After you have received award of your GSA schedule you will be viewed upon as a schedule holder. One of the responsibilities of a schedule holder is to have someone who represents the company available for the Contractor Assistance Visits (CAV). GSA requires at least two visits during the tenure of the contract. This is not a time where you need to roll out the red carpet you want to be comfortable and give the person who is conducting the visit a feel of who you really are and how you run your company so be original. Some vendors confuse the CAV with the audit process, these visits have nothing to do with one another. The main purpose of the CAV is to assist the vendor in how to properly ensure compliance of their GSA contract.
The agency’s Industrial Operations Analyst (IOA) will conduct the visits in accordance to GSA’s Examination of Records Clause. All of the findings will be reported to the GSA Contracting Officer who will be managing your contract. The findings are compiled in an internal contractor Report Card (RC) and a copy is sent to the vendor for review. Just like any other report card this document let’s the vendor know what areas you work well in as well as areas where you are deficient.
CAV visits are not unannounced, the IOA will contact the vendor prior to the visit to set up a date and time and also prepare the vendor of what type of goals that will be addressed. Once that is established there are some steps a vendor should consider taking when preparing for the CAV take a look:
Sales– Ensure that your sales tracking system is able to identify, track, and report all sales in a timely manner this includes your discounts offered to Basis of Award customers. Keep in mind that the prices charged to your customers should be the rates that were agreed upon within the contract.
Documentation– All documentation pertaining to the contract will be required to be on hand at the CAV this includes the original contract with final proposal revisions, any BPA’s awarded against the contract, modifications (if applicable), standard operating procedure pertaining to sales, and all invoices, quotes, and statements of work.
Compliance– Again the purpose of the CAV visit is to ensure compliance, this means– environmentally, financially, timeliness, and ensures products or services sold are within scope of the contract. If you are selling products ensure that the products are manufactured in the designated countries listed in FAR 52.225-2. Maintaining a workable system for processing your orders and documentation will save you time and additional money.
After you receive your report card you should make sure that you provide feedback or resolve any negative comments or concerns that are made. For additional questions your IOA and/or CO will be on hand to assist.
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