The capability statement: one page, and what belongs on it
A capability statement is not a brochure. It is a one-page answer to a question a contracting officer asks silently: can this company do this work, and can I defend choosing them? Here is what earns its place on that page.
A contracting officer doing market research reads dozens of these. Yours gets somewhere between twenty and sixty seconds. Everything that does not help them answer can this company do the work, and can I justify that judgement is taking space from something that would.
The six blocks that belong
- 1Core competencies
Three to five things you actually do, in the government's own vocabulary. Not adjectives — capabilities.
- 2Differentiators
Why you rather than the next vendor. Verifiable, specific, and ideally quantified.
- 3Past performance
Three to five contracts: client, scope, value, period, and a measured outcome.
- 4Company data
UEI, CAGE, NAICS and PSC codes, socioeconomic certifications, accepted payment methods.
- 5Contact
One named human, with a direct phone number and an email that is monitored.
- 6Corporate identity
Legal name, location, year founded, size. Enough for them to look you up.
The three things that waste the page
- A mission statement. Nobody has ever selected a vendor because of one.
- Stock photography. It occupies the space where a measured result could sit.
- A list of every service you could conceivably provide. Claiming everything reads as being good at nothing.
The test for every line: could a contracting officer quote it in a memo justifying an award? If not, it is decoration.
Past performance is the part that does the work
Relevance beats prestige. A $200,000 contract with the same scope as the opportunity is worth more than a $10 million contract in an adjacent field. Give each entry the same four facts — who, what, how much, when — and one outcome that can be checked.
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| Provided IT services to a federal agency. | Migrated 1,400 mailboxes for the U.S. Mint to Microsoft 365 in 11 weeks, zero unplanned downtime. $840k, 2024–2025. |
| Experienced facilities maintenance provider. | Maintained 22 buildings (410,000 sq ft) for GSA Region 5 under a 3-year IDIQ. 99.2 % SLA attainment. $2.1M, 2023–2026. |
Tailor it, or do not send it
A generic capability statement is a missed opportunity dressed up as diligence. Before sending one in response to a Sources Sought notice, reorder the competencies so the relevant one is first, and swap the past-performance entries for the three closest to that scope. Fifteen minutes of tailoring changes what the document is worth.
Répondez à cet appel d'offres avec un dossier déjà contrôlé.
Kodalyn prépare. Votre équipe décide.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a capability statement be?+
One page. Two pages signals that you could not prioritise, which is precisely the judgement a contracting officer is trying to assess.
Should I send the same statement to every agency?+
No. Reorder your competencies and swap your past-performance entries to match the scope in front of you. A generic statement reads as a mass mailing.
What if I have no federal past performance?+
Use commercial contracts of similar scope and size, and say so plainly. Relevance matters more than whether the client was a federal agency.
Does the capability statement replace a proposal?+
No. It is market-research material — for Sources Sought notices, RFIs and introductions. A proposal answers a solicitation and is evaluated against stated criteria.