Pricing Data

Open New Chat and choose Pricing Data to assess a proposed price, research labor or comparable prices, or build and revise a pricing model. Include the selected opportunity or file, the decision you need and any company assumptions already settled.

The four workflows cover different pricing jobs. BLS wages, GSA labor ceilings, Service Contract Inventory and awarded line items are sources used within those workflows. Capture Workflows applies the findings to bid/no-bid, teaming and pursuit decisions.

Tailor this workflow to your market

Provide the actual units, quantities, locations, performance periods, options and included services. Supply work may turn on packaging, freight and warranty; subscriptions on seats, usage, term and renewal; construction on takeoffs, site conditions and local quotes; services on workload, coverage and productivity.

For a focused follow-up, keep using the selected opportunity and assumptions. A terse ptw or rate question does not require starting the research over. Tell GovTribe AI whether you want a review, a new model or specified changes to a working file.

Staffing and labor costs

Assess whether staffing can deliver the work, then estimate the relevant labor economics. Coverage, shifts, service levels, transition and surge can change required hours. State the productive-hours basis for each FTE; paid hours, productive hours and billable hours may differ. A historical FTE count alone does not establish current needs.

When staffing is already settled, a rate or margin question can reuse it. Supply wages or loaded rates, the costs already included, allocation bases, escalation and fee or margin requirements. Public benchmarks cannot establish your company's actual wrap or undisclosed costs.

BLS occupational wage data

Use BLS evidence for occupation and location wage baselines. A role may require a documented occupation proxy; geography, wage year and percentile affect the comparison. Wages exclude modeled indirect costs and fee. They do not replace a required wage determination or collective bargaining agreement.

GSA labor rates

Use Schedule labor categories to compare published ceiling rates, accounting for qualifications, worksite, clearance and rate year. A ceiling is neither a wage nor a demonstrated task-order winning rate. Unrelated categories and sibling contract years should not be averaged as independent comparable prices.

Service Contract Inventory context

Use SCI for reported labor hours, FTEs and prime/subcontractor workshare. Prime totals can already include subcontractor effort, so adding the slices again can double-count work. A derived dollars-per-hour measure is blended footprint context, not an occupation wage, labor-category rate or complete bid price.

Example: assess supplied labor and rate evidence

This fictional example separates staffing arithmetic from the judgment a proposed rate can support:

Assess our proposed $105 hourly price for a services contract requiring 36,000 annual labor hours at 1,800 productive hours per FTE. Available benchmarks are a BLS wage of $42/hour, a GSA ceiling of $115/hour, an SCI-derived rate of $97/hour and a state/local line item of $900/Each. Explain the staffing requirement, which comparisons are useful, and what cost or scope information we still need.

The workload equals 20 FTEs on the stated basis. At $105 per hour, the annual price is $3.78 million. Whether that price is profitable or competitive still depends on delivery costs and comparable scope, categories, location and period. The $900/Each observation cannot join an hourly benchmark without a supported conversion.

Comparable prices and cost drivers

Compare the same economic thing before comparing the numbers. Match specifications, scope, quantities, package sizes, units, place, dates, terms and base or option periods. Keep original amounts visible when making supported adjustments.

Federal award obligations, transaction amounts and parent ceilings measure different things. They do not automatically establish an evaluated total or unit price. Distinguish the particular IDV, its associated vehicle and the performing order; use the order's own scope and pricing basis.

Search line items

Awarded state and local line items can provide quantities, descriptions and unit prices. Check the parent award and source schedule, including freight, installation and other included charges. A default unit of Each may not describe the source's actual package or service unit.

For products, match the model or part and quantity breaks. For software, separate recurring licenses or usage from implementation. For construction, compare site and facility scope before using square-foot benchmarks. Wage floors, bid quotes, catalog prices and awarded prices retain their own meanings.

Price-to-win analysis

Use Price-to-Win Research and Modeling to assess a proposed bid or develop a supported target price. Start with the buyer's pricing instructions, current scope and quantities, then examine the predecessor and credible comparable work. Separate competitive price observations from your delivery-cost estimate.

Company costs may include labor, materials, subcontractors, transition, travel and escalation. A cost model can show what price meets a margin requirement; it cannot by itself establish a winning price. For federal architect-engineer services, qualifications-based selection precedes fee negotiation rather than treating a construction low bid as a comparable design fee.

Where evidence is thin, the useful answer may be a supported cost estimate, limited price observations and the next inputs to obtain. Where a competitive range and delivery economics do not overlap, assess the size of the gap and possible changes to the approach, workshare or margin before the capture decision.

Pricing model workflow

Use Build, Review and Revise a Pricing Model for combined calculations or a working workbook. Supply the exact revision, buyer pricing instructions and requested action. A review can report findings without changing the workbook or choosing a final price; a revision should identify the inputs or ranges to change.

The model can trace quantities and productivity through hours, rates, costs, escalation, fee and period or CLIN totals. Loaded inputs should not receive the same burden twice. Markup on cost and gross margin on sales produce different prices: a 20% markup uses cost × 1.20, while a 20% gross margin uses cost ÷ 0.80.

For revisions, continue the selected working file rather than restarting from a template. Preserve unrelated inputs, formulas, validations, historical sheets and buyer forms. Recalculation, independent totals and relevant sensitivity checks help establish whether the delivered workbook behaves as intended; a workbook's own OK label is not enough.

Use File templates for the Labor Pricing & Staffing master and revision guidance. The host's spreadsheet capabilities handle the actual file. Updating a saved GovTribe file's description or pursuit association is a separate metadata change; it does not modify workbook cells.

Files and other assistants

Original-file access matters for formula and workbook review. Retrieved text passages can support research, but they do not expose every formula, sheet or validation. If the original cannot be opened or recalculated, treat the result as analysis or a model draft with those checks outstanding.

For workbook creation or revision in Claude or ChatGPT, see File templates for source-file and native authoring requirements.

Related articles

• GovCon workflows with GovTribe AI: Choose the workflow family for your task.
• Capture Workflows: Apply pricing findings to pursuit strategy.
• File templates: Start from the Labor Pricing & Staffing master or revise a selected working file.
• Search Service Contract Inventory MCP tool: Understand reported labor footprint and workshare.
• GSA labor rate data type: Review the fields behind Schedule rate evidence.