How to look up a company's billable rates

A company called R3 Government Solutions reached out to me about a position they thought I'd be qualified for.

They stopped talking to me after I said I'd only go 1099, but I was curious to learn what their billable rates were since I have a friend who works at the agency they won a contract with.

Obviously their recruiter was non-responsive, so I went to their website and see if they published a "price list."

Why would a company just post their rates on their website?

Most don't, but many businesses, particularly smaller government contractors, get a spot on a "Multiple Award Schedule" type of contract which is basically just a catalog of vetted contractors who will then describe what types of services they offer and their associated cost.

For a services company, this usually comes in the form of Labor Categories (LCATs) and the hourly rate.

So here's what I did to find R3 Government Solutions price list:

• Went to their website and clicked on the How to Work With Us page. Other companies may say something like "our contracts."
• Clicked on the View Terms, Conditions and Price List for the GSA MAS contract
• Unfortunately was taken to the home page of the GSA eLibrary home page which is NOT the specific thing I was looking for
• Typed R3 into the search box and was taken to this results page​
• Clicked on the R3 Government Solutions, LLC link under the MAS section
• Clicked on the pricelist icon in the Multiple Award Schedule row
• Perused the documents for a rate sheet which I see on pages 4 and 8

Based on their LCAT descriptions I could probably make the case that I'd be a Subject Matter Expert II, the billable rate for which starts at $149.90.

Now, this is not to say that this is the rate the contractor would get with the government. They might discount it. It's also probably not the rate YOU would get if you were to 1099 for them. They would want a little profit so maybe discount whatever they'd get by around 5 - 10%.

If you just want to get a ball park for what the billable rates are for a position for a particular company, finding a company's rate sheet is a useful exercise.