Micro-Purchase & Simplified Acquisition Thresholds

Why dollar thresholds matter so much

Almost every procedural rule in federal contracting switches on or off at a dollar value. Whether a purchase can go on a government credit card with no competition, whether it is automatically reserved for small businesses, whether it must be posted on SAM.gov, whether you have to submit certified cost or pricing data, and whether you owe the government a small business subcontracting plan — all of it depends on where the estimated value lands relative to a published threshold.

For a small business, knowing these numbers is practical, not academic. They tell you which buyers can purchase from you quickly, which opportunities will never be publicly advertised, and at what contract size your compliance burden steps up. Most of the thresholds are defined in FAR 2.101 and then applied throughout the regulation.

Reference table: current federal acquisition thresholds

The values below reflect the FAR as currently published on acquisition.gov, plus the statutory changes noted. Always confirm against the solicitation and the clause dates in your contract — a contract keeps the thresholds that applied when it was awarded unless it is modified.

Two notes on the table. First, the inflation statute expressly excludes Davis-Bacon, the Service Contract Labor Standards, and trade agreements thresholds, which is why the $2,000 and $2,500 figures did not move. Second, the SDVOSB line is shown as it appears in the published FAR text at the time of review; the other socioeconomic programs use $5.5 million for non-manufacturing, so check the solicitation and SBA's rules at 13 CFR Part 128 before relying on the exact figure.

The micro-purchase threshold: $15,000

A micro-purchase is an acquisition of supplies or services at or below the micro-purchase threshold. It is the least formal way the government buys. Under FAR 13.203, a micro-purchase may be awarded without soliciting competitive quotations if the contracting officer or cardholder considers the price reasonable, and purchases should be distributed equitably among qualified suppliers. Most are paid with the Governmentwide commercial purchase card.

What this means for a small business:

• No public posting and no set-aside. Micro-purchases are not synopsized and are not part of the small business reserve. You win them by being known to the cardholder, not by responding to a notice.
• Accept cards. If you sell products or simple services, accepting credit cards removes the biggest friction for a cardholder who wants to buy from you.
• Watch the lower thresholds. For construction subject to Davis-Bacon the micro-purchase threshold is only $2,000, and for services covered by the Service Contract Labor Standards it is $2,500. A $10,000 janitorial job is not a micro-purchase even though it is under $15,000.
• No splitting. Buyers may not break a requirement into smaller pieces to stay under the threshold. If a job is really $40,000 of work, expect it to be bought with simplified procedures, not a card.

The simplified acquisition threshold: $350,000

The simplified acquisition threshold (SAT) is the ceiling for FAR Part 13 simplified acquisition procedures — requests for quotations, purchase orders, and blanket purchase agreements, evaluated with far less formality than a FAR Part 15 source selection. Between the micro-purchase threshold and the SAT, a contracting officer can often obtain quotes by phone, email, or a short RFQ posted to SAM.gov.

The SAT also works as a compliance line. Many FAR clauses apply only to contracts above it, and many statutory requirements are waived for acquisitions at or below it. The practical effect for a first-time contractor is that a purchase order under $350,000 usually carries a lighter clause set than a larger contract — although labor standards, SAM registration, and Section 889 representations still apply. See FAR and DFARS compliance for how clause applicability works.

The small business reserve

The single most important rule for small firms sits between the two thresholds. Under FAR 19.502-2, every acquisition of supplies or services with an anticipated value above the micro-purchase threshold but not over the SAT shall be set aside for small business, unless the contracting officer determines there is no reasonable expectation of offers from at least two responsible small businesses at fair market prices. With the October 2025 adjustment, that reserve now covers everything from just over $15,000 to $350,000 — a meaningfully larger band than before.

That is why responding to sources sought notices matters even for small requirements: showing the contracting officer that two or more capable small businesses exist is what keeps a requirement in the reserve.

Commercial simplified procedures: up to $9 million

FAR Subpart 13.5 lets contracting officers use simplified procedures for commercial products and commercial services well above the SAT — now up to $9 million, and up to $15 million where the acquisition supports certain emergency or contingency purposes. If you sell commercial offerings, this is why mid-sized buys can still move quickly with a streamlined RFQ. Pair it with FAR Part 12 commercial terms, and many commercial vendors never encounter a full Part 15 negotiation below that level.

Certified cost or pricing data (TINA)

The Truthful Cost or Pricing Data statute — still widely called TINA — requires offerors to submit, and certify as current, accurate, and complete, their cost or pricing data on negotiated contracts above a threshold, unless an exception applies (adequate price competition, prices set by law or regulation, commercial products or services, or a waiver). Defective data can lead to a price reduction after award.

• Civilian agencies: the FAR 15.403-4 threshold is $2.5 million for contracts entered into after June 30, 2018, raised from $2 million by the October 2025 adjustment.
• DoD: section 1804 of the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act raised the threshold to $10 million for defense contracts entered into after June 30, 2026. Contracts awarded before that date keep the threshold that applied at award. Other agencies buying under title 10 authority, such as the Coast Guard, have issued their own class deviations to apply the higher figure.

