A capability statement is a one-page summary of your company written for government buyers and prime contractors. It's what you hand over at a matchmaking event, attach to a Sources Sought response or email to a contracting officer. A good one answers in 30 seconds: what do you do, can you do it for us, and how do we reach you?
Skip the formatting: our free capability statement generator builds a clean one-page statement you can save as a PDF.
The 6 sections every capability statement needs
- Header: company name, logo, and contact details: a named person, phone, email and website.
- Core competencies: 3 to 6 short bullets naming what you actually do, in the buyer's words ("custodial services for occupied office buildings", not "excellence in cleaning").
- Differentiators: 2 to 4 reasons to pick you: response time, certifications held, equipment, licensed staff, local presence.
- Past performance: 3 to 5 similar jobs: client, what you did, size, year. Private and state work counts.
- Company data: UEI, CAGE code, NAICS codes, set-aside status (small business, WOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone, 8(a)), bonding capacity if you do construction, and accepted payment (government purchase card).
- A one-line summary at the top that tells the reader who you are in one sentence.
Tips that make it work
- One page. Nobody reads page two.
- Tailor it. Change the competencies and past performance to match the agency or prime you're sending it to.
- Use their words. Copy terms from the agency's own solicitations and statements of work.
- Be specific. "Cleaned 120,000 sq ft of occupied medical space nightly for 3 years" beats "experienced".
- Only true claims. Never list certifications you don't hold yet.
- Save it as a PDF named with your company name, and keep it current.
Common mistakes
- A long list of everything you could possibly do.
- No UEI, CAGE or NAICS codes, so the reader can't check you in SAM.gov.
- No named contact person.
- Generic wording copied from another company.
- Two or more pages, or tiny fonts.
Frequently asked questions
What is a capability statement?
A one-page summary of your company for government buyers: what you do, why you, past work, company codes and contact details.
Is a capability statement required to bid?
Usually not for a bid itself, but it's often requested in Sources Sought responses, at matchmaking events and by prime contractors looking for subcontractors.
How long should a capability statement be?
One page.
Make yours now
Free capability statement generator
Then find contracts to send it for on our open government contracts list.