Procurement forecast
Also called: agency forecast, acquisition forecast, forecast of contracting opportunities, OSDBU forecast, advance acquisition plan
A procurement forecast is an agency's published list of the contracts it expects to compete in the coming fiscal year, with the estimated value, NAICS, anticipated set-aside, incumbent and expected solicitation quarter.
The Small Business Act requires agencies to make such forecasts available, and each agency's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) or Office of Small Business Programs publishes one, usually as a searchable page or spreadsheet on the agency site, refreshed once or twice a year. Some agencies include recompetes with the current contract number, which lets you pull the incumbent's award from FPDS. Many states and large cities publish an annual forecast or a bid calendar as well.
What to check: the entries in your NAICS and your geography, the expected quarter (slips are normal), the contact listed, and whether the entry has already turned into a sources sought on SAM.gov. Use the forecast to decide where to spend relationship time months before anything posts, which is the part of capture that a bid search cannot do.
What it is not: a commitment. Forecast entries are cancelled, merged, bundled into vehicles or delayed a year without notice.
See also: Sources sought notice, Recompete, FPDS and USAspending, Presolicitation notice
Questions that use this term
Search allProcurement forecasts are released by individual agencies and can be found on their websites, typically under their Office of Small and Disadvantaged...
No, a paid tool does not show federal bids before they hit SAM.gov, because proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 must be synopsized...