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FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions about FARSmarterBids. If you have any questions not answered here, please let us know.
Questions:
Answers:
Why choose "FARSmarterBids"?
The United States Government is the largest buyer in the world, purchasing a huge volume of products and services each year. But contracting for the government can involve many complications and risks. This where FARSmarterBids can help.
The FARSmarterBids service is designed to help current and aspiring U.S. contractors and subcontractors, providing the information you need to begin, expand, and improve your contracting business. With FARSmarterBids, you can:
- Save time by using our proprietary FARS search engines
- Save money by spending less on researching contracting
- Increase efficiency in your bidding and proposal process
- Learn of potential pitfalls in applicable regulations
- Know your customer through our federal department research
- Get a competitive advantage over companies that don't read the FARS
- Learn of mistakes to avoid, that might invalidate your bids, or cause legal consequences
We created the FARSmarterBids system to combat the government information overload that can stop you in your tracks. Not only does the FARSmarterBids system drastically reduce the amount of time required to track down information (saving money in the process), but it also helps you find additional resources to help you bid on contracts. FARSmarterBids provides access to many custom databases:
- CFR Title 48: Federal Acquisition Regulations System (FARS)
- The Department of Defense's FAR Supplement (DFARS)
- Hundreds of additional contract clauses required by particular government departments, agencies, facilities, groups, and initiatives
- Defense Supply Center provisions and clauses
- Military Standards
- Hundreds of government department resources:
- 'Doing Business With' Guides
- Spending Forecasts
- Prime and Subcontractor Lists
- Contact Information
- ...and more!
- Encyclopedia of government terms and acronyms
- Directories of government codes: NAICS codes, FSC codes, and more
- Proprietary explanations of selected topics
In order to make headway (and profit) in today's contracting environment, it's crucial to use the most efficient tools and resources possible, so that the proper information is at your fingertips instead of buried in a government document. It is our goal to make this information as accessible as possible, to speed up your bidding process and improve your bids. To do this we provide all the above information
FARSmarterBids: Our name reflects our passion for creating a smarter system for managing the FARS and more. We work hard to help you bid smarter.
Bid Smarter. Far Smarter.
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Who is FARSmarterBids designed for?
Our service and memberships are primarily designed for current and aspiring U.S.-based prime contractors and subcontractors. As the largest buyer in the world, the United States government is has plenty of business to go around! This site is designed to give such contracting companies the information they need to bid smarter, in order to begin, expand, and improve their contracting business.
The FARSmarterBids system includes large and small business contracting information. Often, small businesses don't have enough resources to find and process high volumes of information from the government. We feel that greater small business competition will improve our economy, support innovation, help our troops, and bring down costs for taxpayers.
Larger entities will also find our site useful. Our databases of regulations, clauses, and standards give medium and large companies the chance to respond to multiple solicitations quickly and more efficiently. Our Departmental Resources library contains information that applies to anyone and can be used to expand current bidding initiatives and improve current processes.
Time is money, no matter how large or small your company is. Our goal is to provide an efficient system that saves your company time and money, so you can focus on your core competencies.
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What resources are available through FARSmarterBids?
It is our goal to provide you with as much information and reference materials as possible for your government bids, and we are constantly looking to expand the FARSmarterBids library. You can explore the website to see the breadth of the library, but in summary, our collection currently includes:
- CFR Title 48: Federal Acquisition Regulations System (FARS)
- The Department of Defense's FAR Supplement (DFARS)
- Hundreds of additional contract clauses required by particular government departments, agencies, facilities, groups, and initiatives
- Defense Supply Center provisions and clauses
- Military Standards
- Hundreds of government department resources:
- 'Doing Business With' Guides
- Spending Forecasts
- Prime and Subcontractor Lists
- Contact Information
- ...and more!
- Encyclopedia of government terms and acronyms
- Directories of government codes: NAICS codes, FSC codes, and more
- Proprietary explanations of selected topics
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Why should I care about these regulations? Aren't they just the fine print?
They may be called "regulations," "clauses," "standards," or "specifications," but they have the full force and effect of federal laws. All prime contractors and subcontractors are required to satisfy these regulations, clauses, standards and specifications whenever they apply. There are many possible negative consequences if you do not:
- Rejection of your bid
- Lawsuits brought by the government for breach of contract
- Fines and penalties
- Termination of your contract without payment
- Being blacklisted by the government for future contracts
- Disputes, lawsuits, complaints, and blacklisting by prime contractors, if you are a subcontractor
- In other words, tremendous risk!
But don't worry - FARSmarterBids is here to help!
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What are the benefits of being familiar with the regulations?
Contracting officers, specialists, and prime contractors tend to look for companies that offer the government the best value; companies that know the rules offer the best value. Having an understanding of the applicable regulations can provide many benefits:
- A competitive advantage over companies that don't read the FARS.
- More efficient protests if you were not awarded a contract, especially if you can prove the current winner is not familiar/non-complaint with the FARS.
- An effective defense if another contractor protests your bid.
- The ability to cope with changes and adapt faster than your competitors.
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How does the FARSmarterBids system help subcontractors?
Many companies, especially small businesses that act as subcontractors, do their business without reading the FARS. This is a tremendous risk to take. Every subcontractor, regardless of project size or the frequency with which they take on subcontracted projects, is required by the federal government to comply with applicable regulations. Even if past projects have been completed with no problems despite a failure to read the FARS, this does not guarantee that future projects will go as smoothly.
The FARSmarterBids system also includes an extensive Departmental Resources library that contains information specifically for subcontractors, including lists of prime contractors, vendor outreach information, and contact information for various kinds of government contracting specialists.
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How often is FARSmarterBids updated?
The Government Printing Office updates its FARS publications once per year. We know this is inadequate for most contractors' needs. Therefore, we track multiple sources of government information related to the FARS. We update our databases as soon as possible when updates are issued by the government sources we track. All regulations and standards are synchronized to the latest versions as quickly as possible, and we take steps to promote the accuracy of all updates. We use a variety of automatic and manual procedures to ensure that all our information is as accurate, up-to-date, and relevant as we can make it.
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Can you provide additional help, such as consulting services?
The mission of FARSmarterBids is to provide you with the government information you need to best pursue government contracting through the bidding process/unsolicited proposal process.
So that we may best pursue this goal of providing the best and up-to-date information, we do not currently offer or provide consulting services.
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What are the terms of service of the FARSmarterBids service?
The terms of service of the FARSmarterBids service are available on our Terms of Service page.
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Will you protect my privacy?
We value your privacy very much, and have a strong policy in place to respect your privacy and protect your personally-identifying information. Please refer to our Privacy Policy.
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Is my information secure?
We take the security of your information very seriously. This web service is hosted on a private server with the latest security software installed, and is secured using SSL 256-bit encryption technology. Your personally-identifying information is protected according to our Privacy Policy.
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