# Presentation: 201454

## What to do for GSA SmartPay® 2: Task Order Process

**Bertha Gelhaus, ****GSA SmartPay®**

**Notes:**
Good afternoon, and welcome. My name is Bertha Gelhaus.  I’m a Contracting Officer with the GSA SmartPay® Program Office.

As you heard if you joined me for an earlier session on how to “Manage Your Agency’s Transition”, even though the initial GSA SmartPay® contract doesn’t expire until November 2008, it’s time to start thinking about what we need to do to get ready for the new contract now. This is a major contract that impacts hundreds of thousands of government personnel, and it’s important that the transition is a smooth one. We learned a number of lessons when we initiated the GSA SmartPay® program in 1998, and hope to avoid a number of these challenges in the transition to the new contract. There are a number of things you can start doing now to get your agency ready for a smooth transition. One of these things is to start to understand the task order process and your role in that process.

In this presentation, I will provide you with an overview of what you need to know about the “Task Order Process” for GSA SmartPay® 2. 

## Agenda

- Overview
- Timeline
- Guidelines and Considerations
- Standard Task Orders
- Tailored Task Orders
- Pool / Tag-Along Arrangements
- Task Order Guidelines
- How will the GSA SmartPay® 2 Program Office Help You?
- Questions

**Notes:**
First, I’ll provide an overview of the program and the transition timeline.
Next, I will provide information on the guidelines and considerations that may come into play as you develop and award your agency’s task order(s), and detailed information about standard and tailored task orders, as well as tag-along and pool arrangements.
Then, I’ll provide some general information about how task orders are structured and governed.
Next, I’ll tell you how the GSA SmartPay® Program Office will help you.
Finally, we’ll address some of your questions and concerns.
As you can see, we’ve got a lot to cover in this session, so strap on your seat-belts!

Please note that throughout the presentation when I say “agency”, I am referring to “agency/organization.”  I do not mean to offend anyone by not saying “organization.”
Now let’s begin with an overview of GSA SmartPay® 2 and its transition timeline.

## Overview

- Current Master Contract expires on November 29, 2008, assuming the remaining contract option periods are exercised
- Key component of the transition process is the selection of Contractors and the placement of task orders
- Need to plan early for transition, so that agency transitions can be staggered
- Do not want to repeat the hardships/challenges many faced during the last transition

**Notes:**
As you may know, the GSA SmartPay® master contract was awarded in 1998. There was a 5-year base period, and we’re into the third of five one-year options. Assuming we exercise the remaining two options, the master contract will expire on November 29, 2008. The new program will be called “GSA SmartPay® 2” or “SP2”. We came up with this name after asking for suggestions from agencies, industry, and others within GSA.

A key component of the transition to the new contract is the selection of contractors and award of task orders. With a program as large and complex as this one, it’s never too early to begin planning. In this case, it’s especially important to begin planning now. 

For those of you who were part of the transition in 1998, you may remember that we faced a number of challenges. For example, there were a number of issues related to the interface between the agencies’ financial systems and the contractors’ systems. We do not want to repeat these hardships / challenges. We’re doing a couple of things to make sure that the transition to SP2 goes smoothly. For example, we’d like to stagger agency transitions. Rather than transitioning all agencies at once, as we did last time, we’d like to stagger transitions. So that if any unforeseen problems occur, not all the agencies will be affected at one time, and there will be time to fix the problem before subsequent agencies transition. This will require some “early adopters” to transition in the second half of 2007. I’ll discuss that more a little later.

## Timeline

- GSA SmartPay® 2 contracts to be awarded in first half of CY 2007
- Transition to occur through November 2008
- GSA SmartPay® team is looking for agencies to be “early adopters” and transition in 2007
- Planning needs to begin ***NOW***

**Notes:**
The GSA SmartPay® 2 contracts will be awarded in the first half of calendar year 2007. At that time GSA will host a kick-off conference to introduce agencies to the contractors selected under the master contract. The agencies will receive copies of the contractors’ presentation packages, which include pricing, descriptions of products/services available, and points of contact. Transitions will occur during the period between the kick-off conference and November 2008.

As I mentioned earlier, GSA is looking for agencies willing to be “early adopters” to transition in 2007.  The more agencies stagger their transition, the easier it will be for the program to transition smoothly to SP2. If you are interested in becoming an “early adopter”, please see me after this session, or email or call me. Whether you transition in 2007 or 2008, all agencies must transition by November 29, 2008.

