Past Performance Matrix
Don't wait until the RFP drops to figure out what you've done. Strong past performance starts with good records. Build a reusable library of your projects, contract details, performance metrics, customer references, and CPARS information.
Then, when an opportunity arrives, you can quickly identify the projects that best demonstrate relevant size, scope and complexity - instead of starting a research project three days before the deadline.
What you'll track
Contract facts
- Customer and agency, including the contracting office
- Contract number, vehicle, and contract type
- Prime versus subcontractor experience, and your share of the work
- Period of performance, including exercised options
- Total and annual contract value
- NAICS and PSC assigned to the award
Scope and delivery
- Services and capabilities actually performed
- Staffing levels, labor categories, clearances, and surge
- Geographic scope and number of sites
- Project complexity factors
Proof of performance
- Measurable accomplishments with numbers and dates
- Performance metrics and SLA results
- Problems encountered and the corrective action you took
- CPARS ratings and quotable narrative language
People and reuse
- Customer references with verified contact details
- Relevant differentiators against competitors
- The opportunity types this project supports
- Proposal usage history and outcomes
Why build this now?
When a proposal asks for three relevant past performance examples, you shouldn't have to start emailing project managers asking, "Does anybody remember the contract number?"
Nobody remembers the contract number
When a proposal asks for three relevant examples, the search usually starts with an email to project managers asking who has the award document. That email costs you a full day you did not have.
Metrics disappear
Work order counts, response times, and completion rates live in systems you may lose access to when the contract ends. Capture the numbers while you can still pull the report.
Good feedback is perishable
The COR who praised your team gets reassigned. Record the compliment, the date, and the person's title the week it happens.
CPARS history is evidence
Save each evaluation as a PDF and pull one or two quotable sentences into the matrix. Quoting an evaluation is far stronger than describing it.
Complexity is the part people forget to write down
Phase-in schedules, 24/7 coverage, security requirements, and multi-stakeholder environments are what make a project relevant. Document them while the pain is fresh.
Reuse gets faster every time
Once the library exists, responding to a past performance requirement becomes a selection problem instead of a research project.
The habit, in five lines
- Build the library as you perform the work.
- Capture the metrics while they're available.
- Record strong customer feedback.
- Maintain your CPARS history.
- Document what made the project challenging.
Then your proposal team has a corporate knowledge base ready when the next opportunity arrives.
Download the free matrix
Everything in this section is free. Rename the columns to match how your team already works.
Past Performance Matrix (Excel)
Five tabs: instructions, project library, reference tracker, CPARS log, and proposal usage history.
Worked Example Matrix (Excel)
The same workbook with two fully documented projects so you can see the level of detail evaluators expect.
Project Library (CSV for Google Sheets)
Import straight into Google Sheets if your team does not use Excel.
Past Performance Guide (Word)
Every column explained with an example, plus maintenance habits, relevance tests, and the mistake list.
Anatomy of the matrix
Every column exists because an evaluator, a prime, or your own proposal manager will eventually ask for it.
Project ID
Your own short label so people can reference the project in email without confusion.
Example: PP-001
Project / Contract Name
The name the customer uses, not your internal nickname.
Example: Facility Operations & Maintenance Support
Customer / Agency
The buying organization. Spell out the agency and the sub-component.
Example: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 9
Contracting Office
The office that issued and administers the award. Evaluators check this.
Example: VA Nashville Network Contracting Office
Contract Number
The exact award number, including the task or delivery order number.
Example: 36C24925D0012 / Order 0003
Contract Vehicle
Standalone award, IDIQ, BPA, GSA MAS, 8(a) STARS, or a state/commercial agreement.
Example: IDIQ, single-award
Contract Type
FFP, T&M, labor-hour, cost-reimbursable, IDIQ with FFP orders, commercial PO.
Example: FFP with T&M CLINs
Prime or Sub
Say which you were. If you were a sub, name the prime and your share of the work.
Example: Subcontractor to Ridgeline Facility Group (32% of effort)
Period of Performance
Start and end dates including exercised options. Note if still active.
Example: 10/01/2022 - 09/30/2025 (base + 2 options exercised)
Total Contract Value
Total value to the customer. Note if the value shown is your portion only.
Example: $4.2M total; $1.3M our portion
Annual Value
Average value per year. This is how evaluators judge relevant size.
Example: $1.4M/year
NAICS
The NAICS assigned to the award, not the one you wish had been assigned.
Example: 561210
PSC / FSC
The product or service code on the award.
Example: S201
Services / Capabilities Performed
Plain-English list of the actual work. Use the customer's words.
Example: Preventive and corrective maintenance, HVAC, electrical, work order intake, CMMS management
Scope Summary
Two or three sentences a stranger could read and understand.
Example: Provided full O&M for 6 buildings totaling 410,000 sq ft on a 24/7 basis, including a help desk and CMMS.
