Bidding on government contracts can be lucrative, but before you can get started working for any government entity; you must complete your System for Award Management registration. Better known as SAM registration, you can complete this process either by using our service or heading to SAM.gov. Here are a few facts about the website and the registration process.
1. SAM Has Replaced ORCA & CCR
We still sometimes have people inquire about ORCA or CRR registration. ORCA stood the Online Representations and Certifications, while CCR stood for Central Contractor Registration. Several years ago, in order to streamline the entire process of government contracting, CCR and ORCA were enveloped by the System for Award Management (SAM) database. Now all contractors are located on SAM.gov, making it essentially a one-stop shop for government entities that need contractors or for contractors searching for sub-contractors. So while you might still hear about ORCA and CCR, these are obsolete and SAM is all you need to worry about, registration-wise.
2. SAM.gov Is Part Of The GSA
Once you register with SAM.gov, you quickly will learn that the government is a sea of acronyms, from FEMA to SAM to DUNS and on and on. SAM.gov is a website that is maintained by the General Services Administration, or GSA, which is an independent agency of the U.S. Government. It was founded in 1949, and while headquartered in Washington, D.C., there are 10 additional offices around the country serving various GSA regions.
In addition to handling SAM.gov, the GSA has many other responsibilities. For instance, the GSA procures low-cost vehicles for most federal agencies. The GSA also maintains the Historic Preservation Program, which seeks to preserve federally-owned sites, structures and objects with significant historical value. This includes hundreds of works of art that are displayed in federal buildings across the United States as well as pieces on loan to museums.
3. Both U.S.-Based & International Registrants Are Accepted
The GSA allows companies abroad as well as in the United States to register as U.S. Government contractors. For U.S. Registrants, you will need a DUNS number, as well as your Taxpayer Identification Number, your bank routing number and bank account number. International Registrants also need a DUNS number, and also must register for a NATO Commercial and Government Entity Code.
As of April 26, 2018, you also must submit an original, signed and notarized letter that identifies the authorized Entity Administrator for the entity associated with your DUNS number. An entity is a company, organization or businesses seeking to become a government contractor via SAM.gov. The Entity Administrator is whoever has been chosen to represent that entity; it might be a business owner, an assistant or another person who will be handling the details regarding SAM registration. The GSA provides additional information about this letter on its website. The letter is a new requirement that came about after the GSA discovered possible fraudulent activity in SAM, both those new to SAM and those renewing their SAM registration will need to provide this letter.
4. SAM.gov Provides Plenty Of “Help”
If you spend just a few minutes on the SAM.gov website, you will notice a handy Help tab. Click on that and you will see FAQs and user guides, as well as videos and other information designed to help you with SAM registration. While this all seems well and good, this fount of information can be more overwhelming than helpful. In fact, the Non-Federal User Guide is 201 pages in length and few of us have the time to peruse a document of that size in addition to our daily work schedule and any other time commitments. The complexity of SAM registration turns away many people, and that’s a shame, because there are thousands of government contracts available each year and they can be very lucrative.
5. You Don’t Have To Use SAM.gov To Register For SAM
While it is free to register as a government contractor, completing the SAM registration process is anything but simple. It can take more than 15 hours to complete the registration process if you do it yourself via SAM.gov. If you wish to avoid the hassle of SAM registration, you can hire a third-party registration service, such as Federal Contractor Registry. We complete hundreds of SAM registrations each year, and understand all of the complexities of SAM registration. While we do charge for our services, this cost can alleviate the many headaches associated with SAM registration, not to mention the many hours of time it takes to register. If you wish to bid on government contracts, contact us today and we will get started on your SAM registration.