Acquisition Tips & Tools #52: Annual Procurement Forecast for FY18
Issue Date: July 24, 2017
Annual Procurement Forecast for FY18 - a reminder
This month’s Tip is a reminder about the requirement to prepare an Annual Procurement Forecast for acquisitions anticipated to take place in the next Fiscal Year. The Annual Procurement Forecast is one of the initial planning documents in the procurement process and a data call for this information was already distributed.
What’s an Annual Procurement Forecast? The content of an Annual Procurement Forecast is brief and contains very high level information about an anticipated contract action. When consolidated, Annual Procurement Forecasts are released to the public as an Agency’s forecast of contracting opportunities for the upcoming Fiscal Year.
What’s the purpose of an Annual Procurement Forecast? The purpose is twofold: First, as required by the Small Business Administration, all Agencies must consolidate Annual Procurement Forecasts annually and provide a list of all forecasted contracting opportunities to be made available to small businesses. Secondly, it’s an effective “heads-up” tool that assists the contracting office in meeting your acquisition needs. It not only helps to anticipate workload and staffing requirements, it allows sufficient lead time to award your contracts in the most effective, economical, and timely manner.
When must an Annual Procurement Forecast be prepared? Annual Procurement Forecasts are prepared in response to an AQD data call sent on June 5, 2017, to AQD Branch Chiefs with a suspense date of September 8, 2017. An Annual Procurement Forecast is required for each planned acquisition with a total estimated value of $150,000 or more. For the FY18 forecast, CO’s may now include actions valued between $3,500 up to $150,000. Although this information is optional, it has the potential to aid the small business community with acquisition planning, promote competition and assist CO’s with their market research.
What type of information must be included in an Annual Procurement Forecast? The following information is required in each Annual Procurement Forecast submission: a description of the requirement, type of requirement (new, follow-on, option), anticipated type of competition (to include small business program set-asides), anticipated method of procurement, estimated dollar range, name of incumbent contractor (if applicable), place of performance, estimated solicitation date, target award date, and an Agency point of contact (to respond to inquiries about the pending acquisition). Additionally, this year's forecast includes two new data fields that will help identify customers. The first data field has three options for customer identification (IBC, DOI or Other Federal Agency) and the second data field is fillable to identify the specific customer.
Who’s responsible for preparation? It’s primarily the responsibility of the program/requiring office to provide individual Annual Procurement Forecast content; however, due to the nature of the information requested, it is highly recommended you discuss individual Annual Procurement Forecast content with your Contracting Officer or Contract Specialist prior to submission to the IBC Small Business Specialist.