SAM.gov - Step-by-step Guide for First-time registrants (Updated 17 April '24).docx

Last Updated 17 April 2024

GUIDE FOR REGISTERING ON SAM.GOV

For actions at or above $30,000, for work performed outside the United States, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) at FAR 4.11 requires all foreign contractors to be registered in the SAM database prior to award of a contract. Registration is free of charge. Please do not accept help from anyone offering to assist you with your registration for a fee.

During the registration process you will be assigned a Unique Entity ID – this is a 12-character alphanumeric value which is assigned, managed and owned by the US Federal Government. Sam.gov is the system that assigns it.

CONTENTS:

Before you start, please read all the instructions carefully.

If you make a mistake or select the wrong response to a question, it could cause issues later in the registration process and getting it fixed later is extremely difficult.

If you need additional help, please contact the Procurement Agent who requested you to register on SAM.gov.

Useful Links:

The SAM.gov and FSD.gov websites also have helpful information and guidance, but if you follow these instructions carefully and correctly, you will hopefully not need to search for help.

SAM.gov | Help SAM.gov | Contact gsafsd_kb_category - GSA Federal Service Desk Service Portal

STEP 1 - GETTING STARTED:

The first step is to get your documentation ready for the Entity Validation process.

Entity validation or “validation” is how the federal government independently verifies the existence and uniqueness of your business. Validation is a critical part of managing federal awards. Entity uniqueness is based on a combination of the legal business name, physical address, start year and national identifier.

· Legal Business Name:

Your entity’s legal business name is the name used on legal documents, tax returns, or banking documents.

Your Doing Business As (DBA) name could be a trade name, or one used for marketing purposes and is different from your legal business name. If you do not have a different DBA name, you will only use your Legal Business name.

If you are operating a sole proprietorship, your legal business name is your own name, while your Doing Business As (DBA) name is your trading name, or any other name you use for your business.

· Physical Address:

Your entity’s physical address is the location where the principals of your organization conduct their business. The physical address includes street number; street name; city; country; province; and postal code.

A post office box is not a physical address. P.O. boxes will not be used for validation purposes when you register on SAM.gov.

If you work at more than one location or use a virtual office, your entity’s physical address in SAM.gov should be the address where you keep the books and records for your organization.

Lease agreements cannot be used for validation purposes.

· Date of Incorporation/Start Date:

You must provide the year that your entity became incorporated, began doing business, or was founded or established.

If your entity is not incorporated, provide the year or the date that your entity formally began doing business or was founded.

If you have one, your year of incorporation is best validated by providing your CIPC registration certificate.

Whatever documentation you submit, must match the year you enter during the SAM registration.

· National Identifier:

A National Identifier is the unique ID assigned to you by the country where your business originates. Only non-US entities need to provide a national identifier during entity validation and registration.

The national identifier could take a variety of forms. The most common ones we use to register South African companies is the Company Registration Number, VAT number or SARS Tax Number.

Please note:

All the information which you enter when applying for an NCAGE code and when registering on SAM.gov MUST be EXACTLY IDENTICAL to what is on your validation documents, or you will fail the validation process.

Your legal business name MUST appear on ALL validation documents which you submit.

Use as many documents as needed to verify your information.

If your CIPC Certificate has your legal business name and your correct physical address, you can validate all 4 of the above criteria on this one document.

If the CIPC certificate has an incorrect or old physical address, you must use a different document to validate your address.

All documents must be in English.

If you are providing documentation that is not current (e.g. with an old business name or address), you must also submit documentation with your current legal business name and address, and if available, a document that links the two legal business names.

Only certain documents are considered to be acceptable. These include:

· Bank Statements (*redact information that isn’t necessary for validation)

· Certificate of Formation/Organization (e.g.CIPC Certificate) stamped and filed with an authority.

· Tax Certificate

· Tax invoice made out to your business.

· Municipal account

STEP 2 – GETTING AN NCAGE CODE

The second step is to request an NCAGE Code

Prior to registering in SAM, you need to request an NCAGE code.

Please read these instructions first before starting.

Please note:

· Please DO NOT enter any periods or special characters anywhere in the form, including a + or ( ) in the phone number. Invalid characters include > < # % { } + ;

· The format for entering South African phone numbers is as follows:

· Cell numbers: e.g. 082 xxx xxxx must be entered 002782xxxxxxx

· Land lines: e.g. 012-xxx xxxx must be entered 002712xxxxxxx

· You cannot have unequal spacing between words in the primary contact information fields. Be very precise when entering all data.

· The address has to be written using the English spelling and not local spelling with characters or symbols on the letters.

Go to the NCAGE Request Tool at NCAGE Code Request Tool (nato.int) and check to see if a NCAGE code is already assigned to your company.

