The Complete Guide to SAP Contracts: How to Win Simplified Acquisition Program Awards in 2025

The federal government awards over $700 billion in contracts annually — but the vast majority of small businesses compete for the same small slice of publicly posted opportunities on SAM.gov. What most contractors don't know is that a significant portion of federal spending flows through a completely different channel: Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP), governed by FAR Part 13.

SAP contracts are faster to award, require less documentation, and face dramatically less competition — averaging just 3.6 bidders per contract versus 20–50 on full & open competitions. For small businesses looking to build past performance and establish agency relationships, SAP is the single most efficient path into federal contracting.

This guide covers everything you need to know: the regulatory framework, thresholds, how to find SAP opportunities, which certifications matter most, and a concrete 90-day action plan to start winning SAP contracts.

What Is SAP (Simplified Acquisition Program)?

The Simplified Acquisition Program (SAP) is a federal procurement framework that allows contracting officers to award contracts for goods and services below certain dollar thresholds using streamlined procedures — without the full & open competition requirements that apply to larger contracts.

The key distinction: SAP contracts do not require a formal Request for Proposal (RFP), a lengthy evaluation panel, or months of review. A contracting officer can award an SAP contract based on oral quotes, a capability statement, and a simplified price comparison. This dramatically reduces the time from requirement identification to contract award.

FAR Part 13: The Regulatory Framework

SAP is codified under FAR Part 13 — Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This section of the Federal Acquisition Regulation establishes the rules, thresholds, and procedures that govern simplified acquisitions. Understanding the key provisions gives you a significant competitive advantage.

FAR 13.003 — Policy

FAR 13.003 establishes the core policy: agencies shall use simplified acquisition procedures to the maximum extent practicable for all purchases not exceeding the SAP threshold. This is a mandate, not a suggestion — contracting officers are required to use SAP when applicable.

FAR 13.106-1 — Soliciting Competition

This is the most critical provision for understanding why SAP contracts are so competitive for those in the know — and so invisible to everyone else. FAR 13.106-1 only requires contracting officers to solicit quotes from at least three sources. Those sources are typically vendors already in the contracting officer's network.

If you are not in that network — if the contracting officer doesn't know your company exists — you will never receive a solicitation. The contract will be awarded to someone else before it ever appears on any public database.

FAR 13.303 — Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs)

FAR 13.303 authorizes agencies to establish Blanket Purchase Agreements — essentially a pre-approved vendor list for recurring needs. Once you're on a BPA, the agency can place orders against it without re-competing each time. BPAs are one of the most powerful tools for creating recurring SAP revenue.

SAP Thresholds & Dollar Limits (Updated 2025)

The SAP threshold is adjusted periodically. As of October 2025, the thresholds are:

Why SAP Matters for Small Businesses

For small businesses, SAP contracts solve the most fundamental problem in federal contracting: the past performance catch-22. You can't win large federal contracts without past performance — but you can't get past performance without winning contracts. SAP breaks this cycle.

Beyond past performance, SAP contracts offer several structural advantages: they're awarded faster (8–12 weeks vs. 12–18 months), require less documentation, and are more likely to be set aside for small businesses under FAR Part 19. For a small business with limited BD resources, the ROI on SAP pursuit is dramatically higher than chasing large full & open competitions.

How to Find SAP Contracts (The Real Method)

Here's the hard truth: most SAP contracts are never publicly posted. Under FAR 13.106-1, contracting officers only need to solicit three sources — and they typically reach out to vendors they already know. SAM.gov is not the primary channel for SAP awards.

The real method for finding SAP contracts involves three parallel strategies:

1. Agency Spending Intelligence

USASpending.gov and FPDS-NG (Federal Procurement Data System) contain historical award data for every federal contract, including SAP awards. By analyzing an agency's SAP spending history — which NAICS codes they buy in, which contracting officers award those contracts, and what the typical award values are — you can identify the exact contracting officers to target before they issue their next solicitation.

2. Pre-Solicitation Intelligence

Agency procurement forecasts, Congressional budget justifications, and agency operating plans reveal planned procurements 6–18 months before solicitation. By monitoring these sources, you can identify SAP opportunities in the planning stage — before the contracting officer has even identified their three sources.

3. Direct Contracting Officer Outreach

The most effective SAP strategy is proactive outreach to contracting officers in your target agencies. A well-crafted capability statement, delivered to the right contracting officer at the right time, can get you added to their short list for the next SAP solicitation. This is relationship-based business development — and it's how large contractors have dominated SAP for decades.

Certifications That Unlock SAP Set-Asides

Under FAR Part 19, contracting officers are required to consider small business set-asides before awarding any contract — including SAP contracts. For small businesses with the right certifications, this means you may face zero competition: the contracting officer is required to award to you if you are the only qualified set-aside vendor.

Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) & IDIQ Vehicles

One of the most underutilized SAP strategies is getting placed on agency Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) and Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) vehicles. Under FAR 13.303, agencies establish BPAs for recurring needs — creating a pipeline of repeat awards without re-competing each time.

Once you're on a BPA, the contracting officer can place orders against it without issuing a new solicitation. This creates a recurring revenue stream that compounds over time. The key is identifying which agencies have active BPAs in your NAICS codes and positioning yourself for inclusion during the next BPA refresh cycle.

IDIQ vehicles work similarly — once you're on the vehicle, you compete only against other vehicle holders (a much smaller pool) for task orders. Many SAP-level IDIQ vehicles have no minimum order requirements, making them low-risk ways to establish an agency footprint.

Capability Statement Strategy for SAP

Your capability statement is your SAP calling card. When a contracting officer is looking for three sources for an SAP solicitation, they will often start with capability statements they've received from vendors in their NAICS codes. A well-crafted capability statement, delivered to the right contracting officer at the right time, is often the difference between being on the short list and being invisible.

An effective SAP capability statement must:

• Lead with your NAICS codes and PSC (Product Service Codes) — contracting officers search by these first
• Include your SAM.gov UEI, CAGE code, and all applicable certifications prominently
• List past performance with dollar values, agency names, and contract numbers
• Use the exact language from the agency's procurement forecast or prior solicitations
• Keep it to one page — contracting officers receive hundreds of capability statements
• Include a direct phone number and email for the person who handles government inquiries

Your 90-Day SAP Action Plan

Here's a concrete, actionable plan to start winning SAP contracts within 90 days. This is the same framework we use with new clients at TheGovConBD.

The Bottom Line

SAP contracts represent the single best opportunity for small businesses to enter federal contracting, build past performance, and establish agency relationships — all with dramatically less competition than publicly posted opportunities. The key is understanding that SAP is a relationship-driven market, not a search-and-respond market.

The contractors who win SAP contracts consistently are not the ones who monitor SAM.gov most diligently. They're the ones who have built relationships with contracting officers, gotten on agency BPA lists, and positioned themselves as known, trusted vendors before the solicitation is ever issued.

If you're serious about building a federal contracting business, SAP is where you start.