Even if you do not plan to be an “early adopter”, I hope I’ve expressed the importance of beginning to plan for the transition now.

## Timeline (cont’d)

**Notes:**
The graphic is too small to read here, but you can reference it on the GSA SmartPay® website (www.gsa.gov/gsasmartpay).  The presentations from the conference will be posted to the website within the next week or two.

As you can see, we’ve already developed a very detailed transition timeline that shows timeframes for “early adopters” in 2007 and “regular” transitions in 2008.  Though we have broken it down into “two” transitions, it does not mean agencies can not transition between November 2007 and November 2008.  Agencies can transition at any time between November 2007 and November 2008.  Note that your task order may need to be modified depending on when you decide to transition.

## Guidelines and Considerations

**Notes:**
So now that you have a broad understanding of the transition timeline, I’d like to talk some more about the individual agencies’ roles in the transition. Once GSA has awarded the master contract to the selected contractor banks, agencies will be responsible for awarding task orders to one or more of these contractor banks. There are a number of guidelines and considerations that may come into play as you develop and award your agency’s task order(s).

## Define Current Needs

- Perform a self assessment on your agency’s program
- Determine where your program currently is and where you want to get to in the future program
- Identify your agency’s system interface requirements
- Develop a needs assessment document
- Utilize GSA guidance
- Review other agencies’ SOWs, needs assessments, or tailored task orders
- Seek input from numerous areas within your agency (e.g., finance, policy, procurement, IT) by surveying stakeholders, holding forums, etc.

**Notes:**
Even now, before the master contract is in place, you can start thinking about your agency’s needs. 

Right now, everyone in this audience should have some idea of what you need in your next charge card program. If you are an A/OPC, you need to start writing these ideas down.  It also helps to complete a more formal self-assessment of your current program, to determine where your program currently is and where you want to get to in the future.

As part of this “needs assessment” step, it’s also important to define your agency’s system interface requirements. One of the most time-consuming issues under the current master contract has been ensuring that the contractor banks conform to the agencies’ systems.

Once you’ve completed the preliminary research and data gathering, you should get your needs assessment information down in writing in a “needs assessment document”. GSA will be providing guidance and access to other agencies’ SOWs or tailored task orders for your reference. The needs assessment should also consider the needs of other stakeholders within your agency, including finance, policy, procurement and IT personnel and policies. Each of these groups may have special requirements or issue that should be incorporated into the needs assessment document that you have not considered.  Some ways in which you can solicit stakeholder input are by sending out questionnaires or holding forums.

## Determine Task Order Placement

- Each agency’s/organization’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO), and Procurement Executive (PE), or designees of each, are 	responsible for making the decision on how the agency/organization will place a task order
- The CFO, CAO, and PE, or designees, may allow various organizational elements to place their task order directly with the Contractor or may ask GSA to do so on their behalf

**Notes:**
At the same time as you’re working to define your agency’s needs, your agency’s CFO, CAO and PE – or their designees – should begin considering how the agency will place the task order. That is, will there be one task order that covers the entire agency, or will components be allowed to place their own task orders with Contractors?

These decisions may be based in part on previous practices, the setup of financial or other reporting structures, or the specific needs of the agency and/or its components. 

## Determine Task Order Placement (cont’d)

- Department Level – one task order is issued on behalf of all departmental components
- All components of the department would have the same Contractor for a business line
- This strategy maximizes buying leverage with Contractor(s) and may streamline agency processes
- Component Levels of the Department – department allows various organizational elements to place their task orders directly with the Contractor(s)
- This strategy maximizes the department’s flexibility, but may result in higher pricing and/or multiple streams of financial data from different sources

**Notes:**
If your agency decides to issue one task order at the departmental level, this means that all components of the department would have the same Contractor for a business line. For example Department of Interior has one task order for its agency.

Placing the task order at the departmental level gives the agency maximum leverage with the contractor bank. The agency has greater leverage with a greater spend volume; the bank may be more willing/able to negotiate better rates with a larger customer. Issuing a departmental level task order may also serve to streamline agency processes related to charge card management and reporting.

The benefit of allowing components to place their own task orders is that this approach can provide maximum flexibility, especially for components that have unique needs that cannot be met by a department level task order. For example, under the current master contract, the Department of Defense has one task order for the purchase card business line that covers all branches EXCEPT for the Department of the Navy, which issued its own task order. There are two possible drawbacks to the component-level approach. First, it may result in higher pricing since you have a lower volume and thus lower negotiating power with the contractor banks. Second, this approach may lead to multiple streams of financial data from different sources. This may make it more difficult to consolidate and report financials for your charge card program. 

