Setting realistic FY2027 revenue and growth goals starts with your current federal revenue, not a number you hope to hit. From there, you set a growth target your capacity and pipeline can actually support, then work backward to the pursuits and win rate it would take to get there. The federal fiscal year begins October 1, so the time to set these numbers is now.
The rules that govern how federal contracts are closed out are being simplified as part of a government-wide overhaul of acquisition regulations that began in 2025 and is rolling out through 2026. The core actions a contractor is responsible for at closeout have not changed. What is changing is the regulatory framework around them, and because agencies are adopting the changes on different timelines, the exact process can vary by agency right now.
Federal contract modifications take longer than commercial change orders because each one is a formal contract action, not a quick approval. Before anything changes, the government has to verify funding, route the change through a contracting officer with the authority to bind it, and document why the change is justified. A commercial change order can move on a conversation. A federal modification cannot.
Positioning for a new fiscal year means using the months before October 1 to put your strategy, pipeline, and compliance in place so you can compete from the start of the year instead of ramping up once it is already underway. For federal contractors, the businesses that plan ahead of FY2027 tend to move faster when agency spending picks up.
If you win a small-business set-aside, there's a rule that limits how much of that work you can hand off to a subcontractor. For most services and supply contracts, you can't pay outside subcontractors more than 50% of what the government pays you for the job. A lot of contractors have heard this as "51%." That's not right, and getting it wrong can put your award at risk. The good news: once you understand how it's actually calculated, it's very manageable to stay on the right side of it.
Labor Day honors the contributions of American workers, and that includes the federal contractors who build, supply, and support the work of government every day. Behind every federal contract is a team of people doing real work, from construction crews and IT specialists to logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare providers. It is a fitting moment to recognize what they accomplish.
In government contracts, the question is usually not who owns intellectual property, but what rights the government receives to use it. As a general rule, a contractor keeps ownership of its intellectual property, while the government receives a license to use it. How broad that license is depends largely on who paid to develop the work. This differs from commercial deals, where IP terms are negotiated case by case.
The FAS Catalog Platform, or FCP, is the system GSA Schedule holders use to keep their contract catalog current and compliant. It's replacing SIP and EDI-832, and GSA is moving contractors onto it in waves.
If you hold a Schedule, you'll end up on FCP. The question isn't whether. It's when, and what you should be doing until your turn comes.
GSA eLibrary is where you check who holds a GSA Schedule and what that contract covers. It's free, it's public, and it's the fastest way to find out whether a company is actually on Schedule before you do business with them.
It's also the tool most contractors misunderstand. eLibrary answers a narrow set of questions extremely well. Ask it anything outside that set and you'll come away with the wrong answer, or no answer at all.
Here's what it does, what it doesn't, and where to go for the rest.
Trade Agreements Act compliance means that, on covered federal contracts above a set dollar threshold, the products you offer must be made or substantially transformed in the United States or a designated country. What is new for 2026 is a routine update to those dollar thresholds, effective March 13, 2026. The core compliance rules are unchanged, and because the thresholds adjust on a regular cycle, the practical step is to verify the current figure for a given contract.
