According to the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Commissioner, Tom Sharpe, the General Services Administration (GSA) remains committed to a smooth transition in implementing the final rule governing transactional data reporting, released on June 23, 2016. As we previously reported, the final rule significantly changes reporting requirements for the FSS program – requiring vendors to electronically submit monthly reports providing 11 transactional data elements, and in turn, eliminate Commercial Sales Practices (CSP) disclosures and the Price Reduction Clause (PRC).

Last week, GSA published a blog reiterating the goals of the final rule on data reporting, as well as GSA's continued commitment to efficient federal procurement. GSA's post reminds contractors that the rule was adopted to address concerns over the burdensome requirements under CSP disclosures and the PRC. FAS Commissioner Sharpe assures the public that the final rule is beneficial to contractors, tax payers, and federal agencies alike. Despite criticisms that the GSA underestimated the burden of switching to the new reporting system, Sharpe argues that even those contractors that will face a higher burden will be saving costs when compared to the CSP and PRC system. According to Sharpe, the pilot program alone has a net burden reduction of $29 million.

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