## Attend Kick-Off Conference

- GSA will conduct a GSA SmartPay® Master Contract Kick-Off Conference in the Washington, DC metropolitan area for all awarded master Contractors and the government
- GSA will explain the master contract, ordering procedures, etc., and formally introduce master contract awardees to the government
- It will be scheduled after the contract is awarded

**Notes:**
So, over the course of the next several months, you should be collecting information to define your agency’s needs, and determining whether you will be issuing one department-level task order, or allowing component agencies to issue their own task orders. 

At the same time, GSA will be soliciting and evaluating proposals from contractor banks on the new SP2 master contract. GSA expects to make awards on the new master contract in the first half of calendar year 2007. After the awards have been made, GSA will host a master contract kick-off conference in the Washington, DC metro area. The purpose of the kick-off conference will be to provide you with more information on the master contract and ordering procedures, and to formally introduce the awarded contractors to you.

## Attend Kick-Off Conference (cont’d)

- After the opening ceremony of the conference, Contractors may begin directly contacting the agencies/organizations to market and/or advertise their programs
- Contractor presentation packages will:
- Be available at the kick-off conference
- Be developed and published by each contractor
- Include pricing, descriptions of products/services, and points of contact

**Notes:**
After the introduction at the kick-off conference, contractors can begin to reach out to the agencies directly to market their services.

Each of the awardees will be available to answer questions at the conference. They’ll have booths set up so they’re easy to find. They’ll also be handing out presentation packages which will include pricing information, descriptions of the products and services they have to offer, and contact information.

## Determine Task Order Approach

- Review presentation packages
- Review task order guide
- GSA designed and issued publication that summarizes master contract terms and conditions and awarded contracts
- Includes a matrix of the Contractors’ offerings (e.g., contract line item numbers, additional product and service offerings, value added products and service offerings); types of electronic access and specifications; strengths; past performance ratings; and price

**Notes:**
Next you should review the presentation packages as well as the task order guide provided by GSA. As I mentioned, the presentation packages will be distributed at the master contract kick-off conference. The task order guide is a document that GSA will be publishing after master contract award. This document will provide a summary of the master contract terms and conditions and the awarded contracts. The task order guide will include a matrix showing each master contract awardee’s CLINs, additional product and service offerings (e.g., debit cards), value added product and service offerings (e.g., card sleeves), electronic access system specifications, pricing, and past performance ratings.

## Determine Task Order Approach (cont’d)

- Determine approach that best meets your agency’s needs
- Standard task order
- Tailored task order
- Pool arrangement
- Tag-along arrangement
- Regardless of which task order approach your agency chooses, it must provide fair consideration

**Notes:**
Once you’ve viewed your agency’s needs against the master contract terms and the awardees’ offerings, you can determine the task order approach that meets your needs.

There are four types of task order approaches: a standard or tailored task order, and tag-along or pool arrangements. I’ll discuss each of these approaches and the steps to implement each approach a little later in this presentation.

Regardless of which approach you choose, it is important that your agency provide fair consideration of each of the awardees under the master contract.

## Observe Fair Consideration

- All agencies are required to provide fair consideration to all Contractors
- Fair Consideration: Reviewing all qualified Master Contractors for potential award
- This can be accomplished through agency/organization review of the presentation packages, the task order guide, or contact with Master Contractors

**Notes:**
What is “fair consideration”? It means that agencies must review all qualified master contractors for potential award. 

Agencies should closely read the presentation packages and task order guide or reach out directly to the master contractors.

Some master contractors may not be “qualified”. For example, if your agency has a particular value added need (e.g., card sleeves) that only 3 of the 8 master contractors can provide, you only need to invite those 3 “qualified” contractors to compete for your task order.

## Observe Fair Consideration (cont’d)

- Requirement for fair consideration does not apply to orders above the micro-purchase threshold where the ordering Contracting Officer determines that:
- The need for the services or property ordered is of such unusual urgency that providing such opportunity to all such Contractors would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling that need;
- Only one such Contractor is capable of providing the services or property required at the level of quality required because the services or property ordered are unique or highly specialized; or
- The task order should be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to a task order already issued on a competitive basis provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

**Notes:**
There are some cases where fair consideration does not apply. 

For example, for orders above the micro-purchase threshold, if your ordering Contracting Officer determines that there is “unusual urgency” for the service or product, that there is only one contractor capable of providing the good or service, or that the task order should be issued on a sole-source basis in the interests of economy and efficiency, you are not required to observe fair consideration. 

