Understanding the DLA 1806 Report

Headings 7-20 of the DLA 1806 Report provide a breakdown of various center and client activities. The figures found under these headings are based on information stored in counseling session, award, milestone, investment, conference, and bid match history records. The following sections discuss how Softshare 'CATS calculates each line item on the DLA 1806 Report in accordance with DLA’s requirements.

Heading 7: Active Client Base

The first heading (heading 7) found on the DLA 1806 Report is titled "Active Client Base" and is broken into three subcategories.

Headings 7(a) & 7(b)

The first subcategory, titled "Active Clients (including Bid Match activity)," reports on client records that are considered active. As noted in its title, line 7(a) considers bid match activity to be a valid contributing criterion for active client count.

The second subcategory, titled "Active Clients (excluding Bid Match activity)," reports on the same client records as its sister subcategory, with one obvious exception: it does not include client records whose only matching criterion is having received bid matches during the reporting period.

Why the differentiation? Some centers don't consider bid matching to be a valid criterion for active client count. In other words, if the only activity the client had during the reporting period was bid matching, some centers don't want that client counted in their active client count—so they should provide line 7(b)'s total to DLA. Any center that feels that bid match activity is a valid criterion for active client count should submit line 7(a)'s total to DLA. Softshare provides active client base numbers both ways so that you can decide.

In order to be counted in line 7(a) or 7(b), client records must meet at least one of the following criterion:

  • Received an initial or follow-up counseling session during the reporting period. Close-out or administrative sessions are not counted on the DLA 1806 Report—even if the record's Reportable? field is checked.
  • Reported a contract award during the reporting period.
  • Had a "Responded to Survey" milestone record created on their behalf during the reporting period.
  • Had an investment record created on their behalf during the reporting period. Important: An investment record's Date Submitted field must fall within the reporting period in order for it to be included in the DLA 1806 Report.

    • ------------the following criterion is valid for line 7(a) only------------

  • Had a bid match history record created on their behalf during the reporting period. Bid match history records are automatically created by WebCATS whenever bid matches are sent to the client or the client's search profile is updated. Important: Bid match history records do not have counselors assigned to them. Therefore, if you restricted this report's output to a single counselor, the existence of a bid match history record will not count toward inclusion in this subcategory's count and, as a result, line items 7(a) and 7(b) will have identical active client counts.

Note: There are five other conditions that must be met in order for a counseling session record, award record, milestone record, or investment record to count as an active client criterion: (1) its Reportable? check box must be selected, (2) the date in its Date field must fall within the reporting period, (3) it must be categorized under the funding source (or one of the funding sources) specified in the report generation criteria, (4) it must be assigned to the center (or one of the centers) specified in the report generation criteria, and (5) if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor, it must be assigned to the counselor specified in the report generation criteria.

Note: Whether or not a client is active in your database (i.e. the value in the client record's Status field) plays no role in heading 7's numbers. Clients in the Active Client Base are determined by their activities during the reporting period. For example, even if a client was recently inactivated, they'll show as an active client on the DLA 1806 if they met any of the above criteria during the reporting period, regardless of their current status in the WebCATS database.

Heading 7(c)

And while it's up to you to decide whether you want to submit line 7(a) or 7(b)'s client count to DLA, line 7(c)'s client count is purely for your center's internal purposes and should never be reported to DLA. Titled "Active Bid Match Clients," it provides a count of active bid match clients during the reporting period. Line 7(c) does not take into account any other active client criteria, it's simply a total of active bid match clients, regardless of whether or not the client had any other activity during the reporting period. Important: Softshare uses bid match history records, which are automatically created by WebCATS whenever bid matches are sent to the client or the client's search profile is updated, to track bid match activity. However, bid match activity records do not have counselors assigned to them. Therefore, if you restricted this report's output to a single counselor, the existence of a bid match history record will not count toward inclusion in this subcategory's count and, as a result, line item 7(c) will have a client count of zero (0).

Heading 7 In Summary...

The differences between lines 7(a), 7(b), and 7(c) can be confusing. So we've included some examples to help you better understand the calculations used for each of these three headings.

Scenario:

  • In November of 2007, client A was active in the bid match program and received a counseling session in that month.
  • In November of 2007, client B was also active in the bid match program, but received no counseling session or had any other activity recorded for that month.
  • In November of 2007, client C received counseling, but was not active in the bid match program.

Continuing with the above scenario, if the DLA 1806 was run for the reporting period of November 2007:

  • Client A would be counted in lines 7(a), 7(b), and 7(c)
  • Client B would be counted in lines 7(a) and 7(c), but not 7(b)
  • Client C would be counted in lines 7(a) and 7(b), but not 7(c)

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And last, the following statements are all TRUE statements:

  • All clients found in line 7(c) are also all found and counted in line 7(a)
  • Clients found in line 7(c) could be found in line 7(b), but only if they've had some other qualifying criterion take place during the reporting period such as a counseling session or investment, etc.
  • Adding the counts of lines 7(b) and 7(c) together does not equal line 7(a)

Headings 8 & 9: Outreach Events

Headings 8 and 9 report on the outreach events that your center sponsors and/or supports.

