Year-End planning and preparations just became more complicated for all 8(a) Program Participants.
On December 5, 2025, the Small Business Administration, Office of General Counsel, issued a Mandatory Data Call to all participants in the 8(a) Business Development Program. All 8(a) Participants should immediately check their email (and spam folders) to confirm that they have received the notice.
The Data Call requires that every participant submit, by January 5, 2026, specific data and supporting documents falling within thirteen (13) categories. The data and documents, which must be submitted in specified formats through the SBA’s secure portal, are:
- General Ledger for the last three full fiscal years (CSV Files Only)
- Trial Balance as of the last day for each of the last three fiscal year-ends (CSV Files Only)
- IRS Form 4506 covering the last three full fiscal years (PDF Files Only)
- Bank Statements as of the last day for each of the last three fiscal year-ends (PDF Files Only)
- Bank Reconciliations as of the last day for each of the last three fiscal year-ends (PDF Files Only)
- Payroll Register and Reconciliation (including any distributions to any owner) monthly for the last three full fiscal years (PDF Files Only)
- List of All Employees, broken out by contracts those employees are servicing, for the last three full fiscal years (PDF Files Only)
- List of all Vendors (as well as all joint ventures) for the last three full fiscal years (PDF Files Only)
- Copy of all 8(a) Contracts on which the firm is currently working for the last three full fiscal years (PDF Files Only) [This phrase seems incomplete; our interpretation of this requirement is that it addresses those contracts on which the firm is currently working or has worked for the last three fiscal years.]
- Subcontracting Agreements related to the contracts in item 9 (for the last three full fiscal years) (PDF Files Only)
- Financial Statements which include, at a minimum, the year-end Balance Sheet, YTD P&L, Cash Flow Statement, and the Statement of Equity for each of the last three fiscal years (CSV Files Only)
- Financial Statement Reconciliation to the year-end Trial Balance for the last three fiscal years (CSV Files Only), and
- For each of the last three full fiscal years, a Sub-Ledger Schedule tying to the year-end trial balance accounts for: all Accounts Receivable accounts, all Accounts Payable accounts and all P&L accounts (CSV Files Only)
Although the Data Call states that information previously submitted in routine annual reporting need not be submitted again, it also cautions Participants that “data requested [in the Data Call] in a monthly increment would not be duplicative of the same data already submitted in an annualized form, and would have to be submitted in the monthly increment.”
The Data Call comes at a time when the Program is under siege. The Data Call itself alleges “years of credible concerns that the program . . . has become a vehicle for institutionalized abuse at taxpayer expense,” and rests the requirement on the SBA Administrator’s “broad power to conduct investigations deemed necessary to determine whether a recipient of such assistance violated any applicable laws or regulations.” Participants should assume that any discrepancy in their response will be viewed as evidence of wrongdoing rather than a mere error; and that any perceived wrongdoing – whether real or imagined – could result in criminal charges and convictions. And even if charges are never brought or are dismissed, the burden of defense, and the taint of being under investigation, could cripple the business and the owner(s).
Accordingly, Participants should carefully assemble all information and supporting documents. They should leave sufficient time to perform a thorough review to identify any clerical errors, system glitches, and the like. On a practical basis, this means that they should consider reaching out quickly to supporting team members (CFOs, accountants, IT) to ensure that they have adequate support and assistance from qualified team members, and that all team members are available and not otherwise committed at year end and over the holidays.
Moreover, Participants should assume that this is only the first inquiry, that more are coming, and that they should begin to review their recordkeeping protocols to ensure that they have on hand what they may need at some point in the not-too-distant future. For example, on December 8, Senator Joni Ernst, Chair, Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, issued letters to 22 federal agencies calling for the immediate suspension of 8(a) sole source awards and for the investigation of every 8(a) contract – whether sole source or set-aside – awarded since FY 2020 for “any violation of laws and regulations pertaining to 8(a) Program Eligibility.”
