Government Contracting Software Checklist: 23 Must-Have Features

Government contracting software can make or break your ability to compete for federal opportunities. But not all platforms meet the unique compliance, security, and workflow requirements of government RFPs.

Use this checklist when evaluating government contracting software to ensure you choose a solution that won't fail when you need it most—during proposal submission.

Why Government Contracting Needs Specialized Software

Commercial proposal software focuses on design, e-signatures, and speed. Government contracting adds layers of complexity that generic tools can't handle:

Strict Compliance Requirements: Missing a single required clause or certification disqualifies your entire proposal. Government contracting software must verify you've addressed every requirement before submission.

Security Standards: Federal contracts often require FedRAMP, ITAR, or CMMC compliance. Your software must meet these standards or risk disqualifying your entire organization.

Complex Formatting Rules: Page limits, font requirements, margin specifications, section ordering—government RFPs specify exact formatting. Software must enforce these rules automatically.

Collaboration Under Pressure: Government proposals involve technical writers, subject matter experts, pricing analysts, and executives. Your platform must coordinate inputs across multiple stakeholders with varying access levels.

The Complete Evaluation Checklist

Compliance and Requirement Management

Government RFPs often contain 200+ requirements spread across hundreds of pages. Manual tracking is error-prone and dangerous.

□ Automated Requirement Extraction: Does the software automatically identify and extract requirements from RFP documents? Manual requirement entry wastes days and introduces errors. Look for AI-powered extraction that catches requirements in text, tables, and appendices.

□ Requirement Traceability Matrix: Can you generate a compliance matrix showing exactly where each requirement is addressed? Government evaluators use these matrices to verify completeness. Your software should auto-generate them from your proposal content.

□ Compliance Verification: Does the platform check that you've responded to every requirement before allowing submission? Advanced RFP automation platforms like Bidara prevent submission until all requirements are addressed.

□ Clause Library Management: Can you maintain a library of standard government clauses (FAR, DFARS, agency-specific) for quick insertion? Government proposals require dozens of standard certifications and representations. Manual copying risks outdated or incorrect language.

□ Amendment Tracking: When the government issues amendments, can you track which requirements changed and update responses accordingly? Missing an amendment is grounds for disqualification.

Security and Data Protection

Government contracts involve sensitive information. Your software must meet federal security standards.

□ FedRAMP Considerations: Does the platform meet federal security standards appropriate for your contracts? FedRAMP authorization (Moderate or High) is required for software handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) or connecting to federal systems. Verify the platform's security certifications match your specific contract requirements.

□ CMMC Considerations: For Department of Defense contractors, does the vendor maintain appropriate security standards? CMMC certification may be required depending on your contract level. Verify security documentation matches your compliance needs.

□ Data Encryption: Is data encrypted both in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256)? Non-negotiable for handling sensitive proposal data including pricing and technical approaches.

□ Role-Based Access Controls: Can you restrict access to sensitive sections (pricing, past performance, proprietary information) by role? Different stakeholders need different access levels. Pricing analysts shouldn't see technical approaches; subcontractors shouldn't see your margins.

□ Audit Logging: Does the system maintain detailed logs of who accessed, edited, or exported documents? Required for internal governance and potential government audits. Logs should be tamper-proof and exportable.

□ Data Residency Options: Can you specify where data is stored geographically? Some federal contracts require data stay within U.S. borders. Verify the vendor's data center locations.

Content and Knowledge Management

Your past performance, capabilities, and expertise are competitive advantages—if you can find and reuse them effectively.

□ Intelligent Content Library: Can the system suggest relevant past responses based on current requirements? Basic keyword search isn't enough. Look for AI-powered semantic search that understands context and relationships.

□ Version Control: Does the platform track content versions and allow rollback? Government proposals evolve through dozens of revisions. You must be able to revert to previous versions or compare changes.

□ Approval Workflows: Can you configure multi-stage approval processes with different reviewers for different sections? Executive summaries need C-suite approval; technical sections need engineering review. Workflows should enforce this automatically.

□ Past Performance Database: Can you maintain a searchable database of past contracts with performance ratings, contract values, and reference contacts? Past performance is often the highest-weighted evaluation factor. Quick access to strong examples is critical.

□ Team Qualifications Management: Does the system store detailed resumes, certifications, clearances, and project experience for team members? You'll reuse this information across multiple proposals. Centralizing it saves hours per proposal.

