SAM stands for the System of Award Management. Sam.gov is the official website of the U.S. government that serves as the web porthole for its vendors. SAM as a platform is relatively new and was created as a combination of several other platforms. The platform is used as an information system for finding government contracting opportunities, a place for vendors to display their capabilities, as well as payment processing platform.
SAM is the starting point for doing business with the federal government. Business owners create a vendor profile in SAM through its registration process. The federal government does not charge a fee for registering in SAM. Additionally there is not a yearly maintenance free for renewing a firm's registration. However, there are some general requirements a firm must meet to register in SAM.
If you want to do business with the federal government a SAM registration is non-optional. This uniform requirement of all businesses is needed to get all businesses working from the same vendor system.
Therefore, if you are wanting to do business with federal agencies registering in SAM is the STARTING POINT for your business.
As part of any STEP 1 Service, we will complete your SAM.gov registration as part of that engagement at no additional charge.
We will complete the SAM registration also as a standalone service. In this case we will ask our client for pertinent information about the firm and we will go through the process of completing the SAM application.
The most important benefit is that you cannot be paid by the federal government unless you are registered in SAM.gov. Therefore, this is the first step. This single place for all vendor registrations saves federal vendors from having to submit multiple vendor registrations and provides a centralized place for vendor information.
Other benefits include that being in SAM.gov places your firm in a directory that can be accessed by federal buyers. The GSA Schedule system is often the first choice for federal buyers to conduct market research however there are times when a SAM registration can aid in your firm being found by federal buyers.
Often federal vendors will refer to a SAM Registration as a SAM Contract. This is because there are terms and conditions a vendor must agree to as part of registering in SAM. The benefit of these terms and conditions is that they are uniform for all federal vendors and therefore create a level playing field for all businesses wanting to work with the federal government.
Your SAM Profile will be checked at the time of the bid analysis before the formal bid is awarded to ensure that your firm meets the requirements set forth in the contract. For example, if your firm is awarded a remediation contract, then your SAM profile will have to show that you have the necessary representations and certifications to perform on that type of contract. Therefore, your SAM Registration must always be up to date and accurately reflect the capabilities of the business.
SAM.gov which has been integrated with FBO.gov is one of the places federal buyers can go to solicit bids from vendors. They do this here because they know the vendors in SAM have a desire to do work with the federal government and meet some of the minimum requirements for bidding. Although the award of federal opportunities occurs in many locations a SAM registration provides the minimum requirement for an award.
SAM gives business owners the ability to self-certify their business as a small business concern. There are other ‘self-certifying’ options such as Women Owned Small businesses (however you need the certification to be eligible for set-aside contracts) are also able to make many other self certifying options like Tribally Owned, Alaska Native Corporations.
The capabilities of the business, its location, capabilities, founding date, and ownership all reside in SAM. All this information is searchable in SAM by federal buyers. This allows small businesses to provide buyers with key information about their firm in an easily searchable location that all federal buyers are familiar.
Many small businesses that are successful federal contractors started out by registering in SAM and obtaining their first contract with an agency that was local to them. They learn to build upon that relationship with the agency and often move to the contracting vehicles the agency likes to use and through this knowledge expand their business. However, it was the low-cost SAM Marketing Platform that got the proverbial ball rolling.
The most important reason you would want to register in SAM.gov is that you want to do business with the U.S. Federal Government. The U.S. Federal government requires products and services from almost every industry and is the largest procurer in the world. From purchasing massive things like ‘submarines’ and ‘atom smashers’ to small things like ‘shovels’ the U.S. Government has very large needs.
To bid on government contracts you will need to have a SAM number. The SAM number is provided by the federal government with your SAM registration. The SAM number is also known as a Commercial & Government Entity Code (CAGE). This identifying number for you firm is provided by the Department of Defenses Logistics Agency or (DLA). The SAM number is used for providing a standardized method of identifying a federal vendor.
A foreign business wanting to do business with the federal government must obtain an NCAGE code before they register in SAM.gov. Foreign entities are permitted to do business with the federal government however there are regulations about what countries can provide certain goods and services.
The SAM registration process can be lengthy as well as complex. Many companies engage a company such as ours to complete the SAM registration process on their behalf.
Depending upon your access to your business records and understanding of your business reps and certifications it can take one to as many as four hours to complete the registration process. If your company must obtain an EIN or TIN number before beginning the registration this can take a few weeks. Generally, an approval for a SAM registration is completed by the government in less than 14 days.
There is not a fee for registering or maintaining your SAM registration. Note: If you are solicited by an entity requesting payment your SAM registration, be cautious because there is no fee for becoming a government contractor.
SAM registrations are free of charge, but the following tips can help you to streamline your SAM registration process.
You must renew your SAM Registration every 365 days to keep it active. Here are three key points that firm’s need to remember as part of the SAM Renewal Process.
The steps for SAM registration renewal are given below in bulletins.
The SAM registration needs renewal every 12 months.
Your SAM Registration is the first step in entering the federal marketplace. We can complete your SAM Registration as a standalone service or included in our fee on another engagement. If you elect to have us complete your SAM Registration it will help ensure the timely and accurate completion of your application.
Give us a call and obtain professional assistance on your SAM Registration from Fedvital.
