The ubiquity of technology in government contracting keeps refining the government’s “late is late” bid policy.  What happens if a company sends its bid via email, only to have that bid quarantined or accidentally go to a junk mail folder?  Is the bid late?  Unsurprisingly, there is a FAR clause on this, FAR 52.212-1(f)(2)(i)(A), which essentially permits a late proposal “only if it was received at the initial point of entry to the government infrastructure no later than 5:00 p.m. the preceding working day.”  Perhaps unsurprisingly, too, there is a difference of opinion on how this clause can be interpreted between GAO and the Court of Federal Claims.  GAO recently re-affirmed its stance that offerors who have their emailed bids received, but then quarantined or otherwise held up from the email box of the appropriate contracting officer, are out of luck.  To GAO, that bid is considered late (Matter of: Versa Integrated Sols., Inc., B-420530).  GAO seems to base its position on that part of the FAR clause which states that offers must be at the government point of entry by 5:00 pm the proceeding workday.  So, if you think your proposal will be delayed, make sure you send it in by at least that time.  The Court of Federal Claims, however, has previously ruled that such an offer would be counted as having been received on time and, therefore, should be considered by the agency (Federal Acquisitions Service Team, LLC v. United States, 124 Fed. Cl. 690).  This inconsistency provides contractors with a clear choice of the forum in which they can protest a determination that their bid was late under the scenario discussed above.  Although it may be more expensive and potentially time-consuming to file a protest at the Claims Court, companies may be better positioned to receive the outcome they want.  This could matter if the bid in question was for a large piece of work, especially if the contractor is an incumbent and the email SNAFU occurs on the recompete.  Contractors, of course, can minimize their risk by not waiting until the last minute to submit a bid.  Being early helps reduce the chances of procurement delays and legal fees incurred to ensure that your proposal is fairly considered.  To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, the early bird gets the contract.