If you have been feeling the weight of manual data entry while maintaining your GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), we have some great news.
Following the rollout of MAS Refresh 31, Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) is now mandatory across all MAS Special Item Numbers (SINs). Because TDR streamlines how pricing data is captured, the General Services Administration (GSA) is officially reducing your administrative burden.
Effective May 19, 2026, the “discount offered to GSA off commercial price” field in the Services Plus File is officially optional.
Here is a quick breakdown of what this change means for your business, how to handle your upcoming file uploads, and the few exceptions you need to know.
What Changes for Your Services Plus File?
The Services Plus File will still include the “discount offered to GSA off commercial price” column, but you are no longer forced to fill it out. This is a direct effort by the GSA to simplify your file preparation and cut down on manual data management.
Moving forward, you have two choices for this field:
Option 1: Leave it Blank (The Easiest Route)
You can simply leave the field empty. If you do, the FCP system will automatically calculate the discount for you behind the scenes using your listed commercial price and the GSA price (excluding the Industrial Funding Fee, or IFF).
Why this matters: This automation dramatically reduces the risk of accidental formatting or calculation errors on your end, while ensuring the Contracting Officer (CS/CO) still gets the consistent pricing data they need for reviews.
Option 2: Keep Using It for Internal Calculations
If your team prefers to use this field to build out your pricing (e.g., automatically calculating your government price by applying a set discount to your commercial list price), you can absolutely keep doing so.
However, if you do input data, the system will still validate it. Your entries must:
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Be a numeric value between -1 and 1.
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Use proper formatting (meaning no special characters like “%” symbols).
Where to See the Calculated Values
Whether you choose to leave the field blank or let the system calculate it, you can easily verify the final numbers. Vendors can view the system-calculated discount in two places:
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The file located in the CS/CO Review ribbon within the FCP.
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The final file returned to eMod from the FCP after validation is complete.
Are There Any Exceptions?
Yes, there is one major exception. If your business sells Highly Configurable Products using the product catalog item type and relies on “discount only” pricing, you must still populate the discount_offered_to_gsa_off_commercial_price field. Because your other pricing fields typically remain blank for these complex configurations, this data remains required.
What About the Product File?
If you are working with the Product File rather than the Services Plus File, note that the standard blank template does not include a discount column. Instead, the system inherently calculates this value during the Compliance & Pricing Report process.
Pro-Tip: If your team wants to use a discount column to help calculate your Product File pricing before uploading, you can insert your own custom column. Don’t worry about breaking the system, the FCP will automatically delete any extra columns you add upon upload.
For more details on managing Highly Configurable Products, be sure to check out the Highly Configurable Infographic in the Help/Infographics section at catalog.gsa.gov/help.
Key takeaway from this change
This update is a massive win for compliance teams. By making the discount field optional and automating the math, GSA is making it faster and less error-prone to keep your contract compliant.
Have questions about how to adjust your upload templates for your next modification? Please drop your questions in the comments below!