Federal contracting resource library
Plain-English guides on pricing, compliance, and proposal mechanics for small federal contractors. Built by people who've written and lost the contracts you're trying to win.
How to price a government contract bid
Step-by-step pricing framework for federal contracts: loaded labor, overhead, margin, and the three tests every bid must pass before you submit.
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Pricing
How to build accurate bids that win contracts and stay profitable.
How to price a government contract bid
Step-by-step pricing framework for federal contracts: loaded labor, overhead, margin, and the three tests every bid must pass before you submit.
9 min readMarkup vs margin
A 25% markup is not the same as a 25% margin. The conversion formula, and exactly how much money the confusion costs over a five-year contract.
7 min readCalculating your fully-loaded labor rate
The seven components of a fully-loaded labor rate, where to find each input, and why memorized multipliers cost contractors money on every billable hour.
8 min read
Compliance
Navigate federal labor compliance, certifications, and regulatory requirements.
Research
How to find opportunities, research agency budgets, and qualify contracts before you bid.
Using BidNet Direct as a research tool (without paying)
BidNet Direct shows you what agencies are buying in your market before you pay a dollar. Here is how to use it as a free research tool and find the original solicitation directly from the agency.
6 min readHow to research contract values before you bid
Two solicitations with identical scopes can carry wildly different budgets. Here is how to find historical contract values before you write a word of your proposal.
7 min read
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