Everything you Need To Know About 8(a) Certification

The 8(a)-certification program is created to help individuals who are economically and socially disadvantaged. It is a nine-year-long program that provides all kinds of necessary training, and technical and financial assistance to weak business owners so that they can compete in the American economic scenario. Any socially or economically disadvantaged group can take part in this certification process which includes but are not limited to Indian tribes, Red Indians, Alaska Native Corporations, Native Hawaiian organizations, etc. 

In simple words, it is an attempt to provide an equitable opportunity to underprivileged business owners so that they can access different contracts in the federal market.

What is the Benefit of 8(a) certification?

If business owners are willing to create a stable position in the federal marketplace instead of their position and they are running the business at least for two years, this certification can be very beneficial for them. However, if you are already inside the system and eligible for 8a certification, it is not guaranteed that you will get a contract award but you will be eligible for different other tools to avail other opportunities provided by the U.S. government. Other benefits include:

  • They will receive all kinds of business assistance from dedicated business experts for nine years to achieve their business objectives. 
  • Through this certification they can build a relationship with the procurement and compliance officers and can get advice related to business, growth, and financial matters. 
  • They are open to building a joint venture with previously established companies to increase capacity. 
  • They are eligible to compete and receive set-aside and soul-source contracts. 
  • Through the SBA mentor-protégé program, they can receive mentorship from experienced firms to make significant progress in their business. 
  • They can be trained for free from SBA’s 7(j) management and technical assistance program. 
  • They can even receive federal surplus property based on their priority. 
  • They are also eligible to compete for contract awards under any other small business set-asides.

Eligibility Criterion:

To qualify for the 8a certification, the business must qualify for the following criteria:

  • If a business has previously participated in the 8a program, it will not be eligible to participate again. 
  • It must be a small business. 
  • The business owner must be honest and of good character. 
  • The business owner must be experienced. 
  • The owner must possess the potential to run a business efficiently for two years. 
  • Must be socially or economically disadvantaged. 
  • At least 51% of the business should be owned and controlled by U.S. citizens. 
  • Employee limits should not exceed the limitation of small businesses. 
  • Personal net worth should be $850 thousand or less. 
  • Gross income should not be more than $400 thousand. 
  • Total assets should not exceed $6.5 million.

How to Apply for The Program?

  • First step is to complete your application in the BDMIS system. 
  • Upload the application along with supporting documents via https://Certify.sba.gov/8a-docs. 
  • Providing supporting documents is a must. However, if you cannot provide supporting documents, you must provide a statement giving sufficient reasons regarding the same. Here’s a list of required supporting documents: 
  • Year-end balance sheet stating the profit and loss. The sheet must not be older than 90 days from the application date. 
  • You need to provide a list of previous federal and non-federal award contracts within the last 1 year. Remember to include the Agency or the name of the customer, work description, Date of the award, NAICS code, and dollar value. 
  • Remember you do not need to provide copies of each contract unless you are asked to do so. 
  • Copies of the Federal tax return of the last 3 years. 
  • Firm’s current certificate of good standing is required. You can provide a similar document from the state. 
  • You need to provide a copy of the business account signature cards of all banks. 
  • Current loan agreement and each and every detail related to that. 
  • Copies of stock certificates, transmutation agreements, and voting agreements. 
  • Buying or selling agreements. 
  • Copies of all special licenses. 
  • Copies of the firm’s governing document. It changes based on your type of firm. If it is a corporation you need to provide an article of incorporation. If it is an LLP, you need to provide the article of Organizations and other related documents. If it is a partnership, provide partnership agreements. For sole Proprietorship, provide fictitious business name filing. 
  • You need to provide a list of all assets transferred from your firm to the customer’s place. 
  • Copies of joint ventures, teaming agreements, consulting agreements, shared service agreements, and mentor protégé agreements need to be submitted. 
  • Statements of bonding ability will be needed. 
  • Personal Financial Statement that claims the disadvantaged status of all individuals. 
  • You must request a waiver to confirm that your firm has the potential to be successful or has already been in the business for two years minimum.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Decoding the steps to SBA 8A certification

Image
There are five areas to determine whether or not a firm qualifies for SBA 8a certification or meets the requirements.  First and foremost the individuals running the firm and applying for certification need to establish beyond any doubt that they are socially and economically disadvantaged. The owner should have unconditional control of the firm so that the firm shouldn't have any control issues. Further, the firm should have no ethical issues and be absolutely free from ethical or other entanglements which might impair his or her judgment. The firm also has to establish its potential to complete federal contracts for SBA 8a certification and hence the applicants shouldn't try to paint themselves as too economically disadvantaged in their narratives, let the SBA consider them too weak to fulfill the federal contracts.                           ...
Read more

Best way to learn how to start for 8a certification process

Image
To start the process to acquire 8a certification by the SBA the company needs to draw an estimate how getting on the 8a program will help the company. Is the company’s product and services in demand among the federal purchases? Will the company be able to handle the huge federal contracts? Is the company willing to give discounts on the volume federal purchases? To get answers to such queries, it is advisable to hire consulting services that not only provide answers to such queries but also help in obtaining the 8a certification . The application to get on the 8a program is not at all easy to prepare. it requires to submit all the details, information and fulfill the eligibility criteria to get the approval from SBA to get on the 8a program. SBA 8a Certification also allows sole-source contracts where there is a cap of $4 millions to services and goods, whereas $6.5 million for production. They also aid is providing help in competitive achievement. The joint ventures or teams are ...
Read more

The Valentine day Massacre by SBA for companies with 8a certification

Image
It is old story dated back in 1983 regarding companies with 8a certification and we comprehend it again to figure out the impact of SBA’s 8a program. It was a couple of decades back when SBA announced that one-fifth of the black firms on minority program who had gained a foothold in rapidly growing IT Company was cut off by the end of the year. This announcement was termed as the ‘Valentine day massacre’ by the owners of the IT companies with 8a certification. They have gained immensely from the 8a program and were perturbed with the idea of facing the competition to get Federal contracts with big corporate giants like IBM and Planning Resource Corp. Well, but SBA is strict and follows the rules and regulations strictly. However, the companies did survive the commercial market competition as they were self-sufficient by the experience and resources they have earned with the Federal contracts. So, the message is quite clear for small disadvantaged companies who are still in ten...
Read more