If you want to do business with the federal government, you must complete SAM registration, and while we can help you with this arduous process, it’s important to understand that there will be occasions when it’s essential to update SAM registration to ensure that government agencies can work with your company. Here’s a quick look at when you need to make changes.
1. Update SAM Registration Before It Expires
SAM registration expires every year, which means that SAM renewal is crucial. We typically recommend that you complete the SAM renewal process several months before your expiration dates, and there are a few reasons to consider early renewal.
The Federal Service Desk (FSD) is the agency or government office tasked with SAM registration approval and renewals. It can take the Federal Service Desk several weeks to approve your SAM renewal, which is why you need to update SAM registration several weeks or months ahead of the expiration date. This is especially true during the current pandemic, as the FSD has had a high volume of new registrations during these last few months, and this high volume can slow down the approval process.
Additionally, if a government agency studies your SAM registration and sees that you are close to your expiration date, they may skip over your company and select another company Most federal agencies can only do business with government contractors that have active SAM registrations, and if your registration expires in the middle of a contract, the agency cannot work with you until your registration is active again. This puts them in the lurch, so to speak, so they may be wary about selecting contractors that are a couple of months or just weeks from expiration. Whether you want to work as a FEMA contractor, a DOD contractor or just about any agency, an active SAM registration is crucial.
We can help with SAM renewals as well as with initial SAM registrations. SAM renewals, while not as complex as that first registration, can be quite time consuming and difficult, and we can quickly and accurately complete your renewal and ensure that your registration doesn’t expire.
2. Address & Phone Number Changes
Covid-19 has changed everything, and it has forced many employers to switch to a remote-work format. In some cases, companies still maintain their current offices and phone numbers, but if your company addresses or phone numbers have changed, you will need to update SAM registration to include these numbers.
Of course, pandemic or no pandemic, any time the physical address, mailing address or phone numbers of your business changes, it is important to update your SAM registration and ensure that everything is current. Additionally, physical address changes might impact some of your small business designations. For instance, if you have moved in or out of a HUB Zone, this could impact your contracting opportunities.
3. Personnel Changes
If your company has changed officers, this will need to be updated, but you also need to make updates if you add or reduce staff. In many cases, the addition of two or three employees or the reduction of just a few employees isn’t critical in regards to SAM. However, if you add or reduce many employees, this could affect your standing as a small business.
Designated small businesses, as per the Small Business Administration (SBA) have some advantages in government contracting because agencies are required to set aside a portion of their business exclusively for small businesses. Your business qualifies if it meets certain size standards, and adding many new employees could impact your status as a small business. SBA government contracting can be lucrative, but you must continue to qualify as a small business in order to bid on small business contracting opportunities.
4. Changes In Goods & Services
Within your SAM registration, there is a section where you list your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. These are codes that describe precisely what types of goods or services are provided by your company. Government agency representatives often will search for contractors using these codes, so it is important that your codes are as up-to-date as possible.
If you add services or expand the types of goods you can provide, be sure to update SAM registration and add any new application NAICS codes to your SAM listing. Likewise, if you no longer provide some type of good or service, be sure to update your listing and remove what you no longer can provide to the government.
SAM Registrations & Renewals: Let Us Help!
In general, minor changes are fairly easy to handle yourself. First-time registration and renewals are trickier, which is why it often makes sense to pay a third party, such as Federal Contractor Registry, to handle these services.
The government does not charge you to register, renew or update SAM registration, but registration and renewals can take many hours and, especially with your initial registration, this can 10 or more hours to complete and can be quite confusing and frustrating.
Many people simply hire us to complete the process, as we are highly experienced and can quickly and accurately complete your SAM registration or SAM renewal. It’s a bit like hiring an accountant to handle your taxes. You could fill out tax forms for free, but the tax code is confusing and if mistakes are made on your tax forms, there can be serious consequences, which is why it makes sense to hire a tax expert.
The same is true when it comes to SAM registration. If mistakes are made on your initial registration or on your renewal, this can cause your SAM approval to be delayed, which means you could miss out on some lucrative government contracting opportunities.
If you need your initial SAM registration or a SAM renewal, you can click on the registration or renewal tabs on our homepage. If you aren’t sure whether or not your SAM registration has expired, you also can do a quick free status check via our website. If you have any questions about SAM registration or how to update SAM registration, feel free to contact us at any time.