SAM.gov registration is the first gate every business has to pass before it can win a federal contract as a prime. It is free, it is done entirely online, and SAM.gov says to allow up to ten business days after you submit for it to go active. Most delays come from small mismatches between what you type and what the IRS and validation service hold. This guide walks through the process in the order SAM.gov presents it, using the official GSA checklist and quick start guide.
Quick answer: Sign in to SAM.gov through Login.gov, choose Get Started, then Register Entity, and pick All Awards if you want to bid on contracts. SAM.gov validates your legal name and address, assigns your Unique Entity ID, and then you complete core data, assertions, representations and certifications, and points of contact. Allow at least ten business days after you submit, and renew every 365 days. Registration is always free.
SAM.gov registration is the record that makes your business eligible to receive federal awards directly. The System for Award Management, run by the General Services Administration (GSA), holds your legal identity, tax number, banking details, size, NAICS codes and certifications. You receive a Unique Entity ID (UEI) during the process.
SAM.gov offers two paths. A full registration lets you bid on government contracts and apply for federal assistance. A Unique Entity ID only request needs just your legal business name and physical address, but with a UEI alone you cannot apply directly for federal awards.
Timing matters too. Under a FAR final rule effective August 7, 2025, an offeror must be registered in SAM at the time it submits an offer and at the time of contract award. In practice, keep it active all year. If you are still working out where federal work is posted, start with our guide on where to find government contracts.
Gather six things before you open SAM.gov: a Login.gov account, your exact legal business name and physical address, your EIN or TIN as the IRS has it, bank details for electronic funds transfer, your NAICS codes, and your size figures. GSA's Entity Registration Checklist lists every field, and having it filled in beforehand saves the most time.
SAM.gov does not manage its own passwords. Your username and password are handled by Login.gov, and selecting Sign In on SAM.gov sends you there to sign in or create an account.
You do not need a UEI before you start. If you choose Register Entity, SAM.gov assigns the UEI during registration, after your name and address pass validation. The UEI replaced the DUNS number as the government-wide identifier in April 2022.
U.S. entities enter a Taxpayer Identification Number and sign an IRS consent form inside SAM.gov so the IRS can confirm it. The name and TIN must match IRS records exactly.
Enter the legal business name, not a trade name, spelled exactly as it appears on your IRS paperwork and formation documents. The physical address cannot be a post office box. You will also need your date and state of incorporation. Small differences such as "Inc" versus "Incorporated" cause validation trouble.
The financial section asks for the account type, routing number and account number for electronic funds transfer, plus a remittance name and address and whether you accept credit cards. Confirm the numbers with your bank.
In the assertions section you list the NAICS codes that describe what you sell, with product service codes as an option, and you report annual receipts and employee counts. SAM.gov uses these figures to work out whether you are small for each NAICS code, which drives your eligibility for set-asides. Our explainer on FAR Part 19 small business programs covers how those size standards feed into set-asides.
The process runs in the order below, based on GSA's Quick Start Guide for Contract Registrations. Steps 1 to 6 get you a validated entity and a Unique Entity ID. Steps 7 to 10 complete the full registration. Each page saves when you select Save and Continue.
Select Sign In on SAM.gov, accept the U.S. Government System terms, and sign in or create an account at Login.gov. You return to your SAM.gov Workspace.
On the Entity Management widget in your Workspace, select Get Started, then Register Entity.
Most companies pick "Business or Organization" as the entity type. Then choose the purpose of registration. There are two options:
Enter your legal business name and physical address. SAM.gov checks them against its entity validation service, which independently confirms that your business exists and is unique. If the match shown is correct, continue. If it shows the wrong business or no match, select Create Incident to open a ticket with the Federal Service Desk and upload documents that prove your name and address.
Decide whether your record appears in public search results. If you restrict it, only you and federal users can see it. Then certify that you are authorized to act for the entity.
Select Receive Unique Entity ID. The next page shows your 12-character UEI. Select Continue Registration to keep going, or Done to come back later from your Workspace.
Core data covers business details, TIN and IRS consent, CAGE code, ownership, business types and EFT details. You create a Marketing Partner Identification Number (MPIN) here. It works as your electronic signature for the IRS consent and you need it for future updates, so store it safely. If you do not have a CAGE code, answer No and one is assigned after you submit.
List your NAICS codes and optional product service codes, report annual receipts and employee counts, and answer the EDI and Disaster Response Registry questions.
These are the FAR and, if applicable, DFARS questions that agencies would otherwise ask in every solicitation, such as whether your entity is debarred or has delinquent federal taxes over $3,000. Small businesses also complete the SBA supplemental page.
