Reading FPDS and USAspending
Every federal contract action is written down in public. Two sites show the record. Once you can read the fields, you can find who holds any contract in your part class and when it ends.
What each site is
The Federal Procurement Data System, FPDS, is the system of record for federal contract actions. When a contracting officer awards a contract, exercises an option, or modifies an order above a small threshold, the action is reported to FPDS with a standard set of data elements. FPDS is a reporting tool, so its search interface is plain and its data is close to raw.
USAspending is the public spending site run by the Treasury Department. It takes the FPDS contract data, adds grants and other assistance, links it to agency budget data, and presents it with a friendlier search and award pages. For contracts, USAspending and FPDS show the same underlying records. USAspending is easier to read; FPDS is closer to the source and sometimes more current.
Neither site shows solicitations. Those are on SAM.gov. And neither shows unit prices for most items; for DLA managed parts, the bid board does.
Award versus transaction
A contract lives for years and changes many times. Each change is a transaction: the initial award, each option exercise, each funding action, each modification. FPDS records transactions. USAspending groups the transactions under one award, identified by the contract number, and shows totals and dates for the award as a whole, with the transaction list underneath.
When you look at an award page, you are seeing the sum of its transactions to date. When you look at FPDS results, you are usually seeing individual transactions, and the same contract will appear many times. Keep this in mind when you count. Ten rows in FPDS may be one contract.
Orders placed under an indefinite delivery contract are their own awards, linked to the parent by a referenced contract number. To see everything a buyer has ordered under one vehicle, search on the parent number.
Fields worth knowing
| Field | What it means | Why you care |
|---|---|---|
| PIID | The contract or order number | The key to the whole record and to the SAM.gov notice |
| Recipient, UEI, CAGE | Who was awarded, with identifiers | Names the incumbent; match on the codes, not the name |
| Awarding and funding agency and office | Who issued the contract and who is paying | Tells you the buying office to target |
| NAICS and PSC | Industry and product classification | Filter award history to your part classes |
| Type of set-aside | How competition was restricted | Shows whether this office sets work aside |
| Extent competed and number of offers | Whether it was competed and how many bid | One offer suggests an opening; many offers suggests a crowded field |
| Period of performance start and current end | When work began and when it ends with options exercised so far | The recompete clock |
| Potential end date | When it would end if all options were exercised | Shows how much runway the incumbent has |
| Obligated amount | Money committed on this action or to date | What has actually been funded |
| Base and exercised options value | Contract value with options used so far | Current size of the deal |
| Base and all options value | Value if every option is exercised | Maximum size of the deal |
| Description | Free text from the contracting officer | Often names the part or NSN; search it |
Obligated versus base and all options
Three money fields cause most confusion. Obligated amount is what the government has legally committed to pay so far. It rises with each funding action. Base and exercised options value is the agreed value of the contract as it stands, including options that have been exercised. Base and all options value is the ceiling if every option is used.
For sizing an opportunity, use base and all options, and remember that it is a ceiling. For seeing how active a contract is, watch obligations over time. For a recompete, the gap between exercised and all options tells you how much choice the buyer has left.
Modifications can be negative. A deobligation reduces the amount. That is normal and does not mean the contract failed.
How to look up an incumbent
The routine is the same on either site. It takes a few minutes once you have done it twice.
Finding the incumbent on a part class
- 1
Open advanced search
On USAspending, choose the advanced search and set the award type to contracts. On FPDS, use the search with filters.
- 2
Filter by PSC and NAICS
Enter the product classes for your parts. Add the NAICS codes buyers use for them. Set a date range of a few years.
- 3
Narrow by agency or office
Pick the buying activity you care about, or leave it open to see who buys the class at all.
- 4
Read the results as awards
Group by contract number. Note the recipient, the dates, and the values. Sort by current end date to find what ends soonest.
- 5
Open the award page
Confirm the recipient by UEI or CAGE, read the description, and check the transaction list for recent activity.
- 6
Export and keep
Download the results as a spreadsheet. Add a column for your notes. This is the start of a target list.
Limits of the data
The record is only as good as the entry. Descriptions are inconsistent, NAICS and PSC choices vary by office, and vendor names appear in several spellings. Small actions below the reporting threshold do not appear at all, which means many purchase card buys and some small orders are invisible here. Data can lag the actual award by days or longer.
Treat FPDS and USAspending as a strong signal, not a complete ledger. Cross check with SAM.gov award notices and, for DLA items, the bid board. Our data page and entity resolution notes describe how we clean vendor names and reconcile the sources.
Match on codes, not names
The same shop can appear as a legal name, a trade name, and a parent company. Filter and group by UEI and CAGE when you can. A name search will miss part of the record.
Related pages
- Recompete strategyTurning end dates into a plan.
- Pricing a government bidWhat the money fields can and cannot tell you.
- PSC codes explainedThe best filter for parts in either site.
- Data sourcesThe public feeds this site reads and how often.
See who was last awarded in your NAICS
The free report shows who bought your part category, who won, and what is coming up for recompete.