring manager a Teams message yesterday asking about it, but she didn’t get a chance to read it before leaving for the day. She also mentioned that we’re currently in a Workday blackout, so there isn’t much they can process right now. She also brought up that merit increases happen in August, which has me wondering if I’m only going to receive the standard merit increase instead of the pay associated with the new position.

Has anyone here transferred internally at CACI? If so, did you receive the salary tied to the new role, a negotiated increase, or just a merit increase? I’d appreciate hearing about your experience.

Hey all, I’m still pretty new to actually submitting government bids, and I feel like I’m missing something that experienced contractors already have in place.

I understand the basics of government contracting (SAM, FAR, RFQs, RFPs, IFBs, SF-1449s, etc.), and I have no problem finding opportunities, calling subcontractors, getting pricing, or communicating with contracting officers.

Where I’m getting hung up is everything that happens l before I submit.

Right now I don’t really have any reusable templates. No polished capability statement, proposal template, cover letter, pricing template, scope of work template, company profile, organizational chart, past performance page, standard email templates, or anything like that. Every time I want to submit a bid, I feel like I’m creating documents from scratch, which makes the process take forever.

Then I see people saying they submitted 2 or 3 bids in one day, and I’m wondering…what am I missing?

So do most of you already have a complete “template library” with reusable documents? If so:

What templates do you have?

Which ones do you use on almost every proposal?

Did you build them yourself, buy them, or hire someone?

How long did it take before you had a good system in place?

If you’re willing to share, I’d love to see examples of how you organize your templates (obviously with any sensitive information removed).

I’m trying to build a repeatable system so I’m not reinventing the wheel every time a solicitation comes out. Any advice from people who’ve already gone through this would be greatly appreciated.

Has anyone taken any of these courses? There is one instructor who teaches EVERYTHING at both schools. I am very interested in taking the government contracting courses but I cannot find a single review or comment about the programs of the instructor. Ot would seem a decent number of feds have taken the courses.
He may be brilliant and loved by his students…..but I always like to have an idea of who is teaching my class before I hand over tuition money. I don’t want to end up in a class where some guy half asses it by reading slides to us and testing everything verbatim from a text book—people who teach this way should be ashamed of themselves as should the institutions that hire them, hence my wanting info.
Thanks

hi so im new to SAM contracting and just registered today on the sight with my LLC, I’ve recently been browsing and looking for opportunities that can be performed remotely and i have a few questions to ask:

1. I have no past performance, would i win any contracts?

2. Can i outsource some of the work where need be ?

3. How fast do i get paid after fulfilling the contract ?

4. Any tips or things to look out for you can give me ?

Much appreciated guys.

How frequently does that happen?

Hey all!

I’m on a contract that is still in the potential protest phase but currently Booz Allen looks to be the winner. In the event of them winning, what is your experience with them retaining incumbents? I was brought on the contract a few months ago as a junior on the lower end of the pay spectrum for my role but very quickly immersed myself in responsibilities in that the client noticed and has said I’m a “rising star” with all the help I’ve been.

While I’m not contractually a key person, I’ve been told by some that with the large part I played recently Booz will likely be told I’m a “key person” so I was wondering if this would factor in. Sorry if any of my questions are dumb, it’s my first job out of college and I’ve grown quite fond of it :’)

I have been working at this company as a contractor, it's a nonprofit. I have been trying to break into how the non profit does procurement meaning how does it find vendors or businesses to hire contractors. Reason being is I have a small business and work with a prime on C2c.

Now, I can find almost any procurement style with any company, federal or civilian I can find it pretty easy but for this nonprofit I simply cannot.

I know TCS or TATA consulting group is huge here with a few other big name US staffing agencies but there's no yearly or 5 year IT contract, it seems like it's a secret method.

I gave asked directly to our procurement team and they said it's a "as needed" basis. Which doesn't make sense because I see different teams talk to each other about needs then I see the exact same job on a vendors site and they end up hiring them.

How do these vendors get these requirements? What am I missing? Is there a secret club I am not apart of?

