FedDataCheck PALT Reporting

FPDS Reporting Errors Are Quietly Inflating YourPALT.

Procurement Administrative Lead Time is one of the most-watched indicators of contracting efficiency — yet it's also one of the most easily distorted by incorrectly reported solicitation dates in FPDS. FedDataCheck identifies these errors continuously, prompts contracting officials to correct them, and gives leadership the visibility to track their true PALT average.

PALT Improvement, By the Numbers

A look at the measurable impact FedDataCheck (FDC) has had across subscribing departments compared to the rest of the federal contracting community.

145,644

PALT-Days Reclaimed in FY2025

Days of artificially inflated PALT removed from FDC subscriber records in FY2025 through solicitation-date correction.

~18 days

Lower Than Non-Subscribers

In FY2025, subscriber departments reported an average PALT roughly eighteen days below the non-subscriber average — a gap that has held every year since FY2023.

~16×

Higher Correction Rate

FedDataCheck subscriber departments correct PALT-related reporting errors at roughly sixteen times the rate of non-subscribing departments.

100+

Continuous Data Checks

Automated FAR-based validations run on every FPDS transaction, including targeted checks for solicitation dates that predate the parent vehicle.

Why PALT Gets Inflated in the First Place

The most common cause of a wildly inflated PALT value isn't a slow acquisition. It's an order that appears to have been solicited before the contract it was placed against even existed.

The Order Was Solicited Off a Vehicle That Didn't Yet Exist

It's tempting to assume long PALT values trace back to large, complex acquisitions. In practice, the worst outliers live in routine, high-volume delivery orders and BPA calls.

Here's the mechanism. When a contracting officer places an order against a parent BPA or IDC, the order's Solicitation Issue Date often gets carried down from the parent vehicle instead of the order's own solicitation. That parent date is frequently earlier than the BPA or IDC itself was awarded — which is logically impossible. An order cannot be solicited off a vehicle that does not yet exist.

Because PALT is simply Award Date minus Solicitation Issue Date, that inherited early date stretches a one- or two-week order into a PALT value of hundreds or even thousands of days. These records are not judgment calls. They are provably wrong and provably inflated, and a handful of them can distort an agency's entire average.

FedDataCheck flags exactly these records, segments them by Base and All Options Value so leadership can see where they cluster, and gives contracting officers the specific correction — so the PALT figure that reaches leadership is one they can defend, not just explain.

Common PALT Inflation Cause

When the parent vehicle's solicitation date is copied onto the order, reported PALT balloons to cover a period before the order — sometimes before the vehicle — ever existed. Illustrative.

How FedDataCheck Improves PALT

FedDataCheck addresses PALT data quality at three levels — from the moment a contract action hits FPDS, through agency-level review, all the way to executive reporting.

Catch Bad Dates Continuously

Targeted data checks flag orders whose solicitation date predates their parent BPA or IDC as soon as they appear in FPDS, and notify the contracting official with the specific suggested correction.

Streamline the Correction Loop

Users can enter the correct FPDS value directly in our platform, scheduling an automated correction. Contracting officers receive full context and approve or cancel with a single click — closing the loop in a fraction of the time manual processes require.

See PALT in the Right Context

Year-over-year PALT trends, Original-vs-Current PALT comparisons by contracting org, and breakouts by Base and All Options Value give leadership the full picture.

A Trusted PALT Reporting Toolkit

FedDataCheck is already used by 14 federal departments and agencies to identify, correct, and report on PALT data quality issues. Our PALT reporting suite gives leadership defensible, well-contextualized numbers — and gives contracting officers the prompts they need to keep those numbers clean year-round.

Explore the FedDataCheck Platform

What's Included in Our PALT Reporting:

✓ Year-over-year PALT trends by fiscal year
✓ Original vs. Current PALT comparisons by contracting org
✓ PALT breakouts by Base and All Options Value
✓ Days reclaimed through corrected solicitation dates
✓ Drill-down to individual flagged transactions
✓ Continuous FPDS Data Check monitoring
✓ Automated CO notification & correction workflow