Type in your company name in the “Organization name” field, select South Africa in the Country field and click on “Search”

If you find your company on the list, then your company already has an NCAGE code, but chances are all your details are not correct, so you will need to update your NCAGE details:

Follow the instructions under in Section 2.1.

If you DO NOT see your company in the list, you need to request a new NCAGE Code: Follow the instructions in Section 2.2

2.1 Requesting a new NCAGE:

All fields with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. If there is no (*) and you have information to put in, you can complete the field, otherwise just leave it blank.

Click on “”

Your entity type will be either “Private Company” or “Other”. Under “Other description” select “Routine 10 calendar days” unless it is really urgent.

Click “Next”

Enter your correct legal business name exactly as it appears on your validation document (including any (Pty) Ltd, or CC etc.) and select South Africa under the Country field.

Leave Identification Number (IDN)blank.

Enter your business’ physical address exactly as it appears on your validation document.

If your validation document uses abbreviations like Rd, Ave or Blvd in your address, make sure to use the same abbreviation when entering your address in NCAGE and SAM.gov too. If it is typed out in full, enter it in exactly the same format.

If there is a suburb indicated on your validation document, enter that under “Street (Line 2)”. If there is no suburb, then leave “Street (Line 2)” blank.

Make sure that you put your city in the “City” field and not under “Street (Line 2)”

Enter your postal address if it is different to your physical address. (This will not be used for validation purposes, so it does not have to match the validation document).

Enter your phone number(s) in the following format. (You can enter more than one number e.g. office and cell numbers.)

Cell numbers: e.g. 082 xxx xxxx must be entered 002782xxxxxxx Land lines: e.g. 012-xxx xxxx must be entered 002712xxxxxxx Click on the blue circle to add it to the list. You can enter more than one email address by clicking the blue circle after each entry.

Enter your website, if you have one, otherwise leave it blank.

You can leave all fields under “Organizational Data: Additional Information” blank.

Complete your fields as follows:

Manufacturer of goods: Yes / No Vendor of goods: Yes / No (a “vendor” is a seller/reseller) Service Provider: Yes / No (If you are in a service-related industry and do not sell or manufacture goods, answer Yes) Development of Public Standards: Yes / No (99.9% of South African businesses will respond No)

NCAGE Code needed for an invitation to tender: Yes / No (Select Yes) Contract with an armed force or DoD…: Yes / No (Select No) NCAGE code is required by SAM: Yes / No (Select Yes) Former NCAGE Code: Yes / No (Select No)

Enter your contact details and make sure to enter your business name and address exactly as it was entered earlier.

Enter the Capture code and click on “Submit Request” A validation email message will now be sent to the email address which you entered. Open the email and search for the link to activate your request.

You MUST confirm the NCAGE request by clicking on the link embedded in the email.

It takes 3-4 days for your registration to pull through to SAM.gov.

2.2 Updating your existing NCAGE:

If your business already has a record on NCAGE, but the details are not correct, you need to update your NCAGE record. All fields with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. If there is no (*) and you have information to put in, you can complete the field, otherwise just leave it blank.

Click on the blue arrow next to your company details and this will open your NCAGE profile.

Compare your company’s legal name and physical address with your validation document.

If any information is not correct, or does not match your validation documents exactly, you can update the information by clicking on in the top right-hand corner of the form, to make the necessary changes.

· Initiator Information:

You are the initiator of the update. Enter your contact details and make sure to enter your business legal name and physical address exactly as it appears on your validation document. Enter your phone number in the format explained above.

· Organization data: General information:

Enter your business legal name exactly as it appears on your validation documents.

Select “South Africa” from the drop-down list under “Country”.

Your can enter your Province, but it is optional. If you do enter it, remember to enter it when prompted elsewhere too.

Leave “Identification Number (IDN)” blank.

· Organization Data: Geographical Location:

Enter your business’ physical address exactly as it appears on your validation document.

If your validation document uses abbreviations like Rd, Ave or Blvd in your address, make sure to use the same abbreviation when entering your address in NCAGE and SAM.gov too. If it is typed out in full, enter it in exactly the same format.

If there is a suburb indicated on your validation document, enter that under “Street (Line 2)”. If there is no suburb, then leave “Street (Line 2)” blank.

Make sure that you put your city in the “City” field and not under “Street (Line 2)”

· Organization Data: Postal Location:

This is optional. If you have a different postal address, you can enter it, otherwise leave it blank.

· Organization Data: Contact Information:

Enter your phone number in the format mentioned above. (You can enter more than one number e.g. office and cell numbers.) Click on the blue circle to add it to the list.