Workflow and Collaboration

Government proposals are team sports requiring coordination across internal staff, subcontractors, and partners.

□ Real-Time Collaboration: Can multiple users edit different sections simultaneously without conflicts? Sequential editing creates bottlenecks. Real-time collaboration with conflict resolution is essential for meeting tight deadlines.

□ Task Assignment and Tracking: Can you assign sections to specific team members with due dates and track completion? Proposal managers need visibility into who's responsible for what and whether they're on schedule.

□ Comment and Review System: Can reviewers leave contextual comments on specific sections without directly editing? Separates writing from review, maintaining clear ownership of sections while incorporating feedback.

□ External Collaborator Access: Can you grant limited access to subcontractors and partners for specific sections only? Subcontractors need to contribute their portions without seeing your pricing or proprietary strategies.

□ Mobile Access: Can team members review and approve sections from mobile devices? Government proposals often require executive approval outside business hours. Mobile access prevents delays.

Integration and Automation

Government contracting software shouldn't exist in isolation. It must connect with your broader business systems.

□ SAM.gov Integration: Does the platform integrate with SAM.gov for opportunity discovery and vendor registration verification? Automatic import of solicitation documents and requirements saves hours of manual work.

□ CRM Integration: Can proposal data sync with your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics)? Government business development tracks opportunities for months before RFP release. Seamless handoff from BD to proposal teams prevents information loss.

□ Document Management Integration: Does it connect with SharePoint, Google Drive, or other enterprise content systems? Your organization already stores capabilities, past performance, and technical documents. The platform should access this content without requiring migration.

□ AI-Powered Content Generation: Can the system generate draft responses using AI trained on your past wins? Manual writing is the bottleneck. Platforms like Bidara use GPT-4 to generate initial drafts matching your writing style, reducing effort by 70%.

Pricing and Implementation Considerations

Government contracting software pricing varies from $500/month for mid-market platforms to $50,000+/year for enterprise solutions. Evaluate total cost of ownership:

Licensing Model: Flat-rate pricing is more predictable than per-user for larger teams. If you have 15 people touching proposals occasionally, $50/user/month ($9,000/year) exceeds flat-rate alternatives offering better features.

Implementation Time: Cloud-based platforms like Bidara require 30 minutes to start creating proposals. Legacy enterprise software needs 3-6 months implementation. Factor in opportunity cost—contracts you can't bid on while implementing.

Training Requirements: Complex platforms require dedicated administrators and extensive training. Simple platforms should be intuitive enough for occasional users to be productive within hours.

Support and Maintenance: Government proposals have hard deadlines. Verify 24/7 support availability, typical response times, and escalation procedures. You can't wait 48 hours for support when your proposal is due Friday.

Red Flags to Avoid

Some vendors claim government contracting capabilities but fail under real-world pressure:

No Compliance Verification: If the platform doesn't automatically check requirement compliance, it's essentially an expensive word processor. This is the core value of specialized software.

Outdated Security Certifications: Security certifications expire. Ask for current documentation with expiration dates. Expired FedRAMP or CMMC certifications are useless.

"Call for Pricing": Legitimate government contracting software should have transparent pricing. "Call for pricing" often means inconsistent pricing or aggressive upselling.

No Integration Capabilities: Siloed software creates duplicate data entry and synchronization problems. Modern platforms should integrate with standard business systems.

Poor Mobile Experience: If the vendor says "mobile works but isn't optimized," it doesn't work. Government proposals require mobile approval capabilities.

Making Your Decision

Print this checklist and use it during vendor demos. Ask vendors to demonstrate each capability using real government RFP examples, not curated demos.

Pay particular attention to:

• How quickly you can extract requirements from a 200-page RFP
• How the platform prevents submission of non-compliant proposals
• How long it takes to find and reuse relevant past performance examples
• Whether AI-generated content matches your writing style or sounds generic

The right platform should feel like it accelerates your team rather than adding overhead. If you spend more time managing the software than creating proposals, keep looking.

Start Your Evaluation

Government contracting is too competitive to rely on manual processes. The right software transforms your proposal capability from constraint to competitive advantage.

Ready to see government contracting software done right? Start a free trial of Bidara. Upload a government RFP, watch automatic requirement extraction, and see AI-generated responses that maintain your company voice. No credit card required.