What is the FPDS?

To learn how the FPDS works, it's first best to understand what is actually meant by "federal procurement." Essentially, federal procurement refers to how the government acquires and purchases goods, services, and works from commercial businesses. This could include the following:

• Products: Various items, such as office supplies, furniture, medicine, and cleaning products
• Services: Public or private services such as IT, healthcare, or human resources
• Works: Works such as construction, repair, and maintenance of buildings and other government and public areas

Since federal procurement relies on the funds of taxpayers, the government must enter into legal contracts with various organizations in order for them to deliver the specified products, works, or services. However, rather than simply contacting a supplier and purchasing goods, the government uses specific platforms to source and choose organizations. Contractors must be pre-approved to supply their services or products to the government and must use fair prices.

Federal procurement typically works one of two ways. Either the government invites approved contractors to bid for their contract, or they simply search through the list of pre-vetted contractors to find the supplier that fits their needs best.

Entering into the federal procurement industry brings huge benefits for growing businesses. If your organization has products, services, and works that the government needs, you can submit a proposal to supply to federal entities. Once approved, you'll be able to advertise your organization across the many federal platforms. This opens the door to multi-million dollar contracts, usually spanning many, many years.

That said, federal procurement isn't a smooth sailing process. Businesses first need to prove their legitimacy and suitability in order to be listed on the online platforms the government uses to source and manage their suppliers. Then, they need to make themselves stand out against their competition to actually win contracts. So, carrying out market research on these platforms is essential to understanding what businesses can offer and how they stack up against competitors. The FPDS is one of the platforms businesses can use for accurate market research.

The FPDS is a live record of every contract the federal government has entered into. It includes up-to-date and detailed information on all contracts, including supplier names, activities, type of work, location, and contract amounts. Currently, the system provides details for approximately 200,000 federal contracts over the last 30 years, spanning over 60 federal agencies. However, some important contracts are deliberately eliminated, such as those concerning the military or other sensitive services.

It's publicly available, so anyone can use the FPDS to search through federal contracts — past and present. Essentially, it allows people to see where government procurement and spending power lie and what products or services they require. Importantly, it gives contractors who want to enter into federal procurement a chance to see how the government has worked with suppliers in their industry.

FPDS-NG ezSearch

With so much information available, contractors using the FPDS need to be very specific with their searches. In total, there are around 50 million records to sift through. So, to help navigate the database, FPDS released the ezSearch function.

The ezSearch function operates similarly to a search engine. You can use this function to search through records by typing keywords and phrases. After pressing "Go," the results will display a list of contracts related to the search. There are also various filters to narrow down searches, including department, agency, vendor, and vendor state.

Learn how the leading market intelligence platform can help you find and win more government contracts.

Any contract with an awarded value of $10,000 must be reported in the FPDS. Importantly, any additional modifications to a contract must also be included, regardless of the value. This helps to keep the FPDS up to date at all times.

Awarded contracts reported to FPDS typically include those made:

• With replenishable stock and revolving funds
• With funds transferred from one executive agency to another (where the servicing agency contracts for the supplies or services), or by one agency to another
• For supplies and equipment
• For construction, alteration, or maintenance of real property
• With appropriated funds under the provisions of PL 85-804
• For services, including research and development and Utilities
• For AbilityOne
• With telecommunications services from regulated carriers
• For Federal Prison Industries
• With funds held in trust accounts for foreign governments or procurements for foreign governments, regardless of the nature of the funds

The data reported for each contract includes the following:

• Dates: Date signed, date effective, last date to order, and completion date
• Amounts: Action obligation, base and exercised options value, and base and all options value
• Purchaser information: Contracting offer details
• Contractor information: Contractor name, SAM details, DUNS data, and socio/economic data
• Contract data: Type of contract, type of goods/services/works, NIA data
• Legislative mandates: Walsh Healey Act and Davis Bacon Act
• Service information: Service code and NAICS code
• Competition information: Extent competed, set-asides, and sole source
• Preference programs: CO's business size selection, reasons not awarded, and set-asides

Members of the public can access any of the above information for an awarded contract at any time.

What isn't reported in the FPDS?

Although the FPDS contains a wealth of information, not all data needs to be reported. Contractors do not need to report:

• Financial assistance programs, including grants, cooperative agreements, subsidies, and contributions — except for those with a special module to record information for these types of programs
• Imprest fund transactions, SF 44 purchases, training authorizations, and micro-purchases with the use of the government purchase card
• Interagency agreements with other federal agencies, independent federal establishments, or federally chartered sources
• Government bills of lading
• Government transportation requests
• Non-appropriated funds, except for funds held in trust accounts
• FEDSTRIP and MILSTRIP requisitions
• The transfer of supplies within and among agencies and sub-agencies
• Orders from GSA Stock and GSA Consolidated Purchase Program
• Purchases of petroleum or associated products, if ordered under a Defense Logistics Agency Indefinite Delivery Contract

Government and federal officials rely on the FPDS to generate reports so they can measure and assess the impact of the government's activities on the public and wider economy. However, since the FPDS is publicly available, businesses, contractors, and the wider public can also use the database for market research, supplier information, and to find potential federal contract opportunities.

In general, the FPDS is used by the following people:

• The President
• Congress, state, and local governments
• Senior procurement executives
• Program and procurement analysts
• Media, research groups, marketing groups, students, and commercial businesses
• Contracting Officers
• System Administrators
• Any other members of the public

So how do you delve into the world of federal procurement? First, you need to actually find out what contracts are available. There are various databases to look at, including GSA Advantage!® and SAM.gov. This is where available opportunities are listed, and contractors can advertise their services and products to the federal government. Contractors need to be approved to work with the government before they can secure a contract on these platforms.

As a contractor, you can also search through other databases and archives to understand how to market your business and services effectively — and give yourself a better chance of winning contracts. This includes the FPDS and USASpending.gov.

FPDS

Using the FPDS, you can browse through a full database of all awarded government contracts, including highly detailed information about each contract. This allows businesses to see which suppliers the government enters into contracts with, identify procurement trends, and understand more about competitors.

USASpending.gov

USASpending.gov is a separate database from the FPDS. It tracks government spending through awarded contracts, providing invaluable information on how and where the government allocates funds. Using this information, you can understand procurement trends and identify potential opportunities.

What's the difference between the FPDS and USASpending.gov?

Essentially the FPDS provides a total overview of all procurement information, allowing people to see to which contractors the government awards contracts, as well as when, where, and what products, services, or works they purchase.

On the other hand, USASpending.gov is designed to provide clarity on the spending power of the government. Contractors, in particular, can search through the database to understand where the government allocates its funds, including grants and loans.

Importantly, the FPDS is a live database that's updated in real-time. The data and numbers within the FPDS change on a daily basis. However, while USASpending.gov data is pulled from the FPDS, it's only updated on a monthly basis. It also delivers data in more user-friendly formats, such as graphs and charts, rather than written data, as in the FPDS.