SAM.gov and Associated Registrations

  • November 11, 2020

Are you the type of person that waits until the last possible minute of a deadline? If so, it may benefit you to recognize and avoid this behavior pattern as a business owner when registering for federal accounts. Federal funding requires applicants to register for several accounts before being able to submit a proposal. The fact is, many of these registrations take significant time to approve, and if you miss the deadline, that’s it. There will be no extensions or second chances to submit until the next Funding Opportunity Announcement is released – and some agencies only release one per year.

Don’t Wait, Register Today!

If you do not plan on immediately applying for federal funding, you may be inclined to skip these registrations, but we are here to tell you that may not be the wisest choice. After all, you do not plan on a tree falling on your house or another motorist sideswiping your car. Still, you purchase insurance anyway so that if these things ever do happen, you know you are covered and already have an account in place to take care of the issue.

The Benefits

The most important accounts to register for is SAM (system for awards management) and SBA (small business administration) registry.

SAM enables you to accept government funds and the SBA registration is required to apply to many federal funding opportunities. In addition to these two registrations, it is advisable to register with grants.gov, which is a platform that accepts proposals for multiple federal agencies, as well as with any proprietary platforms that correspond to the major government agencies that supply funding (e.g., Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health) that may be relevant to your industry or business plan.

In the words of Nike, “just do it”! Apply for SAM (system for awards management), register with the SBA and grants.gov. It does not take an absurd amount of time and effort.

SAM takes the longest to approve (~3 weeks on average), but the actual effort involved is minimal and only involves the input of some basic information. Most business owners complete it within an hour. The same is true of the workload for grants.gov and SBA, although their turnaround time is often much faster (within ~7 business days). There is no reason to wait for the last minute to create an account with these registries. Even the busiest among us have an hour or so to spare per week. The next time you find yourself aimlessly scrolling through your social media feed for the eighth time that day, for example, would be an ideal time to fill out your SAM application.


We work with high-growth startups and organizations that support the startup and innovation ecosystem. We build highly specific non-dilutive funding menus, provide proposal preparation services, and measure outcomes of funding through evaluation. Schedule a consult call with us HERE.

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