How the Contract Sheet is built

Every figure on a Contract Sheet comes from the public federal award record. Nothing is estimated by a model or typed by hand. This page says where each figure comes from, how it is computed, and what the record cannot tell you. A full example: sample Contract Sheet.

Sources

• Awards. USAspending.gov prime award archives for contracts, refreshed monthly. The current build reads the archive of October 6, 2026, with actions through September 30, 2026.
• Notices. SAM.gov contract opportunities, through the public API, pulled daily.
• The check at build time. Each sheet is compared against the award's live record on the USAspending.gov API on the day it is built, and the sheet says what was checked.

What each section means

• Value at award is the base value plus all options as first awarded. Current value is the value with options exercised to date. The sheet states how far the current value has moved from the value at award.
• Spent so far is the total obligated divided by the current value, with the months since the period of performance began. It is not a monthly spending rate.
• Time to end counts months to the current end of the period of performance, and says whether further option periods remain in the record.
• Offers at award is the number of offers the agency reported when it made the award. Many awards do not report it, so every average on the sheet says how many awards it stands on, for example "reported on 67 of 131".
• Comparable awards are awards at the same agency, under the same NAICS code, in the same size tier, over the fiscal years shown on the sheet. The band is their 25th to 75th percentile of value at award. Below ten comparable awards the band is marked as thin.
• Who wins nearby lists the vendors with the most comparable awards, by count and value, and marks the incumbent.
• Posted on SAM.gov lists notices from the last twelve months at the same agency under the same NAICS and product code (or the NAICS alone when the code has none): sources sought, presolicitations and special notices. Intents to award without competition are counted separately.
• The reading is a short paragraph assembled by fixed rules from the facts above: how competed the award was, how much it grew, how much runway is left, and where its value sits in the band. The same facts always produce the same sentences.

Size tiers

What the record cannot show

• Who lost. The award record names the winner, never the other bidders or their prices.
• Whether the work will be competed. An end date is a date, not a decision. Agencies extend contracts by modification.
• Which notice belongs to which contract. Notices are matched to a market by agency and codes. The record holds no link between a notice and an award.
• The last few months. Agencies have up to 90 days to report an action, so the most recent months are thin in the source itself. The year-end rush shows it most: in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, August and September together were 27% and 28% of all contract obligations.
• The winning price. The band shows what comparable awards were worth. The price that wins a given requirement depends on its scope.
• State and local work. The sheet covers federal prime awards only.

Delivery and refunds

A Contract Sheet costs USD 79 and is delivered by email within one business day as a one-page PDF. If it does not change or confirm your bid decision, write within 7 days for a refund. Get a Contract Sheet.