Enter your email and click – you can enter more than one email address.

Enter your website, if you have one, otherwise leave it blank.

· Organizational Data: Additional Information:

You can leave all fields under this section blank.

Enter the Captcha Code at the bottom of the page and click on “Submit Request”.

A validation email message will now be sent to the email address which you entered. Open the email and confirm the NCAGE request by clicking on the link embedded in the email.

It takes 1-2 days to update your NCAGE record and another 2 days to pull through to SAM.gov.

STEP 3 – REGISTERING ON SAM.gov

3.1 Setting up a new account on SAM.gov

After waiting for 3 or 4 days for you NCAGE details to pull through to SAM, go to www.sam.gov and click on “Get Started” to set up your SAM.gov user account.

This will take you to a second page where you click “get started” again.

Click on “Create an account”.

Type in your email address and tick the box accept the T’s & C’s An email will be sent to you with a link to validate your email address.

You will be asked to create a username (use your email address) and a password.

You will also be asked to set-up another authentication method for logging into your account later. Select the option to receive a “text message” and enter your cellphone number by first selecting South Africa under dialing code, then enter your number without any “0” in front.

Then click on “send code” to receive OTP’s.

Once your account is set up, you will receive an acknowledgement that you have created your account.

Click on “Agree and continue” and it will take you to the next page, where you will click on “Continue”.

For help with login.gov accounts you should visit http://login.gov/help. This includes if you need to reset your password, forgot your email address, or need to manage your login.gov account.

3.2 Starting the SAM Registration Process - knowing what to expect:

1. Creating a Profile for your business (Entity) After creating your own login account, you will first need to create a profile for your business. You will need to indicate why you are registering and what type of registration you are doing. You will also provide your NCAGE code, to link it to your SAM profile.

2. Validating your Entity Entity validation confirms that an entity exists and is unique. An entity validation service (EVS) independently verifies the uniqueness of an entity. This is required to get a Unique Entity ID. SAM.gov verifies that there is no existing registration for the legal business name and physical address as part of this validation process.

3. Get Unique Entity ID The Unique Entity ID is a 12-character, alpha-numeric code that uniquely identifies entities in SAM.gov. Unique Entity IDs are issued by SAM.gov and are a part of an entity's record.

4. Core Data Core data is mandatory for all registration types. It includes, but is not limited to, your Unique Entity ID, business name, your TIN (not applicable for business which do not have a US Bank account), and your financial information.

5. Assertions Assertions include, but are not limited to, data about the types of goods and services you provide, optional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and whether you wish to be included in the Disaster Response Registry.

6. Reps & Certs Representations and Certifications (Reps & Certs) are a common set of representations and certifications required by federal statutes or regulations in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). You will be given a questionnaire to guide you through entering your Reps & Certs. This section is only completed by entities registering to compete for federal contracts.

7. POCs Before your entity registration is complete, you will be asked to provide mandatory points of contact (POCs) and optional POCs. You must complete all mandatory POCs before you can submit the registration.

8. Submit Once you enter all the information required, review it, and submit it, your registration enters the submitted status. While the average overall processing time is up to three business days, external reviews can take up to ten business days. You will be notified by email when all reviews are complete.

9. Processing Your entity registration information is being processed at this stage. You will be notified by email when all reviews are complete. The Federal Service Desk cannot provide further information about your registration unless at least 10 business days have passed since you submitted your registration.

10. Active Once your entity registration is successfully processed, it enters the active status. It will remain active for 365 days from the date you submitted it for processing, unless it is deactivated by your Entity Administrator.

If you cannot complete the registration process in one sitting, you can save your information and come back later to continue working on it. Once you start a registration, it will be in the Work in Progress Registration status. Work in Progress Registrations are held in SAM.gov for up to 90 days. If you do not update or submit your Work in Progress Registration within that time, the system will remove it. As you work through each section, you can follow your progress by checking the navigation menu on the left side of the page. Once you have completed a section, you will see a green checkmark next to that section.

3.3 Creating your Entity (creating your business’ profile):

Log into your SAM.gov account. You will be directed to a page where you need to accept the T’s & C’s again and enter another OTP.

Click on “Get started”

Click on “Create new entity”

Select “Directly with the US Federal Government”

Click on “Bid on Federal Procurement opportunities”

Select “Federal Government”

Click on the green button at the bottom, below the “All awards” column

Select “No” and “My entity is not physically located in the US” If you do not say you are located outside the US, it will automatically assume that you are in the US and will require information as if you are a US business and this will cause issues with questions further on.

Select “Yes” Enter your NCAGE code.

Click on the “Next” arrow

3.4 Validating your business:

Once your Entity has a profile, the next step in the registration process is validating your business.