Add the required points of contact, review every section, and select Submit. You should see a "Registration Submitted – Confirmation" message. If you do not see it, the registration has not been submitted. A registration left unsubmitted for 90 days is removed.
SAM.gov says registration can take up to 10 business days to become active, and GSA's quick start guide says to allow at least ten business days after you submit. That clock starts after submission. If entity validation needs documents, add that review time on top, so plan for two to four weeks before a bid deadline.
After you submit, the IRS checks your TIN and the CAGE program validates or assigns your CAGE code. GSA has said these checks can take 7 to 12 business days. When documents are needed for entity validation, GSA reported that tickets with correct, acceptable documents typically took about 14 business days to resolve, and wrong documents or unanswered emails make it longer. That figure comes from a 2022 GSA stakeholder forum, so treat it as a guide rather than a promise.
You can check progress with Check Entity Status on SAM.gov while signed in. If you need a quick view of what you would bid on once you are active, the playbook in our 2026 small business GovCon guide is a good next read.
You must renew your SAM.gov registration every 365 days to keep it active. Renewal goes through the same validation, IRS and CAGE checks as a new registration, so start well before the expiration date. You can update your record at any time, not only at renewal, and you should whenever your bank, address or ownership changes.
To renew, sign in and go to your Entity Workspace, where you update or renew the registration. Review each section, update anything that changed, and resubmit with your MPIN. According to GSA, if your entity was active when you started the renewal you can keep going while documents for validation are reviewed. We suggest starting about 60 days ahead to leave room for that.
Put the expiration date on a shared calendar with more than one reminder. A lapsed registration is one of the most avoidable problems in federal contracting.
Once you are active, the next job is finding opportunities that fit your NAICS codes. OryonIQ Polaris searches SAM.gov opportunities alongside state and local bids, SBIR and OTA opportunities in one place, filtered by keyword, agency, NAICS code, set-aside and response date, and you can save the ones you like to a watchlist. There is a free plan, no credit card needed.
Most SAM.gov problems come down to four causes: entity validation cannot match your name or address, the IRS rejects your TIN and name, the CAGE code check fails, or the registration expires. Each has a known fix, and the Federal Service Desk and APEX Accelerators can help with all of them at no cost.
For technical issues, the Federal Service Desk takes web forms anytime and offers live chat and phone help Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. For hands-on help filling in the registration, SAM.gov points small businesses to their local APEX Accelerator, formerly known as a PTAC, which helps for free.
Three changes are worth knowing. First, SAM.gov refreshed the registration pages in stages from June to September 2025. GSA said the data collected did not change, only the layout, order and help text, so screens may look different from older guides. Second, the August 2025 final rule clarified that you must be registered at offer and at award. Third, the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul proposed rule published June 23, 2026 proposes keeping only entity-level representations and certifications in SAM and moving procurement-specific ones into individual solicitations. That is a proposal, not a final rule, so check its status before relying on it.
Yes. Registering in SAM.gov, getting a Unique Entity ID, renewing and updating your record are all free. GSA states that registration in SAM.gov is always free, warns that some third-party companies offer to register your entity for a fee, and says the government will never ask you to pay to register, update or renew. Any email or website that asks for money, however official it looks, is not from the government, so check that the sender or link ends in .gov. If you want help, your local APEX Accelerator and the Federal Service Desk provide it at no cost.
SAM.gov says to allow up to 10 business days after you submit for the registration to become active. If entity validation needs documents, that review adds time before you can submit, so plan for two to four weeks before any bid deadline.
If you want to bid on federal contracts or apply for federal assistance as a prime, you need a full registration. A Unique Entity ID only needs your legal business name and physical address, but it does not let you apply directly for federal awards. It suits businesses that only report as subcontractors or sub-awardees.
Every 365 days. Renewal goes through the same validation, IRS and CAGE checks as a new registration, so it is wise to start about 60 days before the expiration date and update the record whenever your bank, address or ownership changes.
Choose All Awards if you want to bid on contracts. It also lets you apply for grants and loans. Financial Assistance Awards only is for organizations that only apply for grants, loans and other financial assistance, and it does not let you bid on contracts.
No, if you are a U.S. entity. Answer No to the CAGE code question and one is assigned after you submit your registration. Since 2023, new registrants choosing Financial Assistance Awards only, and not seeking DoD financial assistance, no longer need a CAGE code at all. Entities based outside the U.S. must request an NCAGE code before starting an All Awards registration.
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