The Small Business Administration is expected to issue an interim final rule increasing the receipts-based size standards for inflation. The change should be effective August 17, 2019, 30 days after the scheduled publication of the rulemaking. Comments to the rule are due September 16, 2019. Government Contractors whose status changes in the System for Award Management (“SAM”) from “other than small” to “small,” as a result of the inflation adjustment, should update their SAM profile and complete the “representations and certifications” section of SAM.
SBA’s last inflationary adjustment was five years ago, in 2014. SBA estimates that this inflation adjustment will enable approximately 89,730 firms – competing under receipts-based size standards that are currently above SBA’s size standards – to gain small business status and become small again. As SBA explains:
| The size standards adopted in this interim final rule will enable businesses that have exceeded the size standards for their industries to regain small business status. It will also help currently small businesses retain their small business status for a longer period. Many firms may have lost their eligibility and find it difficult to compete at current size standards with companies that are significantly larger than they are. SBA believes the competitive impact will be positive for existing small businesses and for those that exceed the size standards but are on the very low end of those that are not small. |
The table below shows the current size standards and the adjusted size standards:
| Current size standard ($ million) |
Size standard adjusted for inflation ($ million) |
| $0.75 | $1.05 |
| 5.5 | 6.0 |
| 7.5 | 8.0 |
| 11.0 | 12.0 |
| 15.0 | 16.5 |
| 18.0 | 19.5 |
| 19.0 | 20.5 |
| 20.5 | 22.0 |
| 25.0 | 27.0 |
| 27.5 | 30.0 |
| 29.5 | 32.0 |
| 32.0 | 34.5 |
| 32.5 | 35.0 |
| 36.5 | 39.5 |
| 37.5 | 40.5 |
| 38.5 | 41.5 |
Notably, SBA has not yet completed its substantive review of the size standards, which it is supposed to complete every five years and has been due since 2017. In April, SBA said that it “plans to issue proposed rules on all receipts-based size standards in the near future.” Potentially, these forthcoming proposed rules could mean more increases to the size standards.