Tick the checkbox to say that you can provide official documentation.

Refer back to the notes on Page 2 and 3 - For validation you will enter your legal business name, physical address, start date and national identifier, exactly as it appears on your Validation document.

Based on what you entered, SAM.gov uses various sources to search for your business. It will run a search and show all matches found. It may, or may not, find your business, but chances are, if you see your business on the list, that all your information is not correct.

· If you recognize your company, but some of the details are incorrect, select the first option “I recognize my entity in the legal entities list” and select the closest match for your company from the list and click “Next”. Don’t worry if some of the information is not correct because the next few screens will give you the opportunity to provide the correct information. On the next screen you must check ONLY the boxes for the information which is incorrect and which you need to update/correct.

· If you don’t see your company at all, tick the second option “I don’t recognize my entity on this list” and the next screen will allow you to enter your company details.

NB. Whether you are correcting your information, or entering it from scratch, whatever you enter MUST be EXACTLY the same as what appears on your validation documents and what you entered for NCAGE. Make sure that what you entered for “Organization name” on NCAGE is exactly the same on SAM. Whatever is entered on the street address must also match, line for line.

Enter your start date (the year your business opened its doors).

Your National Identifier can be your VAT number, your Company registration number, or your SARS tax number. Whichever one you choose to use, must be validated by supporting documentation.

If your CIPC certificate has your correct legal business name and correct physical address, it is advisable to use your Company registration number as your national identifier. (If it only has your postal address, it cannot be used to verify your physical address, then you will have to upload a different document which contains your legal business name and your correct physical address.)

If you do not have a CIPC certificate, then use your VAT certificate or your SARS tax return.

On the next screen you will be asked to confirm if the information you entered is correct. If it’s not correct, go back and change it.

You will again have to verify that your information is correct.

You will now upload documents confirming the information which you have just entered.

Click on the Yellow block to view the list of acceptable documents, if you are still unsure.

The next step is attaching your supporting documents.

All the documents which you upload, must not be older than 3 years and must verify the information which you have just entered – i.e. legal business name, physical address, start year, national identifier. You can attach multiple documents if all the information does not appear on just one document, BUT make sure that your Legal business name appears on all the documents.

If any of your documents are in a language other than English, you must also submit a certified translation of that document into English.

Make sure to rename all your documents to reflect exactly which information you are verifying on that document.

E.g. If you upload your municipal account which has your legal business name and your physical address, then name that document “Utility bill – legal name and physical address”.

If you upload your CIPC certificate and it has your correct physical address too, then rename it “Certificate of incorporation – Legal name, start year, physical address, national identifier”.

If you did not use your company registration number as your national identifier, and you used your SARS tax number or your VAT number instead, rename that document “National Identifier”.

Once your documents are all uploaded, go to the “Provide details” block and list/explain which documents verify which information. The more information you provide to avoid any misunderstanding on SAM’s end, the better chance you have of getting your validation approved first time.

Once you have submitted your documents, you will receive a ticket or “Incident number” from FSD.gov. This Incident number will be displayed on the screen, it will be sent to you by email and it will be visible on your entity Workspace.

Keep checking your emails – You should receive an email to inform you if your validation was successful or not.

If it was successful, your email should say “We have found your entity and updated your data based on what you sent us, and you need to take action to finish your registration or get your Unique Entity ID.”

If validation was NOT successful, you will receive a notification explaining what part of the information caused the discrepancy. Please action immediately and follow the instructions to correct whatever they state is the issue. If you are asked for more information, please respond within 2 days, or your ticket will be closed and you will have to start all over again.

If they only ask for information, you can respond to the email to enter the information in your ticket.

However, if you need to provide more documentation, log into SAM.gov and upload it there.

Once you have logged in, go to “Workspace” and click on the “1” in the circle above “Pending ID Assignment”

Below your business details you will see your Cases – open your ticket and upload the documents. Do not upload documents or sensitive information on FSD.gov.

For help with validation issues, please go to this link and search for the article related to your issue. GSAFSD Tier 0 Knowledge Base - Validating your Entity

3.5 Request your Unique Entity Identifier:

Once your uploaded documents have been validated by FSD, you are not done yet.

Once you receive the email saying that your validation was successful, log back into Sam.gov to request your Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and complete the rest of your information.

If you are not able to find your entity after 2 business days, or if you have any questions or concerns, respond to the email notification/ticket, or update your incident at FSD.gov within five business days, to ensure that your ticket remains open.

To request your UEI, you will repeat the process you went through before, but you will not have to submit documents again.

1. Sign in to SAM.gov. Select "Workspace" at the top of the screen and click on the number “1” above “Pending ID Assignment”.

