How to Register Your Business in SAM.gov, Step by Step

Why this step is non-negotiable

No matter how you find a federal contract — through SetAsideScout, through SAM.gov directly, or through word of mouth — you cannot legally be awarded one without an active SAM.gov registration. It's free, but it's also the single most common place small businesses get stuck, mostly because the required information isn't gathered in one obvious place. Here's what to have ready and the order to do it in.

Step 1: Get your Unique Entity ID (UEI)

The UEI replaced the old DUNS number system a few years back, and it's now issued automatically as part of SAM.gov registration itself — you don't need to request it separately from a third party anymore. You'll get it the moment you complete the entity validation step below.

Step 2: Gather your business's legal and banking information

Before you start the online form, have these ready so you're not hunting for them mid-session (SAM.gov sessions can time out, and losing your progress is a common complaint):

Your business's legal name exactly as it appears on your tax documents, your physical business address, your Employer Identification Number (EIN), your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for the type of work you do, and your bank account and routing number for the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) section — this is how the government pays you, and it's a required field.

Step 3: Create a Login.gov account

SAM.gov access now runs through Login.gov, a separate identity-verification system used across several federal websites. You'll need to verify your identity here first, which typically involves a phone number and a government-issued ID. Do this before you start your SAM.gov entity registration — trying to do both at once is where a lot of people get tripped up.

Step 4: Complete entity validation

Once you're logged in, SAM.gov will validate your business's legal name and address against Dun & Bradstreet's records. If your business is newly formed or your address doesn't match what's on file elsewhere, this step can take a few extra days for manual review. Double-check that your business name and address match exactly what's on your official formation documents before submitting.

Step 5: Complete your core registration

This is the longest section — you'll fill in your business details, your NAICS codes (add every code relevant to work you actually do; you're not limited to one), your EFT banking information, and your points of contact. Take your time on the NAICS section specifically: this is what determines which contract opportunities you'll be able to find and bid on later.

Step 6: Add your certifications, if you have them

If you already know you qualify for a set-aside program — say, you're a service-disabled veteran — this is where you self-certify for programs like SDVOSB and WOSB directly within SAM.gov. For 8(a), certification happens through a separate SBA application process; SAM.gov will simply reflect your status once the SBA approves it.

Step 7: Submit and wait for activation

Once submitted, registrations typically take a few business days to process, sometimes longer if entity validation flagged anything for manual review. You'll get an email when you're active. After that, mark your calendar — SAM.gov registrations expire annually and must be renewed, and an expired registration means you're ineligible for award until you fix it.

Once you're registered

Registration gets you into the system — it doesn't tell you what to bid on. That's the next problem, and it's the one SetAsideScout solves: once you know your set-aside eligibility, we'll show you the live, currently open contracts that actually match your business, so your SAM.gov registration has somewhere useful to go.