I am a federal firefighter covered under special retirement provisions and plan to retire in October 2026. I currently have a large sick leave balance (nearly 1,300 hours).

My current plan is to begin using sick leave later this year due to "stress/mental health" issues related to my current position. My treating therapist has indicated she is willing to provide medical documentation stating that I am under her care and unable to perform my current duties.

During this same period, I may have an opportunity to work as a temporary contractor at a remote overseas/overseas-like location (Space Force installation) for a few months before my federal retirement date.

My questions are:

1. If I am on approved sick leave supported by medical documentation, can I legally work another job during that time?
2. Are there OPM, ethics, or agency rules that would prohibit outside employment while on extended sick leave?
3. Has anyone here successfully navigated a similar situation close to retirement?
4. Would you recommend speaking with HR, ethics, or the union before accepting outside employment?

I am trying to make sure I stay within all applicable rules and avoid jeopardizing my retirement this close to the finish line.

Can anyone here cite some of the vendor or supplier that offers laptop and desktop units? for market scoping purposes of our on going procurement.

I own a small IT government contracting company. We had a GSA MAS contract and recently received a notice that the Government is proceeding with cancellation under GSAR 552.238-79.

The situation is very frustrating because we did not intentionally list non-compliant products or try to mislead anyone. We are an IT reseller, and like many small businesses, we rely heavily on manufacturer, distributor, and vendor data for product details such as TAA compliance and country of origin. In our case, some product information from vendor/distributor sources appears to have been incorrect, incomplete, or later changed.

Once we became aware there may be TAA/COO issues, we immediately started reviewing our catalog. We identified products that needed COO updates, products that were verified as TAA compliant, and products that were non-TAA or could create a compliance concern. We removed or started removing any questionable items and prepared documentation showing the corrective actions. We also asked GSA for guidance and offered to provide additional supporting documentation.

Instead of allowing a meeting, discussion, cure period, or correction path, the Contracting Officer responded that the Government will not suspend, delay, postpone, or reconsider the cancellation. They also said they do not intend to conduct meetings or provide additional documentation, and that after the mandatory two-year waiting period, we can submit a new MAS proposal.

I understand that the contractor is responsible for its catalog, and we accept responsibility for correcting issues quickly. But from a small business perspective, this process feels extremely harsh. The current model puts the full burden on small contractors, even when the root issue may come from inaccurate vendor/manufacturer/distributor data. We were not trying to avoid compliance; we were actively trying to fix the issue and keep the catalog clean.

My concern is that GSA’s process does not seem to give small businesses a practical opportunity to correct good-faith mistakes before cancellation. A two-year waiting period can be devastating for a small company that invested significant time, money, and effort into getting the contract.

Has anyone else gone through a GSA MAS cancellation or TAA/COO compliance issue like this?

I am looking for practical advice on:

1. Whether there is any realistic appeal, reconsideration, or dispute option after this kind of final cancellation notice.
2. Whether a government contracts attorney can help at this stage.
3. Whether there are other GSA offices, SBA resources, or ombudsman channels that small businesses can contact.
4. How to prevent this from happening again when vendor and distributor data may not always be reliable.
5. Whether other contractors have built a better internal process for validating TAA/COO before uploading products.

I am not trying to avoid responsibility. I am trying to understand what options small businesses have when they discover an issue, act in good faith, and try to correct it, but still face immediate cancellation with no real discussion.

Any guidance from experienced GSA MAS contractors, attorneys, consultants, or former contracting officers would be appreciated.

Please do not take this as legal advice or a full legal summary. I am sharing this to learn from others who may have faced similar GSA MAS compliance or cancellation issues.

Hello my fellow bosses. Has anyone decided to utilize their small business as a C2C vehicle ? Im started a small IT subcontractor but have found it difficult to break into any space from federal, local and state. I’ve tried to get on procurements but many contracts want master contractors. Seems like C2C opportunities could be very fruitful whether self fulfillment or hiring from a bench and would be a bit less laborious than getting through a GSA or local/State contract.. thoughts ?