Every year, the United States federal government spends billions of dollars purchasing goods and services from the private sector via government contracting jobs. If you’d like to throw your hat into the ring and start bidding on government contracts, the team at Federal Contractor Registry can help and the first step is to complete your System for Award Management registration.
What Is The System For Award Management?
The System for Award Management (SAM) is an official website of the U.S. government that serves several key functions for entities (such as businesses, non-profit organizations, and government entities) interacting with the federal government. Its primary purposes include:
- Registration for Federal Contracts: Entities must register in SAM to do business with the federal government. This is a prerequisite for bidding on government contracts or receiving federal grants.
- Streamlining Processes: SAM consolidates the federal procurement systems and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance into one system, making it easier for users to manage their federal awards and contracts.
- Centralizing Information: It serves as a central repository for information about entities that are eligible to receive federal contracts or grants. This includes details like business size, location, ownership, and activities.
- Compliance and Transparency: SAM helps ensure entities comply with federal regulations. It also offers transparency into entities that are receiving federal contracts and grants, as part of government accountability efforts.
- Facilitating Payments: Entities registered in SAM can receive electronic payments from federal agencies for contracts and grants.
SAM is a critical tool for any entity looking to engage in business with the federal government, either through contracts or grants, and it helps streamline and manage the complex processes involved in federal procurement and award management.
In the past, multiple websites handled all of these functions, with websites such as the Central Contractor Registration or CCR, and ORCA (Online Representations and Certifications Application). You will still hear people talk about CCR and ORCA government contracts, but if you see those terms, they are obsolete and everything is now part of SAM.gov, which is run by the Federal Service Desk, an agency within the General Services Administration.
Should You Become A Government Contractor?
The government needs an abundance of goods and services throughout the year and there are contracts for just about every type of industry imaginable. Whether you run a printing service, an HVAC repair shop, a construction debris removal company or perhaps sell medical supplies, the federal government needs all that and much more.
If you are on the fence about government contracting, here are a few compelling reasons to consider bidding on federal contractor jobs:
- Stable & Consistent Revenue Stream: Government contracts can provide a reliable and consistent source of income. Governments often have large budgets for various projects and services, and once a contract is secured, it typically guarantees a steady flow of work and revenue for its duration.
- Diversification of Business Portfolio: Participating in government contracts can diversify your business portfolio. This diversification can reduce reliance on private sector contracts, which may be more susceptible to market fluctuations. The government sector often provides opportunities in a wide range of industries, from technology to construction, allowing businesses to expand their expertise and market reach.
- Prestige and Credibility: Winning a government contract can enhance your company’s reputation. It demonstrates that your business meets the high standards required to fulfill government projects, which can be a powerful endorsement of your company’s capabilities. This can boost your credibility and make your business more attractive to other clients, both in the public and private sectors.
- Potential for Long-Term Relationships: Securing a government contract can open the door to long-term relationships with government agencies. These relationships can lead to repeat business and make it easier to win future contracts. Government agencies often prefer working with trusted vendors who have a proven track record of delivering quality services or products.
- Access to Large-Scale Projects: Government contracts often involve large-scale projects that might be unavailable in the private sector. These projects can enable a business to grow rapidly, increasing its capacity, resources, and workforce. Additionally, working on such projects can allow a business to demonstrate its ability to manage and deliver large-scale operations, further enhancing its marketability.
Before you decide to complete your SAM registration, we recommend going to SAM.gov and browsing through the many opportunities to determine if your company is a good match. Once you go to SAM.gov, simply click on the Contract Opportunities page and then click on Advanced Search.
From there, we recommend searching for contracts using your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes, which can be found at Census.gov. NAICS codes describe the types of goods or services your company can provide, so searching using these criteria allows you to find contracts that truly match what you have to offer the federal government. To search using NAICS codes, you will need to select the drop-down menu from the section marked “Product or Service Information.”
How To Register With SAM
System for Award Management registration is required for anyone bidding on government contracts, and while the government does not charge a fee to register in SAM, entity registration can be a very complicated and time-consuming process.
Fortunately, you can bypass the frustration of SAM registration by simply hiring a third-party registration. At Federal Contractor Registry, we handle hundreds of SAM registrations and SAM renewals every year. (Note: You must have an active SAM registration to do business with the federal government, and your SAM account expires after 12 months and must be renewed.)
Hiring Federal Contractor Registry is similar to hiring an accountant to handle your taxes. While filing taxes is “free,” the tax code is complex and making mistakes is costly and hiring a tax expert makes good sense. SAM registration is similar in that it’s time-consuming and difficult and mistakes can delay your approval. We do charge a fee for our services, naturally, but this fee also includes several value-added features, such as:
Small Business Administration (SBA) Registration: The SBA is an excellent resource for any small business owner in general, but when it comes to government contracting, the SBA is in charge of several special programs that make it easier for small businesses to win government contracts. These contracts are known as set-aside contracts because they are “set aside” just for small businesses, such as a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).
If you don’t qualify for those two, there are several other options including 8a certification and HUBZone certification. Our registration experts can evaluate your business and determine which set-asides fit your firm, help you sign up with SBA, and link your SBA account to your SAM account.
Additionally, if you qualify as a Super 8a contractor (owned by an Alaskan Native Corporation, Native Hawaiian Organization or any Native American tribe), we can introduce you to other federal contractors in our network.
Notarized Letter Requirement: All first-time SAM registrants must send a notarized letter to the Federal Service Desk listing their firm’s Entity Administrator. This is simply the person or persons who are authorized to update or make changes to your SAM account. We can help you with this process, as the letter must be very exact in its contents.
Unique Entity IDs: For many years, all SAM registrants were required to provide their DUNS number to register, but that has been phased out and the Unique Entity Identifier or UEI number has replaced this requirement. Still, you will need to acquire your UEI, but we can help!
Best of all, we can save you hours of work and all the hassles associated with SAM registration, and our team will be able to quickly and 100% accurately complete your registration so that you are approved and ready to bid on contracts as soon as possible. To get started with your System for Award Management registration, just head to our homepage and click on the New Registration tab.