Adverse Inference, the Wrong Way to Lose a Size Protest

An adverse inference is a penalty that the Small Business Administration (SBA) can enforce as part of a size protest. During a size protest determination, SBA will ask the protested company lots of questions. Sometimes, a protester will not answer those questions, either on purpose or due to oversight. Depending on the circumstances, SBA can apply an adverse inference if a protested company fails to respond to questions. If SBA applies an adverse inference, that means that the SBA Area Office will determine that the information that was not provided would prove that the company is not a small business. A recent decision reminds us about this penalty. If you are in a similar situation, reach out to a firm like ours to help think of a way to respond to SBA.

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Free Webinar Event: Mastering Size Calculations for SBA Size Determinations hosted by LeftBrain, December 12, 2023, 1:00pm EST

If your small business status hangs in the balance, you can’t afford mistakes in your next SBA size determination. Join us for an in-depth look at key accounting strategies and lessons from recent SBA size appeal decisions involving affiliation issues, joint ventures, and receipts calculation. Learn how to properly account for inter-affiliate transactions, raise strong arguments, and avoid missteps that could lead to an adverse size determination. Register now to demystify SBA rules and gain the knowledge needed to respond to size protests and succeed in appeals.

If you are interested, please register here.

SBA Turns Spotlight on its Size and Status Protest Process

The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently took a look at SBA’s recent small business size and status protests to determine “whether the SBA had effective controls in place to (1) ensure protest decisions were properly enforced and to (2) monitor the protest process.” Overall, the OIG had positive things to say about the the protest process. What’s interesting for small business federal contractors are some of the numbers from this report, detailed below.

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Upcoming SBA Rule Will Switch to 24-Month Calculation for Employee Size Standards

SBA has issued a final rule changing all employee size standards to a 24-month calculation. This rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on June 6, 2022, and and will take effect 30 days from the date it is officially published. Let’s take a closer look.

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SBA Confirms that Size Status Relates Back to Time of Offer, Even After Sale of Small Business

Over the years, SBA size regulations have included the general rule that the size status of a business generally relates back the time of initial offer on a contract. Therefore, a small business generally stays small for the duration of a federal contract, with some exceptions. However, there was also language in the rule that required small businesses to recertify their size status after being acquired or going through similar transactions. The effect of this recertification requirement was always a little unclear. If you recertify as large, does that have any effect on your small business status for orders under contracts awarded when the business was small? Now, OHA has answered that concern.

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Five Things You Should Know: Responding to Size Protests

There are many things to know about responding to size protests. One could probably fill a book with the information-(actually I did, for those who want a real deep dive!). But if you need to know just the basics, here are five things you should know about size protests that can help you be prepared if your company is facing a size protest.

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No Protests of SBA Mentor-Protégé Agreements, Says OHA

The SBA’s mentor-protégé program offers powerful benefits. To help ensure that only legitimate small businesses take advantage of the program, the SBA asks applicants a series of questions about potential affiliation between the prospective mentor and protégé.

But once the SBA signs off on a mentor-protégé agreement, that’s that. As the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals recently confirmed, competitors cannot use the size protest process to challenge whether an SBA mentor-protégé agreement should have been approved in the first place.

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