Module 5: SAM.gov Registration

Before you can register on SAM.gov, you need a Login.gov account. Login.gov is the federal government's single sign-on system. You will use the same Login.gov account for SAM.gov, SBIR.gov, USASpending.gov, and other federal systems.

Step 1: Go to login.gov and click "Create an account."

Step 2: Use your business email address, not a personal Gmail or Yahoo address. This email becomes your primary federal point of contact. It is difficult to change later, and contracting officers use it to reach you. Use the same email you plan to list on your business cards and website.

Step 3: Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA). Login.gov requires MFA on every sign-in. You have several options:

Authentication app (recommended): Use Google Authenticator, Authy, or 1Password. This is the most reliable option. SMS codes can be delayed or intercepted. An authenticator app works offline and is instant.

SMS/text message: Works but less secure. If you change phone numbers, you lose access until you recover the account.

Security key (FIDO2/WebAuthn): Hardware keys like YubiKey. Most secure, but overkill for most small contractors.

PIV/CAC card: Only relevant if you already have a government-issued PIV or CAC card.

Step 4: Verify your identity. Login.gov will ask you to verify your identity using your state-issued driver's license or ID card. This is a one-time process. Have your physical ID card ready. The system takes a photo of your ID and compares it to a selfie.

Common problems and how to avoid them:

Problem: "Identity verification failed." This happens when the photo of your ID is blurry or the name on your ID does not match exactly what you entered. Make sure the name matches character for character, including middle names, suffixes (Jr., III), and hyphens.

Problem: "Account locked after too many attempts." Login.gov locks your account after multiple failed MFA attempts. You will need to contact Login.gov support (not SAM.gov support) to unlock it. This can take 1-3 business days.

Problem: "I set up MFA with my old phone." If you lose access to your MFA method, Login.gov has an account recovery process that requires re-verifying your identity. Set up backup MFA methods when you first create your account.

Keep your Login.gov credentials in a password manager. You will use this account for years across multiple federal systems.

SAM.gov entity registration has nine sections. Budget 30-45 minutes for your first submission. Have the following ready before you start: your EIN confirmation letter (from Module 2), your bank account and routing numbers (from Module 3), and your business address.

Go to sam.gov and click "Get Started" under Entity Registration. Sign in with your Login.gov credentials. Select "Register New Entity."

Section 1: Core Data. Legal business name: enter exactly as it appears on your IRS EIN confirmation letter. "JeLe Ventures LLC" is different from "JeLe Ventures, LLC" or "JELE VENTURES LLC." The IRS letter is authoritative. Get it right. Physical address: your business address. P.O. boxes are not accepted for the physical address. Home offices are acceptable. This address becomes public record. Mailing address: can be a P.O. box or different from your physical address.

Section 2: Entity Information. Business type: select "Limited Liability Company" for an LLC. Organization structure: select "Business or Organization" (not "Individual"). State of incorporation: the state where you filed your articles of organization. Country of incorporation: United States. Fiscal year end: December 31 for most small businesses. This determines your annual incurred cost submission deadline (6 months after fiscal year end). Congressional district: look yours up at house.gov by entering your business address.

Section 3: NAICS Codes. Covered in detail in Lesson 3 of this module.

Section 4: Financial Information. Bank routing number and account number for EFT payments. Use your Mercury business account from Module 3. The government will send a small test deposit (usually $0.01-$0.99) to verify the account. You will need to confirm the exact amount during the registration process.

Section 5: Executive Compensation. If your company received more than $25M in federal awards and more than 80% of revenue comes from federal sources, you must report executive compensation. For new contractors: you almost certainly skip this section.

Section 6: Proceedings. Disclose any criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings involving your company in the last 5 years. For new LLCs: this section will be empty.

Section 7: Points of Contact. Government Business POC (GBPOC): the person government agencies contact about your business. For a solo LLC, this is you. Electronic Business POC (EBPOC): the person authorized to manage the SAM registration. Also you for a solo LLC. Enter your name, title (Owner, Managing Member, or President), phone, and email for both.

Section 8: Representations and Certifications. Covered in detail in Lesson 4 of this module.

Section 9: Review and Submit. Review every field. Once submitted, the registration takes 7-10 business days to process. You will receive email notifications at each stage. The most common rejection reason is a name mismatch between your SAM entry and IRS records.

After approval, you receive: UEI (Unique Entity Identifier): your permanent federal identifier, replacing the old DUNS number. CAGE Code: assigned automatically by DLA (Defense Logistics Agency). Takes a few extra days after SAM approval.

Your registration expires annually. Set a calendar reminder for 30 days before expiration. Renewal takes 7-10 business days. An expired registration means you cannot receive contract awards or payments until it is renewed.

NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes define what type of work your business does. Your NAICS code selection in SAM.gov determines three things: which contracts you can bid on, your SBA size standard (whether you qualify as "small"), and which set-aside programs you are eligible for.

You can select multiple NAICS codes in SAM.gov, but you must designate one as your primary code. Your primary code is the one used for your size standard determination.

How to choose your primary NAICS code:

Step 1: Go to the SBA size standards page (sba.gov/size-standards) or use the NAICS code search at census.gov/naics.

Step 2: Find the codes that match the work you want to bid on. Not the work you do today for commercial clients. The work you want to do for the government.

Common NAICS codes for IT and technology contractors:

541512 - Computer Systems Design Services. Size standard: $34M in average annual receipts. This is the broadest IT code and the most commonly used for IT consulting, system integration, and custom development.

541511 - Custom Computer Programming Services. Size standard: $34M. Use this if your work is primarily software development, coding, or custom application building.

