Co-written by Kris Brinker, Government Contractor Marketing SME (Ocean 5 Strategies), Katie Helwig, OASIS+ Strategist (Mild Red LLC), with SME input from Teresa Moon (Parabilis)
This article builds on the foundation established in The GovCon Decathlon: 10 Disciplines for OASIS+ Success (co-authored by Kris Brinker, Ocean 5 Strategies, and Katie Helwig, Mild Red LLC), which introduced the core disciplines of sustainable growth.
Here, we explore another critical discipline—Finance.
Finance is the engine that powers growth under OASIS+. Without disciplined financial planning, even the most promising capture strategies can stall. In the context of OASIS+, this means understanding your cash flow needs, preparing for upfront costs, and ensuring flexibility to support multiple task order wins.
💪 The Marketing Connection: Financial Strength as a Differentiator
Here’s something most contractors miss: financial readiness is actually a marketing tool. Before agencies read your technical proposal, they’re already sizing up whether you can effectively manage a large contract.
Think about it from their perspective. Federal buyers aren’t just evaluating your technical skills—they’re evaluating your corporate infrastructure to flawlessly perform. Strategic contractors talk about their capabilities to scale right alongside their technical qualifications.
👉 Financial Credibility Builds Brand Trust
When you mention financial capacity in your capability statements, LinkedIn posts, or agency meetings, you’re telling buyers: “We’ve got this covered.” It’s not bragging—it’s emphasizing brand trust. Agencies want to feel confident that you can complete the mission.
👉 Scale Messaging Attracts Larger Opportunities
In Best Value evaluations, proposals are often assigned confidence ratings for multiple criteria. If you can prove you have the cash flow and credit lines to juggle multiple task orders at once, you’re increasing your confidence score. A strong financial story can boost your management volume evaluation from “Some” to “High” or from “Good” to “Outstanding”.
👉 Competative Differentiation Through Operational Rigor
Most contractors talk primarily about their technical capabilities through their past performance. As we’ve mentioned in prior disciplines, those with an upward growth trajectory strive for Exceptional CPARS. Your financial strategy to achieve operational excellence is as critical as recruiting, security, and compliance. When you mention your financial dashboards, banking relationships, and forecasting tools, you’re extending your story of brand trust.
In this article, we explore the financial considerations, strategies, and tools that government contractors must master to compete confidently and grow sustainably under the OASIS+ MAC—while leveraging these financial practices as marketing and positioning advantages throughout the federal sales cycle.
Do you have what it takes to beat the OASIS+ competition?
Download our free guide: Government Contractor OASIS+ Marketing Best Practices Checklist
Predicting OASIS+ Opportunities: What the Numbers Tell Us
If history is a guide, the road ahead for OASIS+ contractors is paved with big opportunities—but also big financial responsibilities.
Many of the largest task orders leveraged the HTRO evaluation process (Highest Technically Rated Offeror). To better understand that process, see Katie Helwig’s adjunct piece on HTRO scoring for a deeper dive into how quality and financial readiness intersect.
Crunching the Numbers
Using GSA’s Data2Decisions Dashboard, we pulled awarded contracts for HCaTS, OASIS Unrestricted, OASIS Small Business, and OASIS 8(a):
- Total Entries: 5,294
- Average Obligated Sales per Task Order: $18.78M
Top 4 Task Order Awards (Unrestricted) (in obligated sales)
- SAIC — $1.4B
- Smartronix — $1.2B
- Booz Allen Hamilton — $1.1B
- Smartronix (second entry) — $1.1B
Small Business Awards
- Total Entries (SB + 8(a) + HCaTS SB + HCaTS 8(a)): 3,164
- Average Obligated Sales: $12.1M
Top 4 Small Business Task Orders (in obligated sales)
- Torch Technologies — $523M
- Intrepid, LLC — $443M
- COLSA Corporation — $428.8M
- Odyssey Systems — $387.9M
OASIS 8(a) & HCaTS 8(a)
- Entries: 437
- Average Obligated Sales: $5.6M
Top 4 8(a) Task Orders (in obligated sales0
- QED Enterprises Inc. — $115.8M
- Halvik Corp. — $90.2M
- Eagle Harbor — $61.3M
- Cherokee National — $49.3M
💪 The Marketing Connection:
Share your track record and contract sizes in your marketing materials—use numbers that can be quickly validated in FPDS or USAspending. Use statements like “average contract value of $15M+” or “concurrent management of multiple 8-figure contracts” in your capability statements and case studies. It positions you as someone with an established process to execute at scale.