Whether a conference is counted under heading 8 or 9 depends on the Sponsored by Center? check box found in a conference record. If this check box is selected, the conference is counted under heading 8; if this check box isn't selected, the conference is counted under heading 9.

Note: In order to get credit for any outreach event on the DLA 1806 Report, whether it is sponsored by your center or not, the conference record must meet the following five requirements: (1) its Reportable? check box must be selected, (2) the date in its Date Approved field must fall within the reporting period, (3) it must be categorized under the funding source (or one of the funding sources) specified in the report generation criteria, (4) it must be assigned to the center (or one of the centers) specified in the report generation criteria, and (5) if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor, the counselor identified in its Instructor field must match the counselor specified in the report generation criteria.

Heading 10: Total Attendees

Heading 10 reports on the total number of attendees for the outreach events that your center sponsors and/or supports. Attendee totals are pulled from the Total Attendees fields found in qualifying conference records.

Note: If you're letting Softshare 'CATS automatically total a conference's attendees for you based on a linked attendee list, make sure that the Attended? check box is selected for every attendee that should be included on the DLA 1806 Report. In addition, consider refreshing the attendee count of any relevant conference records before running the DLA 1806 Report to ensure that the most up-to-date attendee status information is collected.

Headings 11-13: Initial Counseling Sessions

Headings 11-13 report on all initial counseling sessions during the reporting period. 

Note: In order for a counseling session record to be considered under these headings, it must meet the following six requirements: (1) the value in its Type field must specify "Initial/New," (2) its Reportable? check box must be selected, (3) the date in its Date field must fall within the reporting period, (4) it must be categorized under the funding source (or one of the funding sources) specified in the report generation criteria, (5) it must be assigned to the center (or one of the centers) specified in the report generation criteria, and (6) if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor, it must be assigned to the counselor specified in the report generation criteria.

If multiple clients are assigned to a single initial counseling session record, as shown in the following graphic, the counseling session is counted individually for each associated client in these headings' totals.

This grouping of headings (specifically heading 11) is the first one to break the "All Small Business Concerns" category into four subcategories. One counseling session record can be included in more than one small business concern subcategory. For example, a counseling session provided to a woman-owned, small disadvantaged business located in a HUBZone would be counted in three of the four subcategories. However, this counseling session would only be counted once in the overall "all Small Business Concerns" heading (heading 11). For this reason—as well as the fact that businesses designated as "Other Small" in the Business Size field are only counted in the "all Small Business Concerns" heading and never included in the subcategories breakdown—the subtotal of the four small business concern subcategories is not intended to equal the total given for the overall "all Small Business Concerns" heading.

As shown over the next few graphics, there are several fields in a client record that determine which category and subcategories an initial counseling session is counted under. These fields are the Business Size field, Company Gender field, HUBZone field, Company Veteran field, and Distressed Area? check box.

Business Size Field

As shown in the following graphic, the menu option chosen for the Business Size field in a client record determines whether a client's initial counseling session is counted under heading 11 (all small business concerns) or heading 12 (other than small business concerns). It also determines which heading 11 subcategories, if any, the session is also counted under.

Company Gender Field

The option chosen for the Company Gender field determines whether or not the client's initial counseling session is counted under the "Woman-Owned Small Business Concerns" subcategory (heading 11b). If the company gender is "Female (>50% woman-owned)" and either "Disadvantaged Small," "Minority-Owned Small," or "Other Small" are selected for the Business Size field, the client's initial counseling session is also counted under this woman-owned subcategory.

HUBZone Field

As shown in the following graphic, the HUBZone field along with its accompanying Certification Date field, both found in the client record, determines whether or not the client's initial counseling session is also counted under the "HUBZone Small Business Concerns" subcategory (heading 11c).

Company Veteran Field

As shown in the following graphic, the Company Veteran field found in the client record determines whether or not the client's initial counseling session is also counted under the "Service-Disabled Vet-Owned Small Business Concerns" subcategory (heading 11d).

Distressed Area? Check Box

The Distressed Area? check box found in the client record determines whether or not a client's initial counseling session is counted under the "Initial Counseling with Distressed Area Concerns" category (heading 13). If this check box is selected, the counseling session will be counted under the "Distressed Area Concerns" category (heading 13), in addition to any other categories it has qualified for.

Headings 14-16: Follow-up Counseling Sessions

Headings 14-16 report on all follow-up counseling sessions that took place during the reporting period. These three headings are calculated in the same way as headings 11-13 are calculated, as discussed in Headings 11-13: Initial Counseling Sessions.