These are special cases, and you should work closely with your ordering Contracting Officer to determine whether any of these criteria apply or, if they do not, to make sure that you are providing fair consideration appropriately.

If you have additional questions about fair consideration or other contracting issues, you can also contact the GSA SmartPay® Program Office for support.

## Standard Task Orders

**Notes:**
Again, fair consideration is something that must be respected no matter what task order approach your agency selects.

Your ordering Contracting Officer can serve as a key resource to help you navigate fair consideration and other procurement rules. He or she can also provide guidance and advice on which of the four task order approaches to take.

In the next few slides, I’ll provide brief overviews of the four possible approaches, starting with standard task orders.

## Standard Task Orders

- If the products and services in the Contractors’ presentation packages meet your agency’s/ organization’s requirements, issue a standard task order
- Review the task order guide or Contractor presentation packages and determine which Contractor best meets your agency’s/organization's requirements
- Agencies/organizations may contact the Master Contractors for additional information, as long as they give fair consideration to all qualified Contractors under the master contract
- Agencies/organizations may request better pricing for products and services offered, but Contractors are not required or obligated to provide better pricing
- Agencies/organizations do not submit a separate work statement with their standard task requests/orders
- When issuing standard task orders, agencies/organizations are not required to develop their own statements of work/task order requests or negotiate with Contractors

**Notes:**
Once you’ve reviewed your agency’s needs, the master contract, and the presentation packages you’ll have an idea of whether the master contract and the contractors’ products and services meet your agency’s needs.

If you determine that the master contract covers your needs, then you should choose the standard task order approach.  If you choose the standard task order approach, you will not need to provide a separate statement of work to the contractors. The standard task orders incorporate the SOW included in the master contract.  Under a standard task order, you would go out to only the qualified contractors and have them come up with pricing.

One major advantage to standard task orders is that you will not be required to formally or informally compete the requirement or negotiate with contractors.

For contractors that do meet your agency’s needs, you should provide them an opportunity to propose better pricing than what they’ve offered in the master contract. Contractors are not required to offer better pricing, but my philosophy is that it doesn’t hurt to ask.

## Tailored Task Orders

**Notes:**
If a standard task order approach does not work for your agency, you may need to use a tailored task order.

## Tailored Task Orders

- If the products and services in the Contractors’ presentation packages do *not* meet your agency’s/organization’s requirements, use a tailored task order
- Tailored Statements of Work/SOO/Tailored Task Requests must be developed and issued for tailored task orders
- Issuing a tailored task order includes additional steps (The following slides outline these steps)

**Notes:**
If you find that there are unique provisions, products or services that your agency requires that are not included in the master contract – for example, specific reports – you may choose to develop a tailored task order.

A tailored task order requires some additional steps. I’ll talk about these on the next few slides.

## Write SOW, SOO, or Tailored Task Request

- Identify resources for writing SOW
- Translate results of needs assessment into SOW language
- Develop evaluation framework
- Finalize SOW/SOO/tailored task request
- Establish evaluation factors
- Determine evaluation strategy

**Notes:**
The purpose of the tailored task order is to incorporate agency-specific requirements that are not included in the master contract. You’ll need to specify these requirements in a statement of work that you’ll issue to qualified contractors.

This obviously requires that you develop the SOW, so you’ll need to identify the resources needed to write the SOW, and translate the needs assessment you conducted earlier into SOW language. You should also begin to develop an evaluation framework so you can rate proposals based on the factors that are most important to meet your agency’s needs.

You should finalize the SOW/task order request, including establishing the formal evaluation factors, and the evaluation strategy (i.e., whether the agency will award the task for one business line only, for all three business lines, or to three separate contractors)

## Issue SOW, SOO, or Tailored Task Request

- Allow one month response period, assuming no provision for questions and clarifications
- Respond to inquiries about SOW
- Collect proposals

**Notes:**
Once the task order request is finalized, it should be issued to all qualified contractors. We recommend allowing for a one month response period because you do not want contractors to re-hash issues from the master contract.  You want to make sure they can address your tailored task order items.  This one month period does not include a formal response period for questions and answers.

