UEI vs DUNS: Why DUNS Was Replaced
UEI vs DUNS is a question many federal contractors still ask, years after the change. If you have an old DUNS number on a capability statement, a proposal, or a vendor profile, you may wonder whether it still works. The short answer is that DUNS has been replaced. Since April 4, 2022, the Unique Entity […]
SAM.gov Notarized Letter: Do You Still Need One?
Do you still need a SAM.gov notarized letter in 2026? For most entities, the answer is no. The SAM.gov notarized letter was once a required step for new entity registrations, but the process has changed, and today most entities complete identity verification in other ways. This guide explains when the letter was required, what replaced […]
How to Update Your SAM.gov Registration After a Business Change
Learning how to update SAM.gov registration after a business change is essential if you want to keep bidding on federal contracts, getting paid on time, and staying eligible for awards. A SAM.gov registration is not a one-time filing: it must reflect your current legal name, address, ownership, banking information, and NAICS codes, and it must […]
SAM.gov vs Grants.gov: What’s the Difference?
Newcomers to federal funding often treat SAM.gov and Grants.gov as if they were the same system, or assume that registering on one covers the other. They are related, but they do different jobs, and confusing them is one of the most common reasons applications stall. SAM.gov is the government’s system for registering entities and listing […]
How Long Does SAM.gov Registration Take in 2026?
“How long does SAM.gov registration take?” is one of the first questions every new federal contractor asks, and the honest answer is: it depends — mostly on how prepared you are. Some businesses complete the process in a week. Others wait a month or more, usually because of a single avoidable delay. This guide gives […]
SAM.gov Exclusions Check: What It Means and Why It Matters
Before the federal government awards a contract, it checks whether the vendor is excluded — barred from doing business with the government. That check runs through SAM.gov’s exclusions records, and it applies not only to prime contractors but, in many cases, to subcontractors and key individuals as well. Yet many small businesses have never run […]
DSBS Profile Explained: How Primes Find You on Dynamic Small Business Search
Most small businesses in federal contracting spend their energy searching for opportunities. Far fewer spend energy making themselves searchable — and that is a missed opportunity, because a large share of subcontracting work starts the other way around. A prime contractor wins a contract, needs subcontractors, and searches for small businesses that fit. One of […]
SAM.gov Entity Administrator: Roles, Permissions and Setup
Every SAM.gov entity registration has an entity administrator, and that role controls more than most business owners realise. The entity administrator manages the registration, approves changes, receives renewal notices, and decides who else can work on the entity record. When the role is set up well, registration maintenance is routine. When it is set up […]
How to Check Your SAM.gov Registration Status
Your SAM.gov registration is the gateway to federal contracts. If it is not active on the day an agency checks, you cannot receive an award, no matter how strong your proposal is. Checking your registration status takes only a few minutes, but many new contractors do it wrong: they log in and assume everything is […]
SAM.gov Registration Mistakes That Delay Approval
Most SAM.gov registrations that stall do so for the same handful of avoidable reasons. The system is not trying to reject you — it is checking that your business is who you say it is, and any inconsistency stops the process until it is resolved. Here are the mistakes that cause the longest delays, and […]