Note: In order for a counseling session record to be considered under these three headings, it must meet the following six requirements: (1) the value in its Type field must specify "Follow-up or Ongoing," (2) its Reportable? check box must be selected, (3) the date in its Date field must fall within the reporting period, (4) it must be categorized under the funding source (or one of the funding sources) specified in the report generation criteria, (5) it must be assigned to the center (or one of the centers) specified in the report generation criteria, and (6) if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor, it must be assigned to the counselor specified in the report generation criteria.

Headings 17 & 18: Prime Contract Awards

Headings 17 and 18 report on the number of prime contracts (as indicated by the Number of Awards field found in an award record) that have been awarded by a government entity during the reporting period as well as the dollar amounts of those prime contracts (as indicated by the Award Amount field in an award record). 

Line items (a) under headings 17 and 18 calculate all prime contract awards received by all "small business concern" clients, regardless of awarding agency. In other words, DoD, federal, and state and local prime contract awards are all included. This is a significant change from the previous 1999 version of the DLA 1806 Report.

Line items (b)-(e) represent subcategories of these "small business concern" clients who have received prime contract awards. These subcategories are calculated in the same way as heading 11's subcategories are calculated, as discussed in Headings 11-13: Initial Counseling Sessions.

Line items (g)-(i) under headings 17 and 18 take a step backward and, instead of looking at prime contract awards in terms of small business concerns or non-small business concerns, these line items break down, by specific awarding agency, ALL prime contract awards received by ALL clients. Line items (g)-(i) are broken down into three awarding agency types. As shown in the following graphic, these agency types come directly from the Agency Type field found in an award record. All agency types, with the exception of "Undefined" and "Commercial," are reported.

Note: When added together, the totals of line items (g), (h), and (i) should equal the totals of line items (a) and (f) for each prime contract heading (heading 17 and 18). Either of these totals ((g)+(h)+(i)) or ((a)+(f)) represent the total number/dollar amount of government prime contracts awarded.

Note: In order for an award record to be considered under these two headings, it must meet the following seven requirements: (1) the value in its Contract Type field must specify "Prime Contract Award," (2) the value in its Agency Type field must specify a government entity (i.e. "DoD," "State/Local," or "Other Federal"), (3) its Reportable? check box must be selected, (4) the date in its Date field must fall within the reporting period, (5) it must be categorized under the funding source (or one of the funding sources) specified in the report generation criteria, (6) it must be assigned to the center (or one of the centers) specified in the report generation criteria, and (7) if the report's output is restricted to a single counselor, it must be assigned to the counselor specified in the report generation criteria.

Headings 19 & 20: Subcontract Awards

Similar to headings 17 and 18, headings 19 and 20 report on the number of subcontracts that have been awarded by a government entity during the reporting period as well as the dollar amounts of these subcontracts. However, as discussed next, the subcontract award categories and subcategories are not identical to those of the prime contract awards.

Line items (a) under headings 19 and 20 calculate all subcontract awards received by all “small business concern” clients from the federal government, including DoD. In other words, state and local subcontract awards are excluded from this count, but both federal and DoD subcontract awards are included.

Line items (b)-(e) represent subcategories of these “small business concern” clients who have received subcontracts from federal agencies, including DoD. These subcategories are calculated in the same way as heading 11's subcategories are calculated, as discussed in Headings 11-13: Initial Counseling Sessions.

Line items (f) under headings 19 and 20 calculate all subcontract awards awarded by all government agency types (i.e. federal, DOD, state and local agencies) for "other than small business concern" clients. Line items (g) under headings 19 and 20 calculate all subcontract awards received by all clients, regardless of their small business concern status, from state and local agencies only.

Note: When added together, does the total of line items (a) and (f) under headings 19 and 20 represent the total number/amount of subcontracts awarded to your clients? The answer is no. This is because line item (a) doesn't include the state and local subcontracts awarded to "small business concern" clients.

Heading 21: Jobs Created

Heading 21 reports on the total number of jobs created, based upon award amounts. To calculate this line item, Softshare 'CATS totals the dollar amounts for all the prime and subcontract awards that have been awarded by government agencies and divides this total by 50000, the number designated by DLA as the standard annual salary for one position.

It should be noted that Softshare may be calculating this line item slightly differently than DLA's guidelines specify. At one time, DLA stated that this line item should be the total of line items 18(g), 18(h), 18(i), 20(a), 20(f), and 20(g), divided by the standard annual salary. However, because line items 20(f) and 20(g), when added together, result in a double count of state subcontract awards, Softshare eliminated this double count for this heading starting with our 2005 version of the DLA 1806. At the time, DLA had stated that they will be remedying this double count in their next revision. However, as of 05/03/07, it is unclear to Softshare whether this line item's calculations have been modified by DLA.