2. Select the Actions menu (the white circle with the three vertical black dots) to the right of the entity's expiration date.

Select “Update”.

3. When you reach the "Enter Entity Information" screen, enter the name and address exactly as it appears in your email notification, then select "Next".

4. Check the box about being able to provide documents and select "Next."

5. You will see a list of entries which match your business.

6. Find the entry which matches your business name and address 100%

5. Scroll back up and select "I recognize my entity" and then select the entry which matches your business.

6. Confirm the information is correct.

7. You will be asked if you want to include your business details and non-sensitive information in public searches. (This is optional, so you can deselect the tick if you prefer)

8. Select the option which says that you are an employee of the business.

9. Check the box stating that you are authorized to conduct transactions on behalf of your company, then click on “Receive Unique Entity ID”.

Click on “Continue Registration” to complete the rest of your information.

Once you’ve received your UEI, your entity status will show as “ID Assigned”

These two videos have lots of useful information on how to create a new account and how to upload your verification documents (remember that you are applying for “all awards” and not just a UEI and remember that they are speaking to US based companies) and how to upload documents for validation.

Video: (199) Validating Your Entity in SAM.gov - YouTube Video: (235) How to Register for a UEI - YouTube

3.6 I’ve received my UEI, how do I complete the rest of the registration:

If you are still logged in, click on “Continue Registration”.

If not, log in again and go to WORKSPACE and select the “1” above “Registration in Process”. Once you see this screen with your correct business details, look for the Actions menu (the white circle with the three vertical black dots) to the right of the entity's expiration date. Click on the button and select “Register”

Select “Other” for your Entity type and why you are registering.

Select the first option “I want to be able to bid on federal contracts or other procurement opportunities”.

You will now see a screen outlining the additional sections which you need to complete. You will need to complete each page before you can click on “Next” to continue. Once you’ve completed a page, you can always go back to previous pages.

Your status will remain in “Work in Progress Registration” until you have submitted it at the end.

Do not worry if you cannot complete everything in one sitting - you can log in again later and continue where you left off, but you will be taken through the previous screens again.

3.7 CORE DATA:

Keep in mind that SAM is used to register for U.S. Federal Government business opportunities, therefore many of the questions asked, are from the U.S. point of view.

For example:

· When SAM asks whether the vendor is a small business, this refers only to small businesses based in the US. Foreign vendors are always considered to be “other than small” or “large.”

· Only fill in the Tax ID number if it is a U.S. Tax ID number. Otherwise, leave it blank.

You will now be asked to provide information based on your purpose of registration.

Complete all fields which are marked with a red asterisk “*”, unless the field is greyed out and does not allow you to make any changes.

Enter your company’s start date in the format indicated.

The “Fiscal Year End” is the date on which your financial year ends.

South African (overseas) companies do not have a TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) – it is only needed if your business pays U.S. taxes, otherwise leave it blank or as “Please select value”.

Only if your business has a US bank account, then you need to complete Taxpayer Name and Taxpayer Address fields. However, lately we have found that the fields for banking details are now mandatory, so you will need to provide some of the information even if you do not have a US bank account.

When asked if “you are a successor to a predecessor that held a Federal contract within the last 3 years”, you only answer yes if your company was acquired or “taken over” by a new company and now operates under a new name, and your original company held a federal contract in the past 3 years. If the original company did not hold a federal contract in the past 3 years, then answer “no”.

South African companies can leave all the fields on this page blank, or as “not applicable”.

Organization Factors – Not applicable.

Select whether you manufacture goods, or only provide services.

Select “Other” under Entity Structure.

Select whether you are a for-profit or not-for-profit organization

Skip all questions asking you to select Socio-economic categories – they do not apply to South African businesses.

Indicate whether you accept Credit Cards for payment.

Only if your business has a US bank account, do you provide this electronic banking information, Lockbox number - leave this blank ACH (Automated Clearing House): leave all the fields blank Complete only the Remittance Address. Make sure that you select SA in the country dropdown list.

HOWEVER, we have noticed lately that overseas businesses are now also required to enter their banking details. If the fields for banking details are marked with an asterisk you cannot continue without entering your banking details, then go ahead and enter it, including the ABA routing number (this is not the SWIFT code) and telephone number. You can leave the lockbox and ACH fields blank.

Executive Compensation: If you answer no to question 1 on this page, question 2 is not applicable and you can proceed to the next page. If you answer yes, you must also answer question 2. If you answer yes to question 2 you must also then supply the names and salaries of the top five executives in your organization.

Proceedings Questions: Most of your responses will be “no” or “not applicable” but if you are uncertain you can search for FAR clauses and their explanations here: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far Information Opt-out: You may opt to not have your entity’s information displayed publicly.