The Financial Readiness Factor
OASIS+ is a professional services contract. Professional Services = People—and people must be paid.
Key Financial Implications:
- Upfront Costs: Large contracts require significant financial resources before your first invoice is paid.
- Credit Requirements: Solicitations often require letters of credit or proof of financial capacity from a bank or lending source.
💪 The Marketing Connection:
Add a line or two about financial readiness to your marketing materials. Something like: “Established lines of credit to support rapid scaling” or “Financial systems built for large-scale federal program management.” These statements can increase opportunities to engage with the customer and/or boost your confidence rating score for your management volume when you submit your proposal.
💡 OASIS+ Pro Tip:
Create a one-page “Financial Readiness” document that you can include as an appendix in proposals or share during pre-RFP discussions. This document should summarize (without disclosing sensitive details) your credit relationships, financial management systems, bonding capacity, and track record (i.e., past performance) for managing contracts of similar size, scope, and complexity.
Steps to Financial Preparedness
1. Assess Your Capital Needs
- Map out estimated upfront labor, subcontractor, and operational costs for each potential award.
- Include contingencies for multiple task order wins.
2. Build Banking and Financing Relationships Early
Establish lines of credit, bridge financing, or working capital loans in advance.
Discuss options with your lending institutions for letters of credit or guarantees.
3. Evaluate Financial Flexibility
Can your cash flow support simultaneous task orders?
Model scenarios for 1, 2, or 3 wins to ensure you have adequate liquidity.
4. Consider Financing Options
Bank Lines of Credit: Flexible short-term borrowing for payroll and operating expenses.
Invoice Factoring: Sell invoices to cover cash flow gaps.
SBA 7(a) or 504 Loans: For small businesses needing capital for growth.
Equity Partnerships or Investors: Consider minority investment for rapid scaling.
5. Track and Forecast Cash Flow
Use financial dashboards or project management tools to forecast revenue, expenses, and burn rate per task order.
Monitor accounts receivable closely to avoid cash shortfalls.
💪 The Marketing Connection:
Mention your financial systems in proposals. A simple statement like “Real-time financial dashboards provide visibility across all concurrent projects” shows you’re sophisticated without giving away trade secrets. The end goal is to demonstrate operational stability.
💡 OASIS+ Pro Tip:
When meeting with agency stakeholders or teaming partners, be prepared to discuss (in general terms) your financial capacity and systems. Having this conversation early builds confidence and can position you as the prime contractor, or as a substantial subcontractor for larger opportunities.
Why Financial Discipline Matters
Understanding your credit options now—not after the award notice arrives—is essential for sustainable growth. Financial flexibility is just as critical as your capture strategy in the OASIS+ arena.
Be proactive: Early financial planning gives you leverage to pursue larger task orders with confidence.
Be strategic: Align your financing approach with your growth objectives to ensure that winning multiple awards strengthens rather than strains your business.
💪 The Marketing Connection:
Make financial stability part of your story. Don’t wait until someone asks about it in a proposal requirement. Weave it into your website, your LinkedIn presence, your capability statements.
When you talk consistently about being “financially positioned for growth” or “backed by established banking relationships,” it becomes part of your brand—not just a checkbox in a proposal.
💡 OASIS+ Pro Tip:
Develop key messaging around financial readiness that your business development and capture teams can use consistently. Examples include: “Financially positioned to support rapid mobilization,” “Established banking relationships for flexible growth financing,” or “Proven financial management across $XXM in concurrent federal programs.” Consistency in this messaging builds brand recognition and credibility.
🎁🎁 BONUS: OASIS+ The Financial Readiness Checklist
1. Assess Capital Needs
☐ Estimate upfront labor, subcontractor, and operational costs per task order.
☐ Include contingency for multiple simultaneous wins.
2. Build Banking & Financing Relationships
☐ Establish multiple lines of credit with banks, credit unions, and other financial resources.
☐ Discuss bridge financing options for cash flow gaps.
☐ Confirm ability to provide letters of credit if required.
3. Evaluate Financial Flexibility
☐ Model cash flow for winning 1, 2, or 3 task orders simultaneously.
☐ Identify liquidity gaps and plan solutions in advance.
4. Explore Financing Options
☐ Bank lines of credit (short-term operating funds).
☐ Invoice factoring (turn invoices into cash quickly).
☐ SBA 7(a) or 504 loans for growth capital.
