Purpose: To provide guidance on the entity registration, validation, and renewal process on SAM.gov that also creates a Vendor's Commercial And Government Entity code.
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Terms Glossary
What is SAM.gov?
For more understanding on the general purposes of SAM.gov, see About SAM.gov.
The System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is an official Government website used to do business with the U.S. Government. This site can be used to:
- register or check the status of an entity.
- update or renew an entity registration.
- look for entity registration and exclusion records.
- retrieve award data that is publicly available.
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Signing Up vs. Registering an Entity
It is important to understand the difference between signing up and registering when visiting SAM.gov.
“Signing up” is the act of creating an account on SAM.gov and setting up your profile.
"Registering" provides an entity (an individual or organization) the ability to bid on contracts or apply for federal assistance (e.g., grants, loans) on SAM.gov.
For more information see, What’s the difference between signing up and registering?
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Creating a SAM.gov Account
Before accessing the many features of SAM.gov, you must first set up a SAM.gov user account.
- On the homepage, select 'sign in' from the upper right corner
- Accept the U.S. Government terms to sign into this website.
SAM.gov utilizes Login.gov, a service that manages user account credentials and allows you to sign in to many federal Government websites.
A. If you already have a Login.gov account, connect it to your SAM.gov account by selecting ‘sign in’ and inputting your email address and password.
B. If you do not have a Login.gov account, select ‘create an account.'
To create your account:
- Enter your email address
- Select your email language preference
- Select the box to accept Login.gov’s rules of use
- Click ‘Submit’
Resources for signing up on SAM.gov:
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Entity Registration
Before doing business with the federal Government, a Vendor must first register and then validate their entity at SAM.gov.
The Vendor will go through the entity validation process when registering their entity. After a Vendor registers in SAM.gov, a CAGE code is created for the Vendor.
Registering an Entity
Registering involves providing information about yourself or your organization so that the Government can verify that you are a legitimate entity that can bid on Government contracts or apply for federal grants or loans.
Registering is essential to obtaining your unique entity ID which is needed to do business with the Government.
Resources for entity registration:
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Validating an Entity
Validating a Vendor’s entity is essential when registering an entity on SAM.gov to get a unique entity ID. Validation is necessary when you:
- register an entity
- renew an entity registration each year
- get a Unique Entity ID
- update or change your entity’s name or address
Validation is when a Vendor provides the correct legal business name and physical address of their entity, and the Government uses an entity validation service (EVS) to confirm that information. This is how the Government verifies that an entity exists and is unique.
Resources for understanding entity validation:
SAM.gov recently changed their entity validation service (EVS) provider which may cause a Vendor not to be able to find a match even if they are currently registered in SAM.gov. Because of this, some cases require additional documentation and a manual review to validate an entity.
Once documentation for validating an entity has been submitted, the review time will vary based on whether a match can be made from the original documents that were submitted or if additional documentation is needed.
Less complex registration cases that involve additional documentation needed may be resolved within five days; however, other cases may take as long as several weeks.
The steps within the entity validation process in SAM.gov. are:
- You are About to Validate Your Entity
- Enter Entity Information
- We are Searching Millions of Records
- Enter Incorporation Information
- Review Entity Details (select entity)
- Are All of Your Details Correct?
- If Yes, proceed to step 11. Receive Entity Validation
- if No, process to step 7, Update Entity Details
- Update Entity Details
- Confirm Entity Details
- Document Your Entity Details
- Entity Documents Submitted
Note: At this point, your validation incident is generated. The EVS has received your documents and will conduct a review. Processing and resolving new incidents with correct documentation currently will take 7 calendar days. Submitting incorrect documents will delay incident resolution timeframes.
- Receive Entity Validation
- Get Unique Entity ID
- Proceed to Core Data Registration pages (if registering)
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Confirming CAGE Creation
To do business with the government, a Vendor will need a CAGE Code. A CAGE code is a five-character identifier assigned by the DLA CAGE Program Office to entities located within the United States and its territories.
During the registration process on SAM.gov, a new CAGE code will be assigned if one does not exist already. If a Vendor has an existing CAGE code, their information will be updated.
Although the time may vary, it can take up to 10 business days for the CAGE Program Office to process all CAGE requests. Once a Vendor registers in SAM, the CAGE validation status can be checked with the Check Entity Status Tool.
For more information on understanding CAGE registration, see CAGE FAQs.
During the CAGE validation process, SAM.gov may return a Vendor’s registration in the form of an email notification because of missing, incomplete, or invalid information. Once the corrected documentation has been received by the CAGE Program Office, the SAM registration status will reflect "Pending CAGE Validation."
Contact Information
- For questions regarding CAGE validation, and statuses reflecting "Pending CAGE Validation," contact the DLA Customer Interaction Center (CIC) for assistance.
- For any other status that is reflected, contact the Federal Service Desk (FSD).
- For general questions on CAGE Contact the Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code Program at:
Toll Free: 1-877-352-2255
Commercial/FTS: 1-269-961-7766
DSN: 661-7766
Email: dlacontactcenter@dla.mil
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Updating or Renewing Entity Registration
An entity registration must be renewed annually from the date you last certified and submitted the registration in SAM.gov.
If any details of a company change between annual renewals, the Vendor must be sure to update their SAM registration immediately.
It is best practice to begin the renewal and validation process 45 days before the expiration date to avoid having a registration expire while under review.
The Vendor must maintain an active registration status to continue their business endeavors with the Government.
Resources for understanding updating or renewing entity registration:
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Keeping POCs Up to Date
It is important to keep Vendor points of contact (POCs) information up to date on SAM.gov as other Government systems will use the Vendor POC when contacting.
Updating your entity’s POCs does not update your registration status, so be sure to still update your entity registration annually.
When creating or updating a registration, one will find the POCs section towards the end of the registration. However, if you are looking to only update the POC information without updating your entire registration, that section can be completed at the beginning of the entity update.
For troubleshooting see, Why can’t I update the POCs on my registration?
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Contact Information
DLA Customer Interaction Center (CIC)
For help setting up a Vendor SAM.gov account, registration, or CAGE code creation reach out to the CIC.
Hours of Operation
Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including government holidays.
U.S. Calls: 1-877-DLA-CALL
Email: dlacontactcenter@dla.mil
Federal Service Desk
For additional guidance on SAM.gov topics, creating an incident ticket with SAM.gov, or for a live chat, go to Federal Service Desk.
Hours of Operation
Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
U.S. Calls: 866-606-8220
International calls: +1 334-206-7828
Terms Glossary
Find meanings for acronyms, abbreviations, and codes used throughout the process article below in the table:
| Terms Used |
Meaning |
| CAGE |
Commercial and Government Entity |
| CIC |
Customer Interaction Center |
| DLA |
Defense Logistics Agency |
| EVS |
Entity Validation Service |
| FAQ |
Frequently Asked Question |
| FSD |
Federal Service Desk |
| ID |
Identity/Identifier |
| PDF |
Portable Document Format |
| POC |
Point of Contact |
| SAM |
System for Award Management |