Once all your Core Data has been completed, the last page will ask you to “Review Core Data”. If you entered anything incorrectly, you can click on “EDIT” and go back to make the necessary corrections.

This video has some more useful information on completing the “Core Data”.

Remember that not all fields apply to South African companies.

Video: (235) Entity Registration - Core Data - YouTube

3.8 ASSERTIONS:

Select “yes” if asked whether you want to complete your assertions.

What is a NAICS code: This identifies the industry sector your business falls under. It is advisable to select more than one sector and more than one code under each sector, if applicable.

What is a PSC: This is what service your business provides or products it supplies/sells manufactures. It is advisable to select more than one PSC, if applicable.

NAICS Codes are for the business function and PSC Codes are for the product/service itself.

Search for NAICS and PSC Codes using this link:

DPC Product Service Code Selection Tool (psctool.us) In the search field type in a keyword which you feel describes your industry/service/product type. This will give you the list of all the NAICS and PSC codes which are relevant to that keyword.

Try a few different key words and select the best matches for your business.

Remember, this is not an exact science, so don’t worry about selecting an incorrect code. You can select one, or multiple codes, but preferably select 3-4 PSC codes and 3-4 NAICS codes. Write all the NAICS and PSC codes down, because you will need to go back to sam.gov to enter them.

**One of the NAICS codes which you entered will need to be marked as the primary NAICS code.

When entering them in SAM.gov, enter the codes one by one and click on “add” after each code that you entered. First enter the NAICS codes in the NAICS block and then the PSC codes in the PSC block.

Size metrics: Leave IGT Size metrics blank Annual Receipts – This is your “total income” (or “gross income”) plus the “cost of goods sold.” These numbers can normally be found on your tax return forms. Receipts are averaged over a business' latest three complete fiscal years to determine the average annual receipts.

Enter your amount in US Dollars, without decimals, commas or a Dollar sign.

“Worldwide” includes Head Office as well as any local and overseas branches.

“Location” includes only the branch/division you are applying for.

Leave the “Barrels Capacity”, “Megawatt hours” and “Total assets” fields blank.

You can leave “EDI Information” blank.

Select “no” to be included in the Disaster Response Registry Select “no” for requiring bonding to bid on contracts.

When you get to the “Review Assertions” page, you can click on “EDIT” if you need to make any changes.

3.9 REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS:

This section consists of 46 questions.

Question 1 - This is the person who is responsible for compiling and approving quotes.

Question 2 - Do you have other branches who will perform work on your contracts?

Question 4 - Select “Yes”

Questions 6-46 - you will answer “no”, “none” or “not applicable” for almost all of these questions, but make sure to read all the questions before responding. Depending on your business type or the industry you are in, you may need to enter a different response for a few questions.

Question 27 - If you have not selected the NAICS listed here, you are not required to answer the Architect-Engineer Response questions.

Question 35 - Your response for must match your response on the NDAA Compliance Declaration which you already completed.

When you get to the end, after question 46, tick the checkbox which says “I have read each of the FAR ….”

Select “no” for Federal financial assistance programs.

3.10 POINTS OF CONTACT (POC):

You will be asked to enter Points of Contact. The people you enter here will not automatically receive a role in SAM.gov. You can assign roles to them later, if necessary.

Accounts receivable POC – usually your financial manager Electronic business POC – the person who manages your website, electronic commerce etc Government POC – the person who will deal with contracts received from the US Embassy or Consulates If you do not have 3 separate people, you may enter the same person more than once.

Enter telephone numbers in the format as indicated E.g. Non-US phone is xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx, so +27 (0)12 431-4300 will be entered 0027-0124314300

You’re almost done

3.11 SUBMITTING YOUR REGISTRATION:

Entity Review: Before you can submit your registration, the system displays a summary of all the information which you have entered. Review the summary to make sure that everything is correct. You can expand each of the tabs in the navigation menu to make sure every page is complete. If you click on each section, the tab expands and you will see either green checks, grey dots or a red x. The red x or grey dot means that you need to return to that section. If you have green checks on every section you can scroll to the bottom of the page and select the “submit” button.

You will be asked to request an OTP confirming that you have submitted your registration. The OTP will be sent to you in an email coming from donotreply@sam.gov.

Once you entered the OTP you will receive a “Registration Submitted” or “Congratulations” message on the screen and your status will also show as “Registration submitted” in your workspace.

If you do not see this message, you have not submitted your registration and you will need to go back through your registration and select the submit button again.

You will receive an email from donotreply@sam.gov confirming that you successfully submitted the entity registration and that the registration record will remain in “Submitted” status until all external validations are complete.

