Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

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While agencies scramble to spend, SEWP may help

May 29, 2018 By Andrew Smith

The end-of-year spending spree is set to begin in about a month, as the federal government heads into the last quarter of fiscal 2018. And agencies still have tens of billions of dollars to spend on information technology products and services.

As it has in past years, much of that spending will go through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V. Historical contract spending data shows that the vehicle has been heavily used at the end of the fiscal year and customers are likely to turn to it again as fiscal 2018 wraps up.

Bloomberg Government’s analysis shows about $30 billion to $35 billion in remaining IT contract obligations likely to be awarded by the end of September. IT contract obligations are on pace with those of fiscal 2017, but agencies have more money to spend this year.

Keep reading this article at: https://about.bgov.com/blog/agencies-scramble-spend-sewp-may-help/

Filed Under: Contracting Tips Tagged With: IT, NASA, obligated funds, SEWP, spending, technology

Companies scramble for $98 billion in federal contract spending

September 12, 2017 By Andrew Smith

As the clock ticks down on fiscal 2017, an estimated $98 billion in federal agency contract obligations remains unspent.

Federal agencies have until the end of September to spend an estimated $488 billion approved by Congress for their operations in fiscal 2017, or about $2.5 billion a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Government.

An estimated $390 billion had been spent as of Aug. 22. Any available funds not under contract by the end of next month will be returned to the Treasury.

The Department of Defense leads all federal agencies with $60 billion available to spend through the end of September, which represents about one out of five of its estimated, year- end spending total. The Department of State leads all agency shares of estimated, unspent obligations, at 41 percent.

Keep reading this article at: https://about.bgov.com/blog/companies-scramble-98-billion-federal-contract-spending/

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: budget, federal contracting, federal contracts, obligated funds, spending

The year-end spending rush is on, but it’s not what it used to be

September 20, 2016 By Andrew Smith

end-of-year-spendingThe federal equivalent of Black Friday isn’t what it used to be. Conventional wisdom has it that agencies rush to spend their budgets in the final quarter of the fiscal year, but a new analysis of federal contracting data shows that Q4 spending is declining after years of elevated levels, with more agencies obligating a larger share of funds in the first quarter of the fiscal year.

The analyst report by Arlington, Va.-based business data intelligence firm Govini, “Positioning for 2017: Competitive Outlook in Defense and Civilian Agencies,” attributes the shift in part to greater budget certainty. Govini has a data sharing partnership with Government Executive Media Group.

According to the report: “Nearly 40 percent of all cabinet-level agencies had a decrease in Q4 share of FY15 spending compared to FY14, and many are on-track to do so again in FY16. Both Defense and civilian agencies are contributing to the softening of the year-end spending spike.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/09/year-end-spending-rush-its-not-what-it-used-be/131614/

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: federal contracts, obligated funds, spending

GAO report is a good reminder to bidders: Agencies don’t always follow the rules!

September 4, 2015 By Andrew Smith

The United States government has awarded more than $280 billion in contracts so far this fiscal year — FY2015 ends September 30.  Last year, that number was just over $445 billion on September 30.  (Data available online at https://www.usaspending.gov).  While this year’s total contracts awarded will be less than last year, the disparity reveals that the rest of August and September is likely to set a blistering pace of federal contract awards.

GAO-GovernmentAccountabilityOffice-SealIn late July, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) — tasked with investigating how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars — released what many are calling a scathing report.  The report explains that many federal agencies fail to follow the procurement regulations found in the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).  The report is a good reminder for contractors who bid on federal procurements to be watchful of procurements that appear to deviate from the rules.  Data suggest not only that these agencies are breaking the rules, but also that protestors who call them on it are increasingly getting some relief.

The percentage of protesters obtaining relief—either through a protest being sustained or voluntary action taken by an agency—is called the effectiveness rate. From FY2001 to FY2014, the effectiveness rate of GAO protests grew from 33% to 43% (see Figure 2). Over the last five fiscal years the effectiveness rate has remained relatively stable, averaging 42%.
The percentage of protesters obtaining relief — either through a protest being sustained or voluntary action taken by an agency — is called the effectiveness rate. From FY2001 to FY2014, the effectiveness rate of GAO protests grew from 33% to 43% (see above). Over the last five fiscal years the effectiveness rate has remained relatively stable, averaging 42%.  Source: Congressional Research Service at https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40227.pdf

 

Congress typically funds federal agencies through annual appropriations.  An elementary principle of federal fiscal law is that if an agency’s appropriations are not obligated by the end of the fiscal year in which the appropriation was made, those funds expire and generally become unavailable to the agency.  Often, agencies spend their appropriated funds late in the year in an effort to save some “dry powder” early on in case an unforeseen need arises.

With Congress always looking for ways to cut spending, agencies do not want to end a fiscal year with unobligated funds.  In Washington it is hard for an agency to justify to lawmakers the need for more money if the money Congress appropriated last year — money the members of Congress had to explain to their constituents was needed then — was not used.  Accordingly, at the end of each fiscal year agencies resolve this dilemma by finding ways to close the gap between the portion of their appropriation obligated and the portion faced with becoming expired on September 30.  Too often that solution is a less than ideal procurement.

With only a little over $280 billion in federal contract awards to date, federal agencies look posed to make another year-end dash to spend our cash.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=421792

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: appropriations, award protest, bid protest, FAR, GAO, obligated funds, protests, spending, USASpending.gov

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