## Establish Technical Evaluation Panel

- Identify Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP) participants.  Include personnel from:
- IT
- Finance
- Procurement
- Purchase, travel, and/or fleet, depending on which business lines are being competed
- Assign roles and responsibilities to the TEP
- Draft guidance for panel

**Notes:**
While the solicitation is out, you should work to identify participants for the Technical Evaluation Panel, or TEP. You should include personnel from IT, Finance, Procurement, and Purchase, travel and/or fleet, depending on which business lines are being competed.  You want to make sure that the panel is representative  of the various areas.

Identify and assign roles and responsibilities to the TEP members, and draft written guidance for the panel to follow based on the stated evaluation framework and factors.

## Evaluate Proposals and Make Award

- Evaluate written proposals
- Agencies/organizations have to review and evaluate each proposal received against established evaluation criteria and methodology
- Conduct and evaluate oral presentations, if needed
- Agencies/organizations may select the awardee without further discussions

**Notes:**
Once the contractors’ proposals are in and the TEP is impaneled, they should evaluate the written proposals. All proposals must be evaluated against the established evaluation criteria, using the same methodology.

If necessary, the TEP can bring the offerors in for oral presentations. Please note that if you are contemplating oral presentations, this must be stated in the SOW. 

The task order may be awarded without discussions or negotiations.

## Evaluate Proposals and Make Award (cont’d)

- If negotiations are conducted, they will occur at the time and place designated by the ordering Contracting Officer and/or his/her designated representative
- Following the completion of negotiations, the Contractor(s) have to submit a finalized tailored task order proposal, as directed by the agency/organization, which reflects the Final Proposal Revision, technical and price, and includes a schedule with firm milestones
- Document findings
- Award task order

**Notes:**
However, if the agency would like to be able to conduct negotiations, this should be stated in the SOW.

Negotiations would occur at a time and place designated by the ordering Contracting Officer and/or his/her designated representative. Following negotiations, the contractor or contractors are required to submit final revisions to their technical and price proposals.

Now, how many of you are Contracting Officers? All of you who are COs are probably quite familiar with the process.  For those of you who aren’t, work with your contracting office/ordering Contracting Officer to ensure that the TEP follows the appropriate guidelines and documents its findings and recommendations.

Once the process is complete, the task order can be awarded.

## Pool / Tag-Along Arrangements

**Notes:**
For any of you who represent smaller agencies or organizations, tag-along or pool arrangements may be a good option to help you get better pricing and reduce administrative hassles.

If there are agency-specific requirements that are not included in the master contract, you should look for an opportunity to “tag-along” with an agency with similar requirements built into its own tailored task order. For example, if you find that another agency already holds its own tailored task order, and that task order meets your agency’s needs, you should check with that agency to see if they allow for tag-alongs.

Finally, there is also the option to work out a pooling arrangement with other agencies. A pooling arrangement is one where a number of organizations develop a combined set of agreed requirements, and the group issues one task order.

## GSA Pool Assistance

- For agencies/organizations that want to pool their task orders with GSA’s assistance, GSA will facilitate this process upon request
- Agencies/organizations may submit their requirements to GSA; GSA will compare agency/organization requirements to find an appropriate match, and provide the agency/ organization a point of contact and telephone number
- GSA will consolidate agency/organization requirements and either provide the consolidated requirements to the ordering agency/organization or place the order on the agency’s/ organization’s behalf, as requested
- Contractors must accept all GSA-pooled orders

**Notes:**
Agencies have the option of requesting GSA assistance to facilitate pooling arrangements. Interested agencies should provide their requirements to GSA. GSA will compare these requirements to those of other agencies and find appropriate matches. GSA will provide contact information to each of the potential “match” agencies.

GSA can also consolidate multiple agencies’ requirements and provide these requirements to the ordering agency, or place the order on the pool’s behalf.
Contractors must accept all GSA-pooled orders, regardless of individual agency size.

## Order Assistance

- For agencies/organizations that want to pool their task orders together without GSA or Contractor assistance, GSA will make available on the GSA SmartPay® website, lists of the agencies/organizations interested in pooling, points of contact, and telephone numbers
- GSA may also make agency/organization-awarded task orders available for agencies to reference.  It is important for agencies/organizations to submit their task requests electronically to facilitate this process

**Notes:**
For agencies that want to pool their task orders without GSA’s assistance, GSA will compile and post a list of agencies interested in pooling and points of contact for each, on the GSA SmartPay® website.

GSA may also post some awarded agency task orders on its site for reference purposes. Agencies should submit their task requests electronically to facilitate information sharing with other agencies.