If you receive an email asking for more information, or a letter which formally designates the authorized administrator for your business, PLEASE RESPOND PROMPTLY. You can find more information on what this letter must contain, at the bottom of this document. If you receive an email like this, you will have 2 days to respond, otherwise the incident will be closed and you will have to start over again.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

I received an email saying that I failed validation. What now?

If your entity fails SAM validation, FSD.gov will open a support desk incident on your behalf and send you an email with instructions on updating your information and resubmitting your registration. If you receive an email like this, PLEASE RESPOND PROMPTLY, you will have 2 days to respond, otherwise the incident will be closed and you will have to start over again.

If you fail validation because there is mismatched information between NCAGE and SAM, you need to make sure that both NCAGE and SAM match the details which are on your validation documents 100% first.

My details on NCAGE are incorrect:

If any of the information on NCAGE is different to your validation documents, you need to update your information there first, then wait for 3-4 days for it to pull through to SAM.gov again. Log back into SAM.gov and go through steps 3.1 and 3.2 (page 9-13) again, making sure that you enter your details correctly and selecting the correct profile from the list. before resubmitting your validation documents again. sam.gov.

NCAGE is correct, but my details on SAM are incorrect:

If NCAGE is correct, but there is a discrepancy on SAM, you do not need to go back to NCAGE.

Log back into SAM.gov and click on Workspace.

Open your entity registration by clicking on the “1” in the circle above “Submitted”.

Once you see the screen with your business details, look for the Actions menu (the white circle with the three vertical black dots) to the right of the entity's expiration date.

Click on the button and select “Update” Go through steps 3.1 and 3.2 (page 9-13) again, making sure that you enter your details correctly and selecting the correct profile from the list. before resubmitting your validation documents again.

Please keep us updated on your progress and forward your Unique Entity ID as soon as you receive it.

When will my registration become active?

Your Entity status will remain in “registration submitted” status until the validation is completed. The validation process takes up to 12 working days - you will receive an email when your financial validation is completed and another email when your NCAGE validation is completed.

“The registration for …….. / UEI ……. / NCAGE ….. is now active in the U.S. federal government's System for Award Management (SAM). If you did not provide a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code during the registration process, one has been assigned to you by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) CAGE Program.”

Only after a SAM registration is completed and fully validated can a vendor be considered to have a current, active registration in SAM. You can check by logging into your SAM.gov account. If you are active, you will see “ Active” next to your business name.

How do I check the status of my entity registration?

If you have a role with an entity and are signed in to your SAM.gov account, you can check your entity registration status at https://sam.gov/content/status-tracker.

Here you can see where in the registration process you are and if any action is required from your side. If you are already registered, you can check whether your entity registration has expired, or is still active.

This is an example of what a status check looks like:

When does my SAM registration expire?

Keep your SAM Registration current and active. The SAM registration is valid for 1 year only and must be renewed annually in order to stay active. It is therefore advisable to keep your usernames and passwords somewhere safe and to have more than one administrator for your business’ SAM.gov registration.

If the Administrator on your current SAM.gov account is no longer at the company, you do not have the login details or your do not have a secondary administrator assigned, you may battle for weeks trying to get access to your account.

In that case, please check this link and follow the instructions:

GSAFSD_kb_articles - GSA Federal Service Desk Service Portal

Each time you renew your registration or want to update your business name or address, you will need to go through the validation process again.

If you do not update and renew your registration annually, it will expire and you will no longer be eligible for contracts or grants exceeding $30 000.00, until your registration is active again.

The person who originally did the SAM registration no longer works at the company:

If you lose access to the email address associated with the Primary Entity Administrator’s SAM.gov user account, because the person is no longer at the company, you need to appoint a NEW Primary Administrator. This also applies if someone else needs to become the Primary Administrator instead.

You will need to submit an Entity Administrator Appointment Letter on FSD.gov

Assigning roles for a secondary administrator, or a new primary administrator:

The person who creates an account on SAM.gov and registers a business (Entity) for the first time, is automatically assigned the role of “Primary Administrator”.

It’s a good idea to assign an Administrator role to at least 2 people in your business. This will ensure that there is always at least one person who can manage your SAM registration, should the other one be on leave, or resign from the company. You do not need to submit another notarized letter for the 2nd administrator, unless the primary administrator role must be assigned to a new person.

The following link provide more information on roles for non-federal users, the different roles available and who needs what role. Please note that you are a “NON-FEDERAL” user.

https://www.fsd.gov/sys_attachment.do?sys_id=95bccdd01b87655006b09796bc4bcb2a The following is an explanation of entity registration roles:

● Administrator: You can administer viewer, data entry, and administrator roles; manage hierarchy registration requests; deactivate, view, and update active and expired registrations;

delete, view, and update draft registrations; register entities.

