Direct comparison
Individual vs. Commercial Subcontracting Plan
Individual subcontracting plans cover one contract (ISR reporting); commercial plans cover a segment's fiscal-year sales (SSR). Which one to negotiate.
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How do Individual plan, Commercial plan compare side by side?
The table below compares Individual plan, Commercial plan across 9 procurement-relevant dimensions, from far basis through best fit.
Side-by-side comparison
| Dimension | Individual plan | Commercial plan |
|---|---|---|
| FAR basis | FAR 19.704(a) | FAR 19.704(d) |
| Scope | One specific contract | An entire business segment's commercial-item/commercial-service sales |
| Coverage period | Life of that one contract (base + each option period separately) | One government fiscal year, applied to every qualifying contract awarded that year |
| Goals calculated against | That contract's own planned subcontract dollars | The segment's total fiscal-year sales, including indirect costs (with defined exclusions) |
| Submitted / negotiated | Per contract | Once, with one contracting agency; then applies automatically to other qualifying awards that year |
| Reporting form | Individual Subcontract Report (ISR) | Summary Subcontracting Report (SSR) |
| Reporting frequency | Semi-annual (periods ending Mar 31 and Sep 30) plus a final report at contract completion | Annual, within 30 days after the fiscal year ends (Sep 30) |
| Preferred type per FAR | No | Yes — FAR 19.704(d) designates it the preferred type for commercial-item contractors |
| Best fit | A one-off, non-recurring procurement contract | An ongoing stream of commercial-item/service contracts across one or more agencies |
Common questions
Common questions about Individual plan vs Commercial plan
Does a research institution have to submit a subcontracting plan at all?
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Only if two things are both true: the institution (or relevant business segment) is not itself a small business under the applicable NAICS size standard, and it holds or is competing for a negotiated federal procurement contract expected to exceed $900,000 ($2 million for construction) with subcontracting possibilities — FAR 19.702. Grants and cooperative agreements don't trigger this; it's a procurement-contract requirement, not a funding-instrument-wide one.
Can an institution use a commercial plan for a one-off, non-commercial-item contract?
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No. A commercial plan only covers commercial-item or commercial-service business, and it has to already be negotiated and approved before it can apply to a new contract. A contract that isn't a commercial-item procurement, or one awarded before an institution has an approved commercial plan on file, needs its own individual plan instead.
Who approves a commercial subcontracting plan, and does it need to be renegotiated every year?
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It's negotiated with and approved by one contracting agency — typically the first agency to award a covered contract in that fiscal year — and then covers every other qualifying government contract the segment receives that same year without a separate plan per award. It's scoped to a single fiscal year, so it's renegotiated (or reconfirmed) going into each new fiscal year.