## Tag-Along Task Orders

- Agencies/organizations that want to tag-along with another agency’s/organization’s task order should contact the agency/organization that they are interested in tagging-along with to see if they allow tagging-along, and to review the primary agency/organization requirements
- The primary agency/organization must state whether or not they will allow tagging-along within their task order
- The primary agency’s/organization’s Contractor will provide the agency/organization that is tagging-along with the same services as provided to the primary agency/organization

**Notes:**
If you’re interested in tagging-along on another agency’s task order, and their task order meets your agency’s needs, you’ll need to find out if they allow tag-alongs. Agencies must state whether or not they allow tag-alongs in their task orders.

Note:  some agencies charge a fee for agencies wanting to tag with them.  Be sure to check.

If you do tag-along with another agency, your agency will receive the same services and pricing as the primary agency.

## Tag-Along with GSA

- Upon request, agencies/organizations may tag-along with GSA’s task order
- Contractors must accept GSA’s task order(s)
- Note: If you require paper (e.g., invoices or reports) for centrally billed accounts, you cannot tag-along with GSA.  GSA’s task order is 100% electronic for centrally billed accounts

**Notes:**
Agencies can also opt to tag-along with GSA under its task order. All master contractors must accept GSA’s task order(s).

Please note that you cannot tag-along with GSA if you require paper invoices or reports for centrally billed accounts. GSA’s task order will be 100% electronic for centrally billed accounts.

## Task Order Guidelines

**Notes:**
Once you’ve decided what task order approach to take, it’s time to actually develop the task order. In this next section, we’ll get down into the nuts and bolts of task order guidelines you need to follow.

## General Task Order Rules

- Task orders may be on an official government order form (e.g., DD1155, GSA300), on agency letterhead, or electronic; must be in writing
- Task orders may not increase the scope, period, or maximum value of the master contract
- The master contract is designed to provide flexibility at the task order level. However, in the event of direct conflict between a task order and the master contract, the master contract will take precedence

**Notes:**
First, for all you folks who don’t have a background in contracts, I’ll go over some general task order rules, or rules you’d follow for any task order. Then I’ll talk more specifically about task orders under the GSA SmartPay® 2 master contract. This is not meant to be a comprehensive lecture on task order rules, rather it is a very broad and general primer, meant to help you be able to better understand the process, and work more effectively with your agency contracting shop to develop and execute your task order.

So – to begin at the beginning. A task order may be an official government order form, such as a DD1155, or a GSA300; it may be on agency letterhead; or it may be electronic. Whatever form it takes, the task order must be in writing. A task order cannot increase the scope, period, or maximum value of a master contract.
And finally, in the event of a conflict between a task order and the master contract, the master contract will control.

It is important to note that you can add to the master contract terms, but you cannot remove anything from the master contract. For example, you can include a requirement that the contractor issue paper statements or reports, or a requirement that the contractor’s system meet certain security criteria. These requirements would still fall within the scope of the master contract. You could not, however, add a requirement that the contractor provide telecommunications services under the task order; this is – obviously – outside of the scope of the master contract. 

## General Task Order Rules (cont’d)

- Each task order should include, at a minimum:
- The statement “this is a standard *or* tailored task order”
- Names of the activity or activities authorized to issue orders against the task order
- Date of order
- GSA contract number
- Agency task order number
- Contract line item numbers
- Price
- Period of performance
- Place of delivery or performance
- Accounting and appropriation data

**Notes:**
Again, in general terms, a standard task order should include the items shown on this list, at a minimum. Some of these items may not be applicable for the SP2 task orders, for example, there is no “place of delivery or performance”. In addition, the SP2 task orders will include some information that is not typical, for example, productivity refund pricing.  You should use this list as a checklist.

Your task order should definitely include anything that is different from the master contract, for example, if the contractor offered your agency better pricing than proposed under the master contract, that should be included. If the contractor offers the same pricing as under the master contract, you do not need to include it in your task order, although it won’t “hurt” anything if you do.

## Minimum Task Order Size

- No minimum task order size for standard task requests and orders
- Minimum task order size for tailored task requests and orders is as follows:
- Fleet Card:  $300,000 annual charge volume
- Travel Card:  $3,000,000 annual charge volume
- Purchase Card:  $3,000,000 annual charge volume
- Integrated Solution Card:  Annual charge volume of the business lines being integrated
- The Contractor may accept tailored task orders that are less than the minimum charge volume specified

**Notes:**
Now I’ll move on to cover some issues specific to task orders under the SP2 contract.

There is no minimum task order size for standard task orders. 