541519 - Other Computer Related Services. Size standard: $34M. Catch-all for IT services that do not fit neatly into 541511 or 541512.

541330 - Engineering Services. Size standard: $25.5M. If your work involves systems engineering, cybersecurity engineering, or network engineering, this code may apply.

541690 - Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services. Size standard: $19.5M. Broader consulting code, sometimes used for cybersecurity advisory work.

518210 - Computing Infrastructure Providers. Size standard: $40M. Cloud services, managed hosting, data center operations.

Strategy considerations:

If your average annual receipts are under $10M, you qualify as small under any of these codes. Your primary NAICS selection matters more for which solicitations match your profile than for size standard purposes.

Contracting officers assign a NAICS code to each solicitation. To bid on that solicitation, you do not need to have that exact code in your SAM registration. But having it in your profile makes you more visible in SAM.gov searches that contracting officers use for market research.

Add 3-5 codes that represent the work you want to do. Keep your primary code as the one where you have the strongest past performance or capability. You can add or change NAICS codes whenever you update your SAM registration.

Use the ClariFAR Eligibility Qualifier tool to check which NAICS codes best match your business and which set-aside programs you qualify for under each code.

The Representations and Certifications section of SAM.gov is where you make legal attestations about your business. These are not optional checkboxes. They are statements made under penalty of criminal prosecution (18 U.S.C. 1001). Answer honestly.

FAR 52.204-8 requires that you complete these representations and certifications before you can receive a contract award. The contracting officer pulls your reps and certs from SAM.gov and incorporates them into the contract.

The most important representations:

Small Business Size Status (FAR 52.219-1). You self-certify whether you are a small business under your primary NAICS code. Check the SBA size standard for your primary NAICS. If your average annual receipts (over the last 3 or 5 years, depending on the code) are below the threshold, you certify as small. If you are a brand new company with zero revenue, you are small.

Small Business Set-Aside Certifications. If you qualify for WOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone, or 8(a), you certify here. These certifications make you eligible for set-aside contracts. Do not certify for programs you do not qualify for. False claims on set-aside status are actively prosecuted.

Place of Manufacture (FAR 52.225-18). For supply contracts, you certify whether your products are manufactured in the United States. For services contracts (most IT work), this is generally not applicable.

Organizational Conflict of Interest. You disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could affect your ability to perform objectively. For new contractors with no prior government work, you typically have no conflicts to disclose.

Previous Contracts and Compliance. You disclose whether you have ever had a contract terminated for default, been debarred or suspended, or been found in violation of any federal law related to contracting. For new LLCs: the answer is no to all of these.

Tax Delinquency (FAR 52.209-11). You certify that you do not have federal tax delinquencies exceeding $10,000. If you do, you must disclose.

Inverted Domestic Corporation (FAR 52.209-2). You certify that your company is not an inverted domestic corporation (a company that reincorporated in a foreign country to avoid U.S. taxes). For a Florida LLC: you are not.

How to complete reps and certs correctly:

Read each question carefully. Most questions have help text that explains what they mean. If a question does not apply to your business type, select "Does not apply" rather than guessing.

Update your reps and certs annually when you renew your SAM registration. If anything changes mid-year (you are no longer small, you received a tax delinquency notice), update SAM.gov within 30 days.

Save a PDF of your completed reps and certs for your records. If a contracting officer questions a representation, you want to be able to show what you attested to and when.

After your SAM.gov registration is approved, you receive two identifiers that follow your business throughout its government contracting career.

UEI (Unique Entity Identifier). This replaced the DUNS number in April 2022. Your UEI is assigned automatically during SAM.gov registration. You do not need to apply for it separately. The UEI is a 12-character alphanumeric code (example: JE1L2V3N4T5U). You will use it on every proposal, invoice, and government form.

CAGE Code (Commercial and Government Entity Code). Assigned by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) a few days after your SAM registration is approved. The CAGE code is a 5-character alphanumeric code used primarily by DoD agencies to identify contractors. If you plan to do any DoD work, you need a CAGE code. It is assigned automatically; you do not need to apply for it.

Where you will use these identifiers: - Every proposal cover page lists your UEI and CAGE code - Every invoice to the government references your UEI - Every subcontracting agreement references both parties' UEI and CAGE codes - FPDS (Federal Procurement Data System) tracks all awards by UEI - USASpending.gov shows your contract history by UEI

Annual renewal: your SAM.gov registration must be renewed every 12 months. Here is what the renewal process looks like:

30 days before expiration: SAM.gov sends a reminder email to your EBPOC email address. Start the renewal now. Do not wait.

Log in to SAM.gov: review every section of your registration. Update anything that changed (address, bank account, NAICS codes, reps and certs).

Submit: the renewal takes 7-10 business days to process, sometimes longer if your information needs additional verification.

What happens if you do not renew on time:

Your registration status changes to "Inactive." While inactive, you cannot receive new contract awards, modifications, or payments. Existing contracts continue, but the payment office may hold payments until your registration is active again.

How to avoid renewal problems:

Set two calendar reminders: one at 45 days before expiration and one at 30 days. Start the renewal at the 45-day mark. If there are any issues (bank account verification, name change), you have a 15-day buffer.

Keep your Login.gov MFA method current. The most common renewal blocker is "I cannot log into Login.gov because my authenticator app was on my old phone." Solve this proactively by having backup MFA methods configured.

Verify your bank account information is still correct. If you changed banks since your last registration, update the routing and account numbers. The test deposit verification adds a few days to the renewal timeline.

Your SAM.gov registration is the foundation of your government contracting business. Without an active registration, you cannot bid, win, or get paid. Treat renewal as seriously as paying rent.