For consultants selling to agencies and primes
Capability Statement Template and Examples
The one-page capability statement that government buyers and prime contractors expect, with guidance in every part, a tailoring table and two annotated examples.
SBA's five core elements
What goes in each part of a capability statement
A capability statement sums up your business on one page for government buyers and prime contractors. The Small Business Administration's capabilities statement guide1, written for new participants in its 8(a) program, names five core elements. The template follows them, after a one-line overview.
| Part | What SBA's guide says | What to write |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | "Frame what you do in relation to what the customer buys, who you are, your areas of expertise, and why you are the best company to do business with." | One bold line naming what you deliver and for whom, then two or three sentences of proof. "Permit and approval redesign for city and county governments" tells a buyer where you fit; "innovative solutions" does not. |
| Core competencies | "The services or solutions you can bring to the marketplace in a short amount of time with a high degree of quality and success." | Three to six services, named as work in the buyer's own words, with the one they buy most first: "process mapping for permitting offices," not "process excellence." |
| Past performance | "Your most recent past performance and your most relevant corporate experience." Work as a subcontractor "can be more relevant than prime past performance in some cases." | The three projects closest to this buyer's work, each with the customer, your role as prime or subcontractor, the dates and one result with a number. |
| Differentiators | "The elements/characteristics of your company that set you apart from other businesses in your field." | Two to four reasons to choose you, each with its proof in the same line. Norcal APEX Accelerator2 suggests "our starting rates are 10% lower than average quotes for the Tri-County area" over "we offer competitive pricing." |
| Company data | "All the codes associated with your business that reinforce you are eligible for contracts," from NAICS and CAGE codes to certifications and product service codes. | Every code copied from your SAM.gov registration, character for character, with the primary NAICS code first. Only certifications you hold today, with who certified you. |
| Contact | "The best person the customer should contact with questions or to start a conversation," with at least two ways to reach them. | One named person who can agree to a meeting, with a phone number and an email, plus your website and where you work. |
Quotations are from SBA's guide, checked October 29, 2026. The guide's PDF is marked updated March 16, 2022, 19 days before SAM.gov switched from DUNS to the UEI5, so its list of codes still includes a DUNS number. Leave that off.
How it works
How do you tailor a capability statement to each buyer?
Write a version for each kind of buyer, and lead it with the service that buyer needs most. SBA's guide1 says you can have multiple versions for different audiences. Whichever version they get, buyers read it fast. Norcal APEX Accelerator2, a no-cost contracting advisor funded in part by the Department of Defense, says most government buyers spend less than 30 seconds on a capability statement. It adds that you can't expect them to read a second page.
What changes depends on who reads it. For a federal agency, Norcal APEX suggests NAICS codes and federal certifications, with federal work emphasized. For a California state agency, it swaps in UNSPSC codes and state certifications, with state work first. A prime contractor reads for what you add to its team. Federal contracts above a dollar threshold that go to large businesses must include a small business subcontracting plan3, with goals for women-owned, HUBZone and veteran-owned firms, among others. For a prime, put any certification that counts toward those goals near the top.
Whichever codes you show, copy them exactly. Take your UEI, CAGE code and NAICS codes from your SAM.gov registration, not from memory or an old statement. SBA fills its Small Business Search4, the database agencies use to find small contractors, from that registration. SBA's guide asks you to keep both profiles in sync with your statement. The template's second document shows two finished statements, one aimed at a state agency and one at a prime, annotated part by part. To start from a resume or old deck, use the capability statement generator.
How it works
From About page to capability statement
Download it or open it in River
Download both Word documents free, or paste your About page or project list above and click Edit with AI.
River drafts from your notes
If you pasted notes, River fills each part with only the facts they state, and lists every missing code, certification or result to confirm.
Confirm codes and names
Copy your UEI, CAGE and NAICS codes from SAM.gov, check each certification is current, and ask permission to name each customer.
Tailor it and send
Make a version for each buyer, by hand or by asking River, keep it to one page and save each as a PDF.
