Product & Sales template
Capability Statement Template: Build & Export Free
One page for a contracting officer: the identifiers and NAICS codes in a banded sidebar, the core competencies, differentiators and past performance beside them, exported as a print-ready PDF, free to start.
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Overview
What is a capability statement?
A capability statement is the one-page document a small business hands a contracting officer, a prime contractor or a purchasing agent to answer one question: can you do this work, and can we buy from you? It is read in about thirty seconds and scanned for facts rather than read for prose.
The facts a buyer verifies come first: the Unique Entity ID and CAGE code, an active SAM.gov registration, business size and socioeconomic certifications, the NAICS codes with the primary marked, and the contract vehicles already held. The case comes beside them: a two-sentence overview, core competencies in the buyer's vocabulary, differentiators that each carry a number, and a past-performance table a buyer can call about.
This template lays the page out the way buyers have learned to read it: a masthead, a banded sidebar carrying everything a buyer checks, the main column carrying the case, and the document number, revision and date in the footer, because the page will be filed and compared with the next version.
The fields
What to include in a capability statement
A capability statement earns a call when every claim on it can be checked. These are the elements buyers look for; all of them are in the template.
Company data
Unique Entity ID, CAGE code, SAM.gov status and expiry, business size, socioeconomic status, and the year and state established.
NAICS codes
The codes that describe your work, primary first, each with its size standard.
Certifications and registrations
The quality system (ISO 9001), trade listings (UL 508A) and socioeconomic certificates, each with its date.
Contract vehicles
A GSA schedule, a BPA, an IDIQ, or "open market" if none, so a buyer knows how to buy.
Overview
Two sentences on what you do, for whom, and where, in the vocabulary a solicitation would use.
Core competencies
Five or six short lines, each of which maps to something a solicitation might ask for.
Differentiators
Claims with a number someone could check: a lead time, a count, a date, a contract.
Past performance
Customer, contract number and role, period, value and one line on the outcome, three to five rows, most relevant first.
Bonding, insurance and terms
Bonding capacity, general liability, workers' compensation, purchase-card acceptance and payment terms.
Point of contact and revision
One named contact with a direct line and email, and the document number, revision and issue date in the footer.
Step by step
How to fill out a capability statement
Four passes take you from a blank template to a page a contracting officer keeps.
Fill the sidebar
Enter the identifiers, registration status, size, certifications, NAICS codes and contract vehicles exactly as the registries show them. Check the expiry dates; a lapsed one costs the call.
Write the case
Add the overview and five or six core competencies in a solicitation's vocabulary, then write each differentiator as a claim with a number the past-performance table backs up.
Add past performance
Three to five contracts a buyer can call about: customer, contract number and role, period, value and the outcome in the buyer's terms, such as on schedule and no change orders.
Brand it and export
Apply your brand kit, set the document number and revision, check it holds to one page in the preview, and export a print-ready PDF. Reissue with a new revision whenever the sidebar changes.
Which one
Capability statement vs. line card
Both are one sheet about the company rather than a product. They are read by different people for different reasons.
Capability Statement
The facts a government or prime-contractor buyer verifies (identifiers, NAICS codes, certifications, contract vehicles) beside the competencies, differentiators and past performance that make the case.
Use for federal, state and prime-contractor buyers who must check eligibility before they can buy.
Line Card
What you make or the lines you carry, as pictured categories or a wall of manufacturer marks, with territory and contact overleaf.
Use for commercial buyers and distributors who want to know what you sell and whether you are authorized.
See the Line Card template →Get it right
Common mistakes to avoid
- Differentiators written as adjectives (responsive, experienced) that a contracting officer cannot verify.
- A lapsed SAM.gov registration or an expired certification left on the page.
- NAICS codes listed without the primary marked, or codes that no solicitation you pursue would use.
- Past performance as a paragraph instead of a table with contract numbers a buyer can call about.
- Running to a second page; cut differentiators to four and past performance to three rows first.
- No document number, revision or date, so nobody can tell which version a buyer has on file.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is a capability statement?
A capability statement is a one-page document a business gives government and prime-contractor buyers to show what it does and that it is eligible to be bought from: identifiers, registrations, NAICS codes, certifications, core competencies, differentiators and past performance. This template includes all of them.
What must a capability statement include?
The Unique Entity ID and CAGE code, SAM.gov status, business size and socioeconomic certifications, NAICS codes with the primary marked, certifications, contract vehicles, an overview, core competencies, differentiators, past performance, bonding and insurance, and a point of contact.
How long should a capability statement be?
One page. The banded sidebar is what makes that possible: the facts a buyer verifies sit in a compact band, and the case sits in the column beside it. If the page runs over, cut differentiators to four and past performance to three rows before shrinking the type.
What are NAICS codes and which should I list?
North American Industry Classification System codes describe lines of work. List the codes that match the solicitations you pursue, primary first, each with its small-business size standard, exactly as your SAM.gov registration shows them.
How do I write differentiators a buyer believes?
Give each one a number someone could check: a lead time, a count of lines or locations, a date, a contract value. Then let the past-performance table below be what the numbers point to, with contract numbers and customers a buyer can call.
Related templates
Read the guideCapability statement: what a contracting officer checks, and how to fit it on one page
A capability statement is the one page a government buyer reads before deciding whether to call. Here’s what it must contain (identifiers, NAICS codes, core competencies, differentiators, past performance) and how to make every claim verifiable.
Read the guide →Documents that go with a Capability Statement
Line Card
A one- or two-sided summary of what a maker offers or a distributor carries: image-led product categories, or the manufacturer lines represented with their authorization and territory.
Open template →Product Sell Sheet
Presents a product visually for sales conversations, emphasizing positioning, benefits, applications, selected proof points and a clear next action.
Open template →Product Catalog
Presents a broader portfolio or product family in a compact, browsable format: categories, entries with key specs and order codes, and the differentiators that help a reader shortlist.
Open template →Build your Capability Statement now
Fill in the fields, apply your brand, and export a clean PDF. Free to start.
Note: This template gives you a structured, professional starting point for a capability statement. It is not legal or contracting advice. The sample identifiers, codes, certifications and contracts are fictional; you remain responsible for the accuracy of every registration, code, certification and past-performance claim you publish, and for confirming them against SAM.gov and the issuing bodies before you distribute the statement.