What to expect when going through a Contractor Assistance Visit (CAV)?

Just remember that this is why you keep good records of your GSA sales. With a good consultant, you should have been warned about the importance of preparing a strong record-keeping procedure for GSA Compliance. Also, the CAV visitors are people who understand that you aren’t perfect, and they aren’t there to “shut down” your GSA Contract, the GSA simply wants to make sure that if their contractors are straying from compliance, then issues are located and corrected quickly.

These are called “visits” but they are really “audits.” Sure, there is an educational aspect, but ultimately they are going to gather information needed from you in order to produce a GSA Compliance report card. My advise is to review your GSA sales, compare them to your non-GSA Sales to make sure you were not breaking compliance. If you overcharge under your GSA contract, that is a problem. Also, if you undercharge your Basis of Award (usually Commercial customers) then that is a problem as well.

Aside from that, Check out the report card you will be assessed with at: https://vsc.gsa.gov/reportcard/reportcard.pdf

I recommend looking through this report card, highlighting the areas you feel you may be lacking, and build a strong case against getting bad marks in these areas. Also, it is advisable to review the documents the CAV agent asks for before sending them. This way you can screen for compliance issues, and make any possible adjustments beforehand, or at least begin to research ways to limit the risk of a bad mark.

What happens if the GSA Report card has bad marks?

If you show that you have made an effort to correct compliance issues with your GSA Contract, then there is a better chance that you will not see as much punishment. You may have to cut a check to correct some issues where you overcharged. Ultimately, if a GSA Contractor shows good GSA sales, and makes a strong effort to put a solid record-keeping system in place, then traditionally they are given a second chance. If problems continue, then a Contractor could have their GSA Contract taken away.