After You Win: Award, Invoicing, Payment and Protests

Payment due

30 days after a proper invoice

Late interest (Jul-Dec 2026)

4.75% per year

IPP cost

Free

CPARS comment window

14 calendar days

Debriefing request

Within 3 days of notice

GAO protest deadline

10 days after basis known

GAO filing fee

$500

GAO decision

Within 100 days

The Award Notice

When you win, the contracting officer sends you the signed contract or order, usually by email. Read it closely, because it is the legal agreement. It lists the price, the period of performance, the deliverables, the invoicing instructions and the clauses you must follow. Only the contracting officer can change it, through a written modification.

Under negotiated procurements, the agency also notifies the other offerors within three days after award. Larger awards appear in federal award data and then on SAM.gov and USAspending.gov. Your win becomes part of your public record, which helps you market to other agencies.

The Kickoff Meeting

Many contracts start with a post-award conference, often called a kickoff. The contracting officer or the contracting officer's representative, called the COR, walks through the scope, the schedule, reporting, security needs and who to contact for what. It is your chance to ask questions and confirm expectations before work begins.

Bring the people who will manage the work and send invoices. Confirm how deliverables will be accepted and where to send invoices. The COR oversees day-to-day performance, while the contracting officer handles any change to price, scope or schedule.

Invoicing Through IPP or the Agency's System

Most civilian agencies use the Invoice Processing Platform, or IPP, run by the Treasury Department. IPP is free for vendors. The agency starts your enrollment, and you receive an email asking you to sign in with a Login.gov or ID.me account. In IPP you can turn a purchase order into an invoice, attach documents and track when you will be paid.

The Defense Department uses Wide Area Workflow, part of the PIEE system, instead of IPP. Some agencies have their own portals. Your contract's invoicing clause names the system and the office that receives invoices, so follow it exactly.

A proper invoice includes your company name and address, the invoice date and number, and the contract or order number with the line item numbers. It also lists a description, quantity, unit price and extended price for each item. Add the shipping and payment terms, the name and phone number of a contact person, and any documents the contract requires.

The Prompt Payment Act

The Prompt Payment Act sets when the government must pay. In most cases, payment is due 30 days after the billing office receives a proper invoice or 30 days after the government accepts the work, whichever is later. For figuring interest, acceptance is treated as happening on the seventh day after delivery unless the contract says otherwise.

If the agency finds a problem with your invoice, it must return it within seven days and explain what to fix. Shorter timelines apply to food items. Meat and fish are due within 7 days of delivery, and perishable produce and dairy within 10 days.

When an agency pays late, it owes you interest automatically, without a request. The Treasury rate for July 1 through December 31, 2026 is 4.75 percent a year, up from 4.125 percent in the first half of 2026. If the agency pays the invoice but not the interest of $1 or more within 10 days, you can claim an additional penalty by sending a written demand within 40 days after you were paid. Agencies are also encouraged to pay small businesses early when they have a proper invoice.

CPARS Performance Ratings

The government grades your work in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System, or CPARS. Ratings are required for contracts and orders above the simplified acquisition threshold, which is $350,000. For construction, they are required at $900,000 or more, and for architect-engineer contracts at $45,000 or more. Agencies rate you at least once a year and when the work is done.

Each rating uses five levels: exceptional, very good, satisfactory, marginal and unsatisfactory. You get an email when an evaluation is ready, and you have up to 14 calendar days to add comments. The rating becomes available to other agencies no later than 14 days after you are notified. Strong ratings are valuable, because agencies use them as past performance when you bid again.

If You Don't Win: The Debriefing

If you lose a negotiated competition, you can ask for a debriefing. Send a written request within three days after you receive notice of the award or of your exclusion. The agency then explains the strengths and weaknesses of your proposal, your price and rating compared with the winner, and why the award was made. Task orders over $9 million under multiple-award contracts also come with a debriefing on request.

A debriefing is one of the best learning tools in contracting. Even when you do not plan to protest, the feedback helps you write a stronger proposal next time. The Defense Department also lets you submit follow-up questions within two business days after the debriefing.

Bid Protest Options and Time Limits

A protest asks for review of a solicitation or award that you believe broke the rules. You must be an interested party, meaning an actual or likely bidder whose business would be affected. There are three places to file, each with its own time limits.

An agency-level protest goes to the contracting officer or a higher official. A challenge to the terms of a solicitation must be filed before bids or proposals are due. Other protests must be filed within 10 days after you knew or should have known the basis. The agency aims to decide within 35 days. If you file within 10 days after award, or within 5 days after the debriefing date offered, the agency suspends performance while it decides.

A protest at the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, is filed online through its Electronic Protest Docketing System. The filing fee is $500, and you do not need a lawyer to file. The same timing rules apply: before the due date for solicitation problems and within 10 days after the basis is known for others. When a debriefing is required, the clock starts at the debriefing. Filing within 10 days after award or 5 days after the debriefing pauses the contract, and GAO decides within 100 days, or 65 days under its express option.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims also hears bid protests. Its rules set no fixed number of days, but challenges to a solicitation must be raised before the bidding closes, and post-award protests should be filed promptly. A company must be represented by a lawyer admitted to the court. The court can order the agency to stop or redo the award.

Sources

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/48/52.232-25
https://fiscal.treasury.gov/payments-from-government/prompt-payment/rates
https://fiscal.treasury.gov/prompt-payment
https://www.ipp.gov/knowledge-center/vendors/faq-vendors
https://www.acquisition.gov/far/42.1502
https://www.acquisition.gov/node/31281
https://www.acquisition.gov/far/subpart-33.1
https://www.gao.gov/legal/bid-protests/file-a-bid-protest
https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-16412.pdf

Checked October 2026. Thresholds and rules change; each source above is the official page.