Minimum size requirements for tailored task orders vary by business line. For fleet cards, there is a minimum $300,000 annual charge volume. For both travel cards and purchase cards, the annual minimum volume is $3 million. For agencies with tailored task orders for integrated cards, the minimum annual charge volume is the sum of the business lines being integrated. For example, for an integrated travel and fleet card, the annual minimum volume is $3.3 million.

A contractor can choose to waive the minimum volume requirement and accept a task order for less than the stated minimum. Should a Contractor elect not to accept a task order less than the minimum charge volume, the Contractor shall submit a “no offer” response including a brief statement as to the reason why they chose not to respond.

## Task Order Length

- For the agency’s/organization’s _initial_ task order placed against the master contract, the minimum task order length for both standard and tailored task orders is two years or the duration of the master contract, whichever is sooner
- Task orders may contain options to renew initial task order, but the task order can not exceed the period of the master contract
- The Contractor may accept initial task orders placed against the master contract that are less than the minimum length specified
- Maximum agency/organization task order for the initial order placement may be a maximum of 4 years with 1 four-year option and 1 three-year option to renew, or duration of master contract length, whichever is sooner

**Notes:**
An agency’s initial task order must be for a minimum of 2 years, or the duration of the contract, whichever is sooner. Task orders may contain options to renew the initial task order, but the task order cannot exceed the period of the master contract. Contractors may accept initial task orders of less than 2 years if they wish. Should the Contractor elect not to accept a task order less than the minimum length, the Contractor shall submit a “no offer” response including a brief statement as to the reason why they chose not to respond.

The maximum length of the initial task order is a 4 year base period, plus one 4-year option, and one 3-year option – OR – the duration of the master contract, whichever is sooner. However, remember that these are maximums. You can change the lengths of the base period or the options to be less than 4 or 3 years.

## Task Order Length (cont’d)

- Subsequent task orders are not required to have any minimum length, but must not exceed the transactional period
- Agency/organization task orders may not exceed the master contract length for either standard and tailored task orders

**Notes:**
Subsequent task orders – or task orders issued after the initial task order has elapsed – are not required to have any minimum length, but they cannot exceed the transactional period.

Does everyone understand what the “transactional period” is? [wait for nods, etc.] The transactional period is the length of the master contract in which transactions can occur (i.e., November 30, 2007 – November 29, 2018).

Which brings me to the final point on task order length: agency task orders cannot, in any situation, exceed the length of the master contract. The full master contract, with all options, is expected to run until November 2018. However, GSA may choose not to exercise the option to extend one or more contractors for poor performance, for example. If, for any reason, the GSA decides not to extend an option to one or more of the contractors, we will let all affected agencies know well in advance so they can make other arrangements.

## Task Order Protests

- No protest is authorized in connection with the issuance or proposed issuance of a task order (FAR subpart 33.1)
- Exception:  A protest on the grounds that the task order increases the scope, period, or maximum value of the contract under which the order is issued

**Notes:**
Since this is a multiple award contract, as long as fair consideration is given, contractors can’t launch a protest.

For those is the contracting arena, you know that anyone can basically protest anything.  In this case it is not sustainable.  Unless........

There is one exception, and that is, a contractor may protest if a task order increases the scope or period of the master contract. Since there is no maximum value for this contract, the last exception does not apply.

## Task Order Ombudsman

- GSA’s task order ombudsman may hear concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and Contractors for the master contract
- Purpose of the ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the ordering or GSA Contracting Officer, but to be responsible for reviewing complaints from the Contractors and ensure that all of the Contractors are afforded a fair opportunity to be considered for task orders
- The ombudsman is a senior GSA official who is independent of the GSA Contracting Officer for this contract
- The ombudsman does not have the authority to overturn award decisions or adjudicate formal contract disputes

**Notes:**
GSA does have an ombudsman who may hear concerns from offerors, potential offerors and contractors on the master contract. The ombudsman’s role is to independently review complaints from contractors and to ensure that all contractors are afforded fair consideration. He/she is a senior GSA official who is independent of the GSA Contracting Officer for the contract. The ombudsman does not have the authority to overturn award decisions or adjudicate formal contract disputes.

