Team Integrity Knowledge Center

Relationship building is part of winning federal work. Paying someone with federal dollars to influence an award is not. The Byrd Amendment draws that line, and it carries a disclosure requirement that applies even when you pay with your own money. Most contractors have never heard of it until they are asked to certify it.

The Byrd Amendment: Anti-Lobbying Rules for Federal Contractors Federal law bars using appropriated funds to lobby for a contract or grant, and requires disclosure of other lobbying. What the Byrd Amendment means for contractors.

Winning advisory work for an agency feels like the ultimate inside track. It can also shut you out of the very contracts you are best positioned to win. Impaired objectivity is the conflict you cannot firewall your way out of, and consulting and professional-services firms need to understand it before it costs them an award.

Impaired-Objectivity OCI for Advisory and Services Firms If your firm advises the government, an impaired-objectivity conflict can bar you from related work. Why advisory firms face the hardest OCI to mitigate.

Assembled in the USA does not always mean made in the USA, at least not in the government's eyes. Under the Trade Agreements Act, what counts is where a product was substantially transformed, and a careless certification is a growing source of False Claims Act cases. Product resellers are right in the line of fire.

The Trade Agreements Act and Country-of-Origin Fraud The Trade Agreements Act limits where products sold to the government can be made, and a false country-of-origin certification is a growing source of FCA cases.

Your federal bid can be rejected before anyone even reads your proposal.

A lapsed SAM.gov registration. A missing NAICS code. An expired certification. Any one of these is enough to get you disqualified, no matter how strong your offer is.

That's why walks every client through the same checklist before they submit a single bid.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟳 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀
1. UEI + active SAM.gov registration
2. Representations & certifications
3. NAICS codes
4. Capability statement
5. Past performance references
6. Small business certifications (8(a), WOSB, HUBZone, SDVOSB)
7. W-9 & business license

Being bid-ready is the first step. Knowing where to bid is the next one.

That's where comes in: daily contract sourcing, market research, and a pipeline built around your NAICS codes.

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. Save this checklist before your next bid. Link in bio.

The most feared clause on the GSA Schedule is going away. The Price Reductions Clause and commercial sales disclosures are being retired as every Schedule holder moves to Transactional Data Reporting and Pricing 2.0. The compliance burden is not disappearing. It is moving somewhere new, and Schedule holders need to know where.

GSA Schedule Pricing: PRC to TDR and Pricing 2.0 GSA is retiring the Price Reductions Clause and Commercial Sales Practices for mandatory Transactional Data Reporting and Pricing 2.0. What Schedule holders must do.

It usually starts as a shortcut. A few hours booked to the contract with budget left, a junior employee billed at a senior rate, a supervisor saying which code to use. In government contracting, that timecard backs up an invoice, and mischarging is one of the most aggressively prosecuted forms of contract fraud.

Labor Mischarging and Timekeeping Fraud in Government Contracts Charging labor to the wrong contract or booking hours not worked is one of the most prosecuted forms of contract fraud. How mischarging happens and how to prevent it.

For nearly four decades, 8(a) applicants from certain groups were presumed socially disadvantaged. As of September 10, that presumption is gone, and so is the personal-narrative test. The new standard asks applicants to prove the policy, not the story. Who it affects, who it doesn't, and why both sides of the debate are paying close attention.

SBA Ends 8(a) Social-Disadvantage Presumption: The Debate, Explained SBA's final rule removing the 8(a) rebuttable presumption of social disadvantage is now in effect — a contested change, with both sides explained.

The definition of small business could change overnight. SBA's proposed size standards overhaul would make more than 114,000 additional firms small, including 37,000 current contractors that held over $71 billion in FY2025 obligations. That could mean more set-asides, but also much bigger competitors inside them. Where your NAICS codes land may decide which side of this you end up on.

BREAKING: SBA Size-Standards Overhaul Could Make 114,000+ Firms Small A sweeping SBA proposal would make roughly 114,541 more firms — including 37,000 existing contractors — qualify as small, transforming who competes for set-asides.

Those are reported stock trades during each presidential term, from Clinton through Trump's second term.

Federal contractors are held to disclosure, conflict of interest, and certification rules every single day. The question is whether the people at the top should be held to the same standard.

Should the President be barred from trading individual stocks while in office? Tell us yes or no, and why.

You do not need an actual conflict to lose a contract. Under the appearance standard, a contracting officer can disqualify you over how a relationship looks to a reasonable observer. Fairness is not the test. Perception is. Here is how the standard works and how to get ahead of it.

The Appearance Standard: How Perceived Conflicts Cost Contractors Awards In federal contracting, the appearance of a conflict can cost you an award even without actual bias. Why optics are a compliance issue — and how to manage them.