It is USAID’s policy to accelerate payments to small business prime contractors, to the maximum extent practicable, within 15 days of receipt of proper documentation. The Agency also accelerates payments to large business prime contractors to ensure that they are able to pay small business subcontractors promptly. Such acceleration helps to improve cash flow for small businesses, increases liquidity, unlocks capital for the purposes of investment and growth, and increases small business participation in Federal contracting, and thus is a priority for the federal government.

USAID submits regular reports on compliance with this policy to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Agency utilizes internal data sources as part of the input for the OMB reports; however, receiving information directly from small businesses will help us understand the full picture of payments to small businesses.

If you have experienced delays in payments, please submit to the Agency’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (osdbu@usaid.gov) or the Ombudsman (ombudsman@usaid.gov) your contact information, the name of the small business, the award number, and the name of the prime contractor, if applicable.