Below the threshold, a contracting officer can still ask for "data other than certified cost or pricing data" to determine price reasonableness. Small businesses pricing cost-type or sole-source work should maintain the same disciplined cost build-up regardless — see pricing strategies and indirect rate structures.

Cost Accounting Standards (CAS)

The Cost Accounting Standards are a separate set of rules for how covered contractors measure, assign, and allocate costs. Small businesses are exempt from CAS regardless of contract value, which is why many small firms never deal with it directly. The thresholds matter when you grow out of small status or subcontract under a CAS-covered prime.

Section 1806 of the FY2026 NDAA raised the CAS applicability threshold from $2.5 million to $35 million and the full-coverage threshold from $50 million to $100 million. The CAS Board published its implementing final rule on September 1, 2026, effective October 1, 2026; it also eliminated the old $7.5 million "trigger contract" test. Because this change takes effect days after this review, confirm the clause in your solicitation — contracts already awarded under the old thresholds keep their existing CAS clauses unless modified. For accounting system expectations below CAS, see DCAA compliance.

Subcontracting plan threshold

Under FAR 19.702, an other-than-small prime must submit a small business subcontracting plan for contracts (and modifications) expected to exceed $900,000, or $2 million for construction of a public facility, when subcontracting possibilities exist. Small business primes are exempt. For a small business, the threshold is the reason large primes come looking for small subcontractors: their plan goals have to be met with real subcontract dollars. See subcontracting plans for how goals are set and reported.

Labor standards thresholds: Davis-Bacon and the SCA

Two labor statutes use fixed, statutory dollar triggers that were not touched by the inflation adjustment:

• Davis-Bacon (Wage Rate Requirements — Construction) applies to construction, alteration, or repair contracts over $2,000. Prevailing wage determinations, certified payrolls, and flow-down to subcontractors follow. See Davis-Bacon Act compliance.
• Service Contract Labor Standards (formerly the Service Contract Act) apply to service contracts over $2,500 performed principally through service employees. Wage determinations and fringe benefit requirements attach. See Service Contract Act compliance.

These low triggers are why the micro-purchase threshold drops to $2,000 and $2,500 for covered construction and services — the government cannot use a card purchase to bypass prevailing wage obligations. For construction bonding at $35,000 and $150,000, see construction contracts.

Contingency and emergency increases

When an acquisition supports a contingency operation, defense against or recovery from cyber, nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack, or certain emergency and major disaster responses, the FAR allows higher thresholds. The micro-purchase threshold becomes $25,000 for contracts awarded and performed (or purchases made) inside the United States and $40,000 outside it; the SAT becomes $1 million inside and $2 million outside, and $650,000 for humanitarian or peacekeeping operations outside the U.S. The commercial simplified procedures ceiling rises to $15 million in similar circumstances. These increases are invoked by the agency for a specific purpose, not something a vendor can request.

The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul and these thresholds

Since 2025 the FAR Council has been rewriting the FAR under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO). The first phase issued model deviation text part by part, which agencies adopted as class deviations; formal rulemaking began in 2026 with proposed rules published in the Federal Register. The RFO reorganizes and shortens the regulation, and agency deviation text may renumber or relocate some of the sections cited on this page.

The dollar values themselves come mostly from statute (41 U.S.C. 1908, the Small Business Act, 10 U.S.C., and annual NDAAs), so the RFO does not change them on its own. When a section number in a solicitation does not match what you see here, look for the same threshold under the agency's RFO deviation text rather than assuming the number changed.

How to use this as a small business

• Target the reserve. Work between $15,000 and $350,000 is presumptively small business work. Local and regional offices buy heavily in this range; it is a realistic entry point for a first government contract.
• Make micro-purchases easy. Accept cards, publish clear pricing, and make yourself findable to cardholders. A capability statement with a card-acceptance line helps.
• Know when compliance steps up. Crossing the SAT, the TINA line, or a labor-standards trigger changes what you must submit and track. Price that burden into your bid.
• Check dates on templates. Clauses and forms pre-dating October 2025 will show the old values. The contract controls, so read the clause dates.
• Consider a vehicle. Agencies ordering from a GSA Schedule use their own ordering procedures and can place orders at these values quickly.

Related pages

• Resources overview
• GSA Schedules — ordering procedures that sit alongside these thresholds
• Sources sought notices — how the rule of two keeps work set aside
• Subcontracting plans — the $900,000 threshold in practice
• Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act
• DCAA compliance — accounting expectations below CAS
• Federal contract types

Authoritative sources: FAR 2.101 definitions, FAR inflation adjustment final rule (90 FR 41872), CAS Board threshold rulemaking, and the FY2026 NDAA. This page is general information, not legal advice; the thresholds in your contract are the ones in its clauses.