☐ Equity partners or investors for scaling.
5. Track & Forecast Cash Flow
☐ Implement financial dashboards for real-time tracking.
☐ Monitor accounts receivable and invoice timelines.
☐ Forecast burn rate per project to avoid shortfalls.
6. Plan for Sustainable Growth
☐ Align financial strategy with capture and delivery plans.
☐ Prepare for upfront costs of professional services (≥51% of task orders).
☐ Maintain flexibility to adapt to larger-than-expected wins.
💡 OASIS+ Pro Tip:
Early financial preparation is as critical as proposal strategy—be ready to scale, pay your people, and seize multiple opportunities confidently. Your financial discipline is a competitive advantage worth marketing.
Finance Discipline Use Case: QED Enterprises Inc.
OASIS 8(a) Competed Contract with TSA
Company Overview:
QED Enterprises Inc., established in 2007 and headquartered in Stafford, Virginia, is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). The company specializes in:
- Technology Services
- Financial Management
- Strategic Planning and Operations
- Facilities Information Management
Since its inception, QED has been awarded over 100 government contracts, supporting 16 federal agencies and 16 military commands. Their client portfolio includes the National Science Foundation, Departments of Transportation, Labor, State, Defense, Air Force, Justice, and Homeland Security, with projects executed across Virginia, Maryland, Texas, and Washington, D.C.
- SBA 8(a) Certified (Graduated October 2024)
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Certified
- NIST 800.171 Compliant
- CMMC Level 2 Compliant
Contract Overview:
QED secured a competed 8(a) contract under the OASIS 8(a) vehicle with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The contract details:
- Period of Performance: April 1, 2022—March 31, 2027
- Total Obligated Amount: $115,853,476.62
- Total Potential Value: $156,516,547.59
- NAICS Code: 541990 – All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- PSC: R699 – SUPPORT- ADMINISTRATIVE: OTHER
- Set-Aside Status: 8(a) / SDVOSB
Finance Discipline Highlights:
- Revenue Management & Forecasting: QED maintains precise tracking of obligations versus total contract value, enabling accurate revenue recognition and long-term financial planning.
- Risk Mitigation: Securing a competed 8(a) award validates QED’s operational and financial capacity to perform at scale, reducing execution risk for the federal government.
- Compliance & Reporting: All financial activity is fully documented and reportable via FPDS and USAspending, ensuring adherence to federal accounting standards and contract transparency requirements.
- Strategic Positioning: The successful award and execution of this contract strengthen QED’s credibility and positioning for future OASIS+ and other federal opportunities, illustrating a proven track record of disciplined financial stewardship and program delivery.
Moving Forward:
QED holds 8(a) STARS III, OASIS+ 8A, OASIS+ SB, and OASIS+ SDVOSB master contracts, all three in the Management & Advisory (Domain 1), Technical & Engineering (Domain 2), and Facilities (Domain 7) Domains to continue its growth trajectory under a Best-In-Class procurement landscape. QED is also anticipating awards on Polaris and NASA SEWP VI.
Summary:
QED Enterprises’ performance under the TSA OASIS 8(a) contract serves as a model for disciplined financial management in government contracting. It highlights how careful oversight, transparent reporting, and strategic execution drive both contractor and agency confidence, making this an ideal use case for the Finance Discipline under the GovCon Decathlon framework.
💪 The Marketing Connection:
QED doesn’t just execute well—they market their financial discipline. By talking about their systems and controls alongside their technical capabilities, they build confidence before the RFP even drops. That’s smart positioning.
Leadership Perspective:
“QED’s ability to manage the cadence of invoicing to the government, coupled with strong internal controls and the use of robust accounting tools, contributes to the management of this contract. Investment in our people and tools has been instrumental to QED’s continued success. We maintain open, transparent, and consistent communication with our customers to ensure our financial strategies fully support both operational performance and compliance expectations.”—Kristin Witte, Operations Director and FSO, QED Enterprises Inc.
💡 OASIS+ Pro Tip:
Consider featuring similar quotes from your financial leadership in marketing materials, proposals, and on your website. Demonstrating that financial discipline is a leadership priority—not just an accounting function—builds credibility with sophisticated federal buyers.
The Missing Piece: Funding
Contributed by Teresa Moon, Director of Market Strategy, Parabilis
There’s no shortage of one-liners to describe a shifting landscape—so many, in fact, that using one can feel cliché. But in times of change, when it’s easy to cling to the comfort of the old rather than embrace the possibilities of the new, a reminder feels warranted:
Change is good. Change is growth. And as the saying goes, “If you ain’t growing, you’re dying.”
