Last week, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the results of the Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) pilot for FY2020. The announcement indicates that GSA remains committed to this alternative to the traditional Commercial Sales Practices (CSP)/Price Reductions Clause (PRC) approach to GSA contract pricing and that the agency will likely significantly expand TDR over the coming years. GSA contractors will need to take this enthusiasm for TDR into account in how they approach their existing GSA vehicles as well as any new contracts to which TDR might apply.

GSA's FY2020 Findings and Future Plans

GSA's announcement stated that the FY2020 TDR results exceeded target goals in data completeness, contract-level pricing, and small business metrics. According to the agency, all nine evaluation metrics of the pilot have either maintained or shown improvement since FY2019. For example, the agency stated that contract-level pricing under TDR was better than that used under CSP/PRC pricing in FY2020 and that small businesses under TDR generated better sales growth than those under Most Favored Customer (MFC) Pricing. The announcement, however, did not provide significant detail regarding the basis for these findings.

Based on the FY2020 TDR findings, GSA has stated that it will "refine and consider":

• The ability of Federal Supply Schedule contracting officers to leverage transactional data for price negotiations in lieu of CSP and PRC disclosures
• The impact of an expanded data collection on GSA's ability to leverage the data it currently collects
• Impacts on current and future GSA Schedule contractors
• Communication to industry partners ahead of changes
• Training and tools for category managers that are currently not impacted by TDR
• Potential impacts on other FAS initiatives, such as Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) Consolidation and implementation of Section 876 of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

Takeaways for GSA Contractors 

With the announcement, GSA has signaled that the TDR program is here to stay and its scope may be dramatically expanded in the coming years. To anticipate the potential growth of the program, contractors who have not yet opted in to the TDR program may want to reconsider. TDR is only available to contractors who hold specific Special Item Numbers (SINs) on the MAS contract. However, if a company elects to participate in TDR under one eligible SIN, their entire contract will be subject to TDR. After the MAS Consolidation, 63 SINs are eligible to participate in TDR. Interested contractors should check to see if they hold a qualifying SIN. 

Miller & Chevalier will continue to monitor any developments as the TDR program moves forward. 

For more information, please contact:

Jason N. Workmaster, jworkmaster@milchev.com, 202-626-5893

Alex L. Sarria, asarria@milchev.com, 202-626-5822

Connor Farrell, a Miller & Chevalier law clerk, contributed to this client alert.
 
 

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