Winning federal contracts can be a big step for a small business. However, federal proposal writing is not a straightforward matter. It can be complicated and costly. Fortunately there’s help for businesses trying to win federal contracts. Proposal creation software can help to create and manage accurate cost proposals and government contract pricing. An additional benefit is that there are matching versions of the proposal management software for federal offices, using the same criteria to assess submissions.
Federal contracts for small businesses
Federal contracts are a prestigious step for small businesses. It’s also a way for the federal government to help small businesses and especially women-owned businesses. In 2016, the total value of federal government contracts was $405 billion. Of these, nearly a fourth of the contracts, worth $97.8 billion, were awarded to small businesses. This exceeded the government’s own goal of assigning 23% of the contracts to small businesses.
As of Fiscal Year 2015, the Department of Defense awarded the maximum contracts to small businesses. These were worth $52.7 billion. This was followed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, with contracts worth $6.3 billion, and the Department of Health and Human Services with $5 billion worth of contracts.
Federal proposal writing software for stronger proposals
While government contacting is a significant goal for many small businesses, the process of proposal creation can be complicated and costly. In fact, the cost of preparing a proposal that requires system or product design can be as high as 1 ? 2% of contract value, for proposals worth millions of dollars.
Accurate government contract pricing can be a major factor in the decision by the federal government to award a contract. RFP software that provides accurate proposal pricing and that allows updates and management of the proposal can go a long way towards ensuring the success of a proposal.
The government edition
The government edition of RFP software allows departments to perform cost proposal analysis in a matter of minutes, without struggling with spreadsheet templates. It can
- Seamlessly receive contractor cost proposal data
- Review rates and perform cost data analysis
- Create most probable cost and negotiation positions
- Perform project analysis
- Prepare briefing reports
Since cost and quality are the two major criteria for awarding contracts, RFP software helps government departments to make better choices.
Negotiating a contract
The two stages of awarding a contract are vendor selection and negotiation. Once a vendor has been selected through a formalized competitive bid, negotiations are carried out to reach a final agreement.
RFP software helps departments to assess various proposals and to select the best on the basis of pre-defined criteria. RFP software supports both ends of this process, providing solutions for government contractors as well as government procurement professionals.
Government contract pricing can be a crucial factor in the success of competitive bids for federal contracts. RFP software supports small businesses as well as procurement professionals through the process.