## Electronic Task Order Posting

- All standard and tailored task orders and contract line item number (CLIN) prices, as well as any modifications, may be posted on the GSA SmartPay® website
- All Contractor technical proposals at the master contract level may also be posted on the GSA SmartPay® website, giving due regard to any information protected by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

**Notes:**
GSA will post highlights of the SP2 contract as well as any contract modifications on the GSA SmartPay® website. GSA may also post standard and tailored task orders, CLIN prices, and contractor technical proposals at the master contract level on its website. We will look at the information to determine if it is proprietary or personal before it is posted. All of these materials are meant to provide information and promote sharing of best practices among the agencies.

## Administration of Task Orders

- Contract administration of task orders is the responsibility of the ordering agency/organization
- Any changes to the task order will be issued in writing by the ordering agency/organization
- Only the ordering contracting officer may modify the terms and conditions of the agency’s/organization’s task order
- The ordering contracting officer does not have the authority to modify the terms and conditions of the master contract

**Notes:**
Now that you have your task order in place, the administration of the task order begins.  Again, for any of you who don’t have a background in contracting, I wanted to highlight some general information about the administration of task orders. 

The ordering agency is responsible for contract administration of its task order. Any changes to the task order should be issued in writing by the ordering agency.
Only the ordering Contracting Officer can modify the terms and condition of an agency’s task order. And finally, the ordering contracting officer does not have the authority to modify the terms and conditions of the master contract.

## How will the GSA SmartPay® 2 Program Office Help You?

**Notes:**
As I mentioned much earlier in the presentation, the GSA SmartPay® Program Office will be doing a number of things to help make this a seamless transition.  I  know I’ve mentioned a lot of tasks that agencies will undertake during transition throughout this presentations, but now I’d like to take a few minutes now to tell you a bit more about the roles that the GSA SmartPay® Program Office will be playing in the transition and how we will help you.

## GSA SmartPay® Program Office Roles

- Work closely with agencies and banks to facilitate a seamless transition
- Develop transition planning tools for agency use:
- Agency pre- and post-award checklists
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Executive briefing
- Agency program self assessment tool
- Transition tri-fold
- Task order builder tool
- Establish BPAs for transition support contractors to help agencies transition to the new program

**Notes:**
Overall, we will work closely with agencies and the selected contractor banks to facilitate a seamless transition. 

Some of the work we’re doing currently is developing tools for pre- and post-award transition tasks, including checklists, FAQs, a self-assessment tool to help you define your needs, a tri-fold “cheat sheet” with quick facts about the program, and an executive briefing that you can present to help gain the buy-in of senior leaders within your agency. We are also working to develop a tool that will streamline the development of your agency’s task order.

These tools will be available on our website when they are developed, so please check the GSA SmartPay® website regularly.

The GSA SmartPay® Program Office will also establish BPAs for transition support contractors to help agencies transition to the new program. [note: provide additional information on how and when agencies can obtain this support, here]

## GSA SmartPay® Program Office Roles (cont’d)

- Plan and prepare for the transition to minimize impact on cardholders
- Provide guidance on developing SOWs
- Provide assistance with developing task orders
- Provide assistance with negotiations
- Coordinate “pool” arrangements
- Post “highlights” of Master Contract on website
- Facilitate user group meetings for A/OPCs to discuss their current banks
- Support/operate a transition help line

**Notes:**
The GSA SmartPay® program office’s overall objective is to minimize the impact of the transition on cardholders – to make the transition at each agency seamless. In that spirit, we will also be providing guidance and assistance as requested to help you develop SOWs and task orders, and coordinating pooling arrangements between agencies. 
We will post the “highlights” of the master contract and each of the selected contractors’ offerings on the GSA SmartPay® website for reference purposes.
We will also facilitate user group meetings for A/OPCs to discuss their experience with the incumbent banks. 
We will also operate a transition help line so that you can contact us if you have questions or concerns.

## GSA SmartPay® Website

**Notes:**
For more information, tools and guidance, please check our website. The GSA SmartPay® website is: www.gsa.gov/gsasmartpay.  New information will continuously be added as it is made available.

## Contact Information

**Notes:**
Again, my name is Bertha Gelhaus. I hope you’ve found this presentation helpful and informative. My contact information is listed here. I’m going to open it up for questions in a moment, but please take down my information in case you have any questions or concerns at a later date.  Your GSA SmartPay® representative is also available to answer questions you may have.

## Questions

- ?

**Notes:**
And with that, I’d like to open up the floor to questions. We’ve covered a fair amount of ground today in a relatively short amount of time, so please, ask away.