NAICS Code 541611: Management Consulting Services for Government Contracts

What Is NAICS Code 541611?

NAICS code 541611 — Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services covers businesses that provide operating advice and assistance to organizations on administrative management issues such as financial planning and budgeting, equity and asset management, records management, office planning, strategic and organizational planning, site selection, new business startup, and business process improvement.

If your firm helps organizations improve their operations, restructure their management, develop strategic plans, or optimize business processes — and you are not specifically focused on HR, marketing, or IT — this is likely your primary NAICS code. It is one of the broadest and most commonly used consulting codes in federal procurement.

What Services Fall Under 541611?

The Census Bureau defines 541611 to include:

• Strategic planning and organizational development consulting
• Financial management and budgeting consulting
• Business process improvement and reengineering
• Administrative management consulting
• Site selection consulting
• New business startup consulting (except investment advice)
• Records management consulting
• General management consulting, not elsewhere classified

The key distinction is that 541611 covers general management and administrative consulting. If your consulting is specifically focused on human resources, that falls under 541612 (Human Resources Consulting Services). If you provide environmental consulting, that is 541620. Marketing consulting is 541613. IT consulting with systems design is 541512. The 54161x family is split by specialty — 541611 is the catch-all for general management work.

541611 SBA Size Standard

The Small Business Administration (SBA) size standard for NAICS 541611 is $24.5 million in average annual receipts. This means your company qualifies as a "small business" for government contracting purposes if your average annual revenue over the past 3-5 years is below $24.5 million.

This threshold is moderate within the professional services category. Many boutique and mid-sized management consulting firms qualify as small businesses under this standard, which opens the door to set-aside contracts that exclude large firms like Deloitte, Booz Allen, and McKinsey.

Set-Aside Programs for 541611

If your company qualifies as small under the 541611 size standard, you are eligible for several set-aside programs that limit competition to small businesses:

• Small Business Set-Aside — Open to all qualifying small businesses. The most common set-aside type for 541611 contracts.
• 8(a) Business Development Program — For socially and economically disadvantaged businesses. 541611 has a high volume of 8(a) sole-source opportunities because agencies frequently need management consulting and prefer the speed of sole-source awards.
• HUBZone — For businesses in Historically Underutilized Business Zones. Less common for 541611 but still available.
• SDVOSB — Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. Active in defense and VA consulting contracts.
• WOSB / EDWOSB — Women-Owned Small Business / Economically Disadvantaged WOSB.

Management consulting is one of the most active categories for set-aside contracts. The federal government relies heavily on outside consultants for program management, organizational assessments, and strategic planning — and small business goals push a significant share of this work to set-aside vehicles.

Common Contract Types Under 541611

NAICS 541611 is one of the most active codes on SAM.gov. On any given day, there are typically 40-120 active solicitations under this code. Common contract types include:

• Program management and program management office (PMO) support
• Organizational assessments and change management
• Strategic planning facilitation
• Business process reengineering and lean/six sigma consulting
• Acquisition and procurement advisory services
• Financial management and audit readiness consulting
• Policy analysis and development
• Training and professional development program design

Many of the largest IDIQ (indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity) contract vehicles include 541611 as a primary or secondary NAICS code, including GSA OASIS, OASIS+, and agency-specific BPAs.

Related NAICS Codes

If you do management consulting, you should also consider registering under these related NAICS codes in SAM.gov to maximize your opportunity matching:

• 541612 — Human Resources Consulting Services (workforce planning, org design, compensation studies)
• 541613 — Marketing Consulting Services (market research, communications strategy)
• 541614 — Process, Physical Distribution, and Logistics Consulting Services (supply chain optimization)
• 541618 — Other Management Consulting Services (catch-all for specialized consulting not elsewhere classified)
• 541512 — Computer Systems Design Services (if your consulting includes IT strategy and systems integration)
• 611430 — Professional and Management Development Training (if you deliver training alongside consulting)

How to Find 541611 Contract Opportunities

The primary source for federal contract opportunities is SAM.gov. You can search for active solicitations by filtering on NAICS code 541611. However, manually searching SAM.gov daily is time-consuming — the interface is slow, search filters are limited, and it is easy to miss opportunities that post late in the day or use slightly different NAICS codes.

GovConToday monitors SAM.gov overnight and matches contract opportunities to your NAICS codes — including 541611. Instead of spending 30 minutes each morning navigating SAM.gov, you get a curated list of relevant solicitations on your dashboard.