Every entity receiving a federal award needs an active SAM.gov registration and a Unique Entity ID. No registration, no award — however good the application.
Three things to know
It is free. Always, without exception. Third parties charge to do it for you, and some are designed to look official. Nothing about the process requires payment.
It takes weeks, not days. First-time registration includes entity validation, which can require documentary evidence that your legal name and physical address match your formation records. Mismatches are common and slow to resolve.
It expires annually. A lapsed registration can block payment on an award you already hold. This catches experienced organizations, not just new ones.
The UEI replaced DUNS
The Unique Entity ID replaced the DUNS number in April 2022.
This is a useful test for any grant guidance you read: if it tells you to get a DUNS number, it is at least four years stale, and you should be suspicious of everything else in it.
Registration is a stack, not a step
SAM.gov is the first layer. Depending on where you are applying you will also need:
- Grants.gov account, with an Authorized Organization