Category Archives: Reports

Inspector General: SBA’s Certify.SBA.gov Platform “Has Not Accomplished Its Objectives”

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The SBA’s “Certify” website, certify.SBA.gov, has fallen far short of meeting its objectives, according to an eye-opening report from the SBA’s Office of Inspector General.

The OIG concludes that, despite an investment of $30 million, Certify “does not have many of the essential search, analytical, and reporting tools it was supposed to have.” Additionally, Certify’s lack of functionality has forced SBA employees to use time-consuming workarounds, causing delays in screening and approving applications, among other things.

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SBA Issues 2019 Small Business Scorecard, Small Business Contracting Over $130 Billion!

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The SBA’s FY2019 Small Business Procurement Scorecard came out recently and revealed some interesting trends in the dollars and cents of small business contracting. While there are a lot of positives for small businesses, not all the numbers are great. Read on for the details!

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Room for Improvement: GAO Reviews Agency Oversight of Small Business Subcontracting Plans

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Recently, GAO published a report on small business subcontracting plan compliance, concluding that agency oversight of these plans need improvement.

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DoD SDVOSB Contracts: OIG Reports Major Problems

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The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released an audit report about Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Contract Awards at DoD . The report noted major concerns with how DoD is confirming eligibility for SDVOSB contract awards as well as monitoring subcontracting limitations.

These concerns could lead to increased monitoring and enforcement, so SDVOSB contractors should be keen to see what the report unearthed.

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Complicated Business Structures Contribute to Set-Aside Fraud, GAO Finds

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Fraud is an ever pressing concern in federal contracts, and the federal government goes to great lengths to minimize the risks to introduce fraud into the procurement system.

Unfortunately, a recent GAO report highlighted how complex ownership structures can be leveraged to obscure fraudulent contracting activities. Worse still, complex ownership structures are most frequently leveraged to perpetrate small business set-aside fraud.

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GAO Recommends Improvements For Comments on Proposed Federal Agency Rules

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Have you ever felt like you were screaming into the void when submitting your comments to a proposed rule in the Federal Register? That your well thought out comments were being drowned out by a mass of other comments on a proposed rule or attributed to someone else? Have you wondered what agencies do with all that information you send them when you submit a comment on a proposed rule?

Well, GAO seems to have the same questions and concerns regarding the proposed rule comments process and has taken time these past few months to examine how agencies wade through comments on proposed rules, publish them, and clearly attribute identities to them.

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