● Data Entry: You can view and update active and expired registrations; delete, view, and update draft registrations; and register entities.

● Viewer: You can view active and expired registrations and view draft and submitted registrations.

For SAM registration purposes (and renewal of an expired registration, we will only be using the Administrator role.

If you need to be listed as a secondary administrator for your entity, the current administrator will need to assign that role directly to you (Knowledge Article KB0036075).

How do I become a NEW Primary Administrator?

To become your company’s new primary administrator, follow the instructions on the link below and use the letter templates to prepare and submit your Entity Administrator Appointment letter. https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0016652&sys_kb_id=70b2d5051ba43510cc45ea04bc4bcb57&spa=1

· Scroll down within this article and locate the templates.

· Click the blue hyperlink of the template you would like to use. (This will download a word document to your device.) South African companies with no US bank account must use TEMPLATE 3 - International entity with no US bank account.

· Page 1 of the template provides further instructions – Do not include the instruction page in your letter.

· Once the letter is created, please navigate back to the FSD.gov home page.

You will sign in with the same login credentials as on SAM.gov. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Create Incident”.

Under System Name select “SAM” and under Issue type select “Entity Administrator Appointment Letter”. Complete the rest of the form and attach your letter.

The primary requirements that you’ll need to include in your Entity Administrator Appointment Letter are:

· Business UEI number (exactly as it appears in SAM.gov)

· Business legal name (exactly as it appears in SAM.gov)

· Business physical address (exactly as it appears in SAM.gov)

· Entity Administrator full name

· Entity Administrator phone number

· Entity Administrator email address

· Signatory name (The letter must be on company/organization letterhead and signed by an authorized signature authority within your organization.)

· Signatory title

· Signatory email address

NOTE:

Please do not attach documents containing Personally Identifying Information (PII), Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), or other sensitive, unsolicited information to your FSD Tickets.

How to become a SECONDARY/ADDITIONAL administrator:

If you do not yet have your own user account in SAM.gov, you need to create one first (See instructions on pg. 7) Log into your account and go to your workspace.

At the bottom right of the screen you will see “Add a new role”.

In the domain field select “Entity Registration”, select “Data Entry” and click the box which says “I verify I have a business need for this role” and click on “request role”. Enter your business’ UEI or NCAGE number, select the role you are requesting (Administrator), the domain and click submit. When the Primary Administrator receives the role request, they can accept, reject or edit the role.

Once your request has been approved, it may take up to 15 minutes before you can see your business under your Workspace.

Only a current Entity Administrator can assign the administrator role (or other roles) to other people in your organization. If you lose access to the SAM.gov user account with the Entity Administrator role, you must submit an Entity Administrator Appointment Letter to the Federal Service Desk (FSD.gov) to appoint a new one.

If you are the primary administrator and want to assign an administrator role to another person in your business:

The Primary Administrator must invite the person who needs the 2nd administrator role and that person must accept the invite and the role.

To assign another administrator, the Primary Administrator must sign into their account and go to “Workspace” and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Click on “Assign Role”, then enter the person’s email address. Once you enter the email address, the system will check if there is an existing SAM.gov account associated with that email address.

Once the rest of the information is completed, click on “send invitation”. The system will send that person an email invitation with instructions.

The 2nd person does not have to have a user account already set up on SAM.gov to accept the invite.

If the person does not already have a SAM.gov account, the email will provide a link where a new account can be created. Always select “Voice or text message” as the Multi-factor Authentication method.

If the person already has a SAM.gov account, they will be prompted to accept the role the next time they sign in.

Once the new account has been created on your own email address, go to SAM.gov and log in with your newly created login credentials. Now you will see the role request, which you must open and accept. Once accepted, go to Workspace, where you will see your Company’s SAM registration profile. From here, you can make updates or renew your expired registration.

When do I need an Entity Administrator Appointment Letter?

GSAFSD_kb_articles - GSA Federal Service Desk Service Portal The person who creates an account on SAM.gov and registers a business (Entity) for the first time, is automatically assigned the role of “Primary Administrator”.

GSAFSD_kb_articles - GSA Federal Service Desk Service Portal Other users can also request to become an additional administrator, or a Primary Entity Administrator can invite other users to become an entity administrator.

SAM.gov requires an Entity Administrator Appointment Letter when:

1. Your organization has an active or inactive registration, but there is no existing administrator, or if access to the administrator account has been lost:

Only a current Primary Entity Administrator can assign the administrator role (or other roles) to other people in your organization. If you lose access to the SAM.gov user account with the Primary Entity Administrator role, you must submit an Entity Administrator Appointment Letter to the Federal…