Staffing
Number of FTEs, key labor categories, clearances, certifications, and peak surge.
Example: 22 FTE; 3 supervisors; 4 HVAC journeymen; peak of 28 during roof project
Geographic Scope
Single site, multi-site, multi-state, CONUS/OCONUS, remote.
Example: 3 sites across Tennessee and Kentucky
Complexity Factors
What made this hard: 24/7 operations, security, phase-in, multiple stakeholders, aging systems.
Example: 30-day phase-in with no service interruption; active hospital environment
Measurable Accomplishments
Numbers, dates, dollars, percentages. If you cannot quantify it, it is a claim, not a discriminator.
Example: Reduced open work orders from 380 to 41 in 90 days; 99.2% on-time PM completion
Performance Metrics / SLAs
The metrics in the contract and how you actually scored against them.
Example: Emergency response under 30 min (target 60); 99.2% PM completion (target 95%)
Problems & Corrective Action
Be honest. Evaluators reward contractors who show how they fixed a problem.
Example: Q3 2023 staffing shortfall; added a recruiting surge and closed the gap in 21 days
CPARS Rating
The overall rating and the date of the most recent evaluation. Leave blank if none.
Example: Very Good (evaluation dated 11/2024)
CPARS Narrative Quote
One or two quotable sentences from the evaluation, copied exactly.
Example: "The contractor consistently exceeded response requirements."
Customer Reference Name & Title
The person who will actually answer the phone. Confirm they agreed.
Example: Jordan Ellis, COR
Reference Email / Phone
Current contact details. Re-verify every six months.
Example: jordan.ellis@example.gov / 615-555-0134
Reference Last Verified
The date you last confirmed the person and their contact details.
Example: 06/01/2026
Relevant Differentiators
Why this project beats a competitor's similar project.
Example: Only vendor to complete phase-in without a single missed emergency call
Similar Opportunity Types
The kinds of solicitations this project supports best.
Example: VA and DHA facility O&M, single or multi-site, $1M-$6M/year
Proposal Usage History
Where you have already submitted this project, and the outcome.
Example: Used in VA VISN 7 O&M (won) and DHA Ft. Campbell (lost on price)
Documentation On File
What you can actually produce: award document, CPARS PDF, past performance questionnaire, letters.
Example: Award doc, mods 1-4, CPARS PDF, PPQ from 2024
Owner of This Record
One person keeps this row current. A row with two owners has no owner.
Example: K. Nolan, Contracts
Last Updated
Update this every time you touch the row.
Example: 07/15/2026
How to build and maintain the library
Choosing projects once the RFP is on the table
Score each candidate against these six tests before you decide which projects to submit.
Compare annual value and staffing to the opportunity, not total contract value. A $30M five-year contract is not automatically relevant to a $2M/year requirement.
Match the actual services against the PWS tasks. If you performed six of the eight tasks, say which six rather than implying all eight.
Look at sites, shifts, security, phase-in, integration, and stakeholder count. Complexity is often what separates two otherwise similar projects.
Most solicitations set a lookback window, commonly three to five years. Check the window before you pick a favorite older project.
If you were a sub, the solicitation may limit how the experience counts. Read the instructions, then state your role plainly.
Federal experience with the same agency usually carries the most weight, then other federal, then state and local, then commercial.
Mistakes that cost evaluation points
Submitting the biggest project instead of the most relevant one
Score every candidate against size, scope, complexity, and recency before you choose. Biggest rarely wins the relevance argument.
Describing commercial or state work in a way that implies it was federal
Always identify the nature of the experience accurately. Label the customer type in the first line of the write-up.
Vague accomplishments
Replace "significantly improved response times" with the before number, the after number, and the timeframe.
Stale references
Call before you submit. A questionnaire sent to a person who left two years ago reads as carelessness.
Ignoring the page and format limits
Past performance volumes have their own limits and often a required form. Build the write-up to the form, not to your template.
Hiding a problem
If a project had an issue, describe the corrective action and the result. Evaluators frequently already know, and the recovery story earns credit.
A note for new government contractors
Start documenting your relevant experience anyway. Commercial, state and local, subcontracting, and other experience may sometimes be useful for demonstrating capability when permitted by the solicitation.
Always identify the nature of the experience accurately and follow the specific solicitation's past-performance instructions. Never present non-federal work as a federal award.
- Document commercial and state/local projects using the same columns.
- Ask subcontract primes for a performance letter while the work is fresh.
- Capture metrics from every project, regardless of customer type.
- Track any teaming role that gave you relevant task experience.
Have an RFP already?
GovCon Learning Pro can take this a step further. Upload your solicitation and let the Past Performance Matcher compare the RFP's requirements against your saved project library to help identify which projects appear most relevant.
Your library tells us what you've done. The RFP tells us what matters now.