How to Get a SAM Number: Free Registration Steps and Requirements

To get a SAM number, register your business for free at SAM.gov: gather your legal, tax, and banking documents, create a Login.gov account, complete the online entity registration, and mail a notarized Entity Administrator letter to activate the account. The federal government does not charge for this, and an active SAM.gov registration is required before any agency can award you a contract or process a grant application.¹

One warning before you start. Third-party companies advertise SAM registration services for hundreds or thousands of dollars, and some are scams. The only legitimate site is sam.gov, and the portal will never ask for personal or financial information by phone, email, or text. If you want help, APEX Accelerators (formerly Procurement Technical Assistance Centers) offer free in-person assistance and can be found through the SBA.²

Pick the Right Registration Level First

SAM.gov offers two paths. If you only need to be identified in the federal system as a subcontractor or sub-awardee, you can request a Unique Entity ID by providing just your legal business name and physical address. That’s it. But a UEI alone does not let you bid on contracts or apply for grants as a prime recipient.

If you want to pursue federal contracts, grants, or loans directly, you need the full entity registration. It collects financial, legal, and organizational information, and it produces a Unique Entity ID as part of the package.³ Most people looking for a “SAM number” mean the full registration, so that’s what the rest of this walkthrough covers.

What to Have Ready Before You Log In

The SAM.gov session times out, and mid-application scrambling for a document is the most common cause of restarts. Pull everything together first.

Legal Name, Address, and Taxpayer ID

Your legal business name and physical address must match federal validation records exactly — the name on your IRS documents or articles of incorporation, not a trade name or DBA. If the system can’t validate your address automatically, you’ll be asked to upload documentation such as a utility bill or incorporation paperwork.⁴

You’ll also need your Taxpayer Identification Number. For most businesses that’s the Employer Identification Number shown on IRS Form CP 575 or a prior-year return. The system checks this against IRS records, and small discrepancies between your SAM entry and what the IRS has on file will bounce the application back.⁵

NAICS Codes and Banking Details

North American Industry Classification System codes identify what your business does. Look them up on the Census Bureau site by searching the products or services you provide. If you plan to pursue contracts, identify the Product Service Codes that describe your offerings in procurement language too; agencies use both during market research.

Registration also collects Electronic Funds Transfer information so Treasury can deposit payments directly. Have your bank routing number and account number ready.⁴

Points of Contact

You’ll designate at least two contacts. The Government Business Point of Contact handles administrative communication with agencies and with the CAGE code system. The Electronic Business Point of Contact manages digital access and matters especially if you plan to use Grants.gov, which pulls authorization from this contact’s credentials.⁶ Have the full name, phone number, and email address for each.

Ownership Information

If another entity owns or controls yours, you’ll disclose the immediate owner. Foreign owners require an NCAGE code. You may also be asked whether your entity has a common parent that files consolidated federal tax returns and, if so, the parent’s name and TIN.⁴

Create Your Login.gov Account

All access to SAM.gov runs through Login.gov. Use an email address the person managing the registration can access long-term; a temporary or shared inbox will cause problems later.³

Login.gov requires multi-factor authentication, so after setting a password you’ll add a second verification method such as a phone code or authentication app. Some partner agencies also require identity proofing, which means uploading a photo of your driver’s license or state ID and entering your Social Security number so Login.gov can verify you against public records.⁷

Complete the Entity Registration

Once logged in, choose to register a new entity. The first question is your registration purpose:

All Awards lets you bid on contracts and apply for grants and loans.
Financial Assistance Awards Only limits you to grants and loans, no contracts.

Choose All Awards unless you’re certain you’ll never pursue contract work. Switching later means going through validation again.⁴

Next, select your entity type: for-profit, nonprofit, educational institution, and so on. Each selection triggers data fields tailored to that type. The portal then walks you through screens for the legal, financial, and contact information you gathered.

If you chose All Awards, you’ll also complete a series of legal attestations required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation. These cover independent pricing, small business status, trade compliance, labor law compliance, tax liability, and federal felony convictions.⁸ Read each one. False certifications can result in debarment from federal contracting, and you’ll re-confirm these annually.

The system will also ask you to identify any socio-economic categories your business qualifies for, such as Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned Small Business, or HUBZone.⁹ Veteran-Owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned status is handled separately through SBA’s VetCert program.¹⁰

On the final review page, check every field. A misspelled street name or transposed TIN digit will send the application back. Then submit.

Mail the Notarized Entity Administrator Letter

This is the step first-time registrants miss. Submitting online is not the end. For new registrations, you must also mail a notarized letter to the Federal Service Desk appointing an Entity Administrator, the person authorized to manage your SAM.gov record. Your registration will not activate until this letter is received and approved.¹¹

Print the letter on your entity’s letterhead (or put the legal business name and physical address at the top if you don’t have letterhead) and include:

Your legal business name, physical address, and DUNS or Unique Entity ID number.
The full name, phone number, and email address of your designated Entity Administrator. The email must match an individual SAM.gov user account.
A statement confirming that the information in the letter is accurate and that the banking information in your registration is correct.
A signature from an officer, partner, or other authorized representative, signed in the presence of a notary who completes the acknowledgment.

Mail it to the Federal Service Desk at 460 Industrial Blvd, London, KY 40741-7285. Notary fees for a standard acknowledgment typically run between $2 and $25 depending on your state. Add mailing and processing time to your overall timeline.

What Happens While You Wait

Once submitted, your application runs through automated checks. The IRS verifies that your TIN and legal business name match. For domestic entities registering for contracts, the Defense Logistics Agency automatically assigns a Commercial and Government Entity code, a five-character identifier used in the procurement system. You don’t apply for the CAGE code separately.¹²

Standard validations run up to three business days, but external reviews — particularly the IRS TIN check and CAGE assignment — can take up to ten business days.¹³ The most common delays come from a legal name that doesn’t exactly match IRS records or a physical address the system can’t validate. Track progress through the status tool on SAM.gov, which shows whether you’re pending IRS validation, awaiting CAGE assignment, or active.

When status changes to active, your Unique Entity ID is fully functional and your entity appears in federal searches. Agencies can consider you for awards.

Keep the Registration Active

Your SAM.gov registration stays active for 365 days from the date it was last submitted for processing.¹³ After that it expires, and an expired registration means you cannot receive contract awards, submit grant applications through Grants.gov, or receive certain federal payments.¹ If you’re performing on an existing award when your registration lapses, the agency may not be able to process your invoices until you renew.

Start renewal at least 60 days before expiration. It runs through the same validation as the initial registration, so a last-minute attempt can leave you with a gap that blocks payments or disqualifies a pending bid.¹⁴ Update any changed business or banking details during renewal, and re-confirm your representations and certifications; the system requires a fresh confirmation within 12 months even when nothing has changed.

1
eCFR. 2 CFR 25.200 – Requirements for Notice of Funding Opportunities, Regulations, and Application Instructions
2
U.S. Small Business Administration. Federal Contracting Assistance
3
SAM.gov. Get Started with Registration and the Unique Entity ID
4
SAM.gov. Entity Registration Checklist
5
Federal Register. Information Collection; Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 4 Requirements
6
Treasury. New to SAM.gov for Financial Assistance
7
Login.gov. Verify My Identity
8
Acquisition.GOV. FAR 52.204-8 Annual Representations and Certifications
9
U.S. Small Business Administration. Small Disadvantaged Business
10
eCFR. Part 128 Veteran Small Business Certification Program
11
USDA Rural Development. SAM Registration Template
12
Acquisition.GOV. FAR 52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting
13
SAM.gov. Check Entity Status
14
SAM.gov. Entity Registration