Contractors are stepping into a new season of federal business. As such, they have to not only aspire to operational excellence but plan for it.
👉 The Key to Success in the New World of Federal Contracting
For many, the focus has turned toward GSA opportunities, with OASIS+ emerging as the hotbed for services-based organizations looking to grow their imprint in the federal marketplace.
But winning an award is just the start. True success requires consistently securing task orders—because without multiple, ongoing wins, you can’t stay afloat.
The best business leaders not only possess valuable abilities to grow their business, but they also recognize their limitations and hire to fill the spaces that they simply are not qualified to perform.
Planning is key on all levels: operations, finance, internal and external growth, and marketing.
👉 The Missing Piece: Funding
But how do you plan for operational excellence without the capital to support it?
Too many contractors treat funding not as a strategy, but as an afterthought until it becomes an emergency. Like all areas of business, if you’re making decisions under the gun, you’re more likely to have buyer’s remorse once the dust settles.
Understanding your access to capital at every stage of your business isn’t just about funding today’s needs. It’s about building the right relationships now so you can secure what you need today and stay ahead of tomorrow, positioning your business to thrive in its season of growth.
Sounds easy enough—but ask any business owner about their journey to “fully funded,” and you’ll undoubtedly hear pain in their story.
👉 The Two Biggest Factors in Your Funding Future
The two most highly underrated aspects of capital are:
1. Past financial performance.
The contractors who thrive are those who build financial credibility deliberately, not reactively.
Financial past performance is as important in accessing capital as work performance is in winning contracts. The process is the same for both: building strong relationships, learning what not to do from other business owners, and keeping accurate documentation to advance your business.
2. The right partner.
Every growing business needs capital, but money alone isn’t enough.
The right financial partner brings industry knowledge, credible references, and connections to unlock future opportunities. Not all lenders can do that. Be selective, because the right partner won’t just fund your growth—they’ll accelerate it.
💪 The Marketing Connection:
Contractors who’ve built strong banking relationships and have clean financial track records should highlight this in their brand messaging strategy.
It’s proof you’ve planned ahead—and that kind of operational maturity is exactly what cautious buyers want to see when they’re handing over a multi-million dollar contract.
Key Takeaways: Finance Meets Marketing
Financial discipline isn’t just about having money in the bank. It’s about showing federal buyers that you’re a safe bet for their largest, most intricate projects.
Your marketing should tell that story everywhere—your website, LinkedIn, capability statements, proposals, and especially in face-to-face meetings. Talk about:
- Your credit relationships and financial capacity (in general terms)
- Systems for managing cash flow and forecasting
- Your track record in handling multiple big contracts at once
- How your financial discipline reduces risk for the government
When financial strength becomes part of your brand story, you’re not just another contractor competing on price and past performance. You’re the reliable partner agencies want when the stakes are high.
Want help turning your financial readiness into a competitive advantage? Translate operational strengths—like financial discipline—into marketing messages that actually win contracts.
Ready to stand out in the OASIS+ ecosystem? Clarity isn’t just helpful—it’s essential. Make it easy for your customers to find you, understand you, and choose you.
Ocean 5 Strategies helps government contractors refine their niche, craft powerful messaging, and implement brand strategies that win contracts and attract top talent. If you’re ready to move from “good” to “great” in the federal market, Reach Out to Ocean 5.
Mild Red LLC helps government contractors turn complex federal procurement opportunities into competitive advantage. We combine data-driven market intelligence with strategic communications to position clients for growth in programs like OASIS+, Zero Trust, and AI initiatives. Our expertise translates policy and market shifts into actionable strategies that win. Reach out to Mild Red.
Read All GovCon Decathlon Series Articles:
OVERVIEW: The GovCon Decathlon: 10 Disciplines for OASIS+ Success
1. Stand Out from the Crowd – Find Your Niche
2. Go-to-Market Strategy for Government Contractors: How to Define, Connect, and Win
4. Operational Excellence Meets Marketing: The Hidden OASIS+ Differentiator
5. OASIS+ Growth Engine: Recruiting, Retention, and the Government Contractor Marketing Connection
6. OASIS+ Success Strategies: Compliance, Government Contractor Marketing, and Growth
7. Security as a Growth Engine: Building Brand Trust and Compliance in OASIS+
8. Build Brand Trust—Zero Trust, a New OASIS+ Success Discipline