Halden Ridge Consulting
Capability statement · version for a state transportation agency (example)
- Core competencies
- Permit redesign · Program office support · Public dashboards
- Past performance
- City permits: median review from 41 to 19 days (prime)
- Differentiators
- Four of nine consultants ran public permitting offices
- Company data
- UEI and CAGE as in SAM.gov · NAICS 541611 · WOSB
- Contact
- Maya Okafor, Principal · phone, email and website
What you'll get
A one-page capability statement with tailoring rules and two worked examples
- The five parts on one page, each with a guidance line
- A company data block for your UEI, CAGE, NAICS codes and certifications
- Two worked examples: a consultancy and a small IT firm
Before and after
Your About page in. A capability statement out.
Halden Ridge helps cities and counties fix slow permitting and capital programs. Founded 2017, nine consultants, four of them ex-public sector. Easton Falls permit redesign cut median review time from 41 to 19 days. Bridge program office support as a sub to a national engineering firm. Woman-owned.
Overview: Permit and capital program improvement for city and county governments. Past performance: City of Easton Falls, permit process redesign. Role: [prime or subcontractor]. Median review time from 41 to 19 days, [where it was measured]. Differentiators: Four of our nine consultants worked in the public sector. Company data: UEI [from SAM.gov]. CAGE code [from SAM.gov]. Certifications [to confirm]. To confirm before you send: Is the company SBA-certified as a Woman-Owned Small Business? May we name Easton Falls?
Codes and certifications your text doesn't state stay in brackets, as questions to settle before you send.
What lands in your doc
What's inside the capability statement template
- Capability Statement Template
A one-line overview, then core competencies, past performance, differentiators, company data and contact, on one page. - A guidance line in every part
What belongs there and what to cut, with a strong and a weak example where it helps. - A company data block
Rows for your UEI, CAGE and NAICS codes as registered, plus PSC codes, certifications, size and contract vehicles. - A tailoring table
What to change for a government agency, a prime contractor and a corporate client, and what stays the same. - A send checklist and five rules
Ten checks before you send, and the rules behind the template, from one page to codes exactly as registered. - Capability Statement Examples
Two finished statements, a consultancy and an IT firm, with why each part works and a second version of one.
Questions consultants ask
Common questions
What is a capability statement?
A capability statement is one page telling a government buyer or prime contractor what your business does and has done, its codes and certifications, and who to call. SBA's guide likens it to a snapshot of your company. Hand it over at a first meeting, or send it in reply to a sources sought notice, an agency's early call for capable firms.
How long should a capability statement be?
One page. SBA's guide accepts front and back, but Norcal APEX Accelerator advises one side, because buyers see so many that they can't be expected to turn it over. It allows exceptions, such as a bid for a large contract with more high-level past performance than one page holds. Save the page as a PDF so the layout holds wherever it opens.
What codes and certifications go on a capability statement?
Your UEI and CAGE code, your NAICS codes with the primary one first, and any SBA certification you hold now, such as 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB or SDVOSB. Add PSC codes, a GSA Schedule contract number and state certifications where buyers use them. Leave off the DUNS number: SAM.gov stopped using it on April 4, 20225, and the UEI took its place.
Should I make a different capability statement for each agency?
Yes, at least one for each kind of buyer. Keep a master copy with every project and code, then tailor a copy for each agency, prime or client. Change the order, the opening line and which codes you show, never the facts. The template's tailoring table shows what moves for an agency, a prime and a corporate client.
What if I have no government past performance yet?
Use your closest commercial, nonprofit or subcontract projects. SBA's guide describes past performance as "relevant problems you have solved and the outcomes you achieved for the customer," and that customer doesn't have to be an agency. Give each project one result with a number you can source. A client case study is a good place to pin that result down first.
Is this capability statement template free?
Yes. Download both Word documents, the template and the examples, with no signup. Edit with AI opens the same files in a free River workspace. There, River can draft the statement from your About page or project list and make a version for each buyer. Paid plans add more AI use and access to the most advanced models.
What does Edit with AI do?
It opens the template and the examples in a free River workspace. If you pasted your About page or a project list, River drafts each part from facts your text states and nothing else. A "To confirm before you send" list then covers every gap, including where each missing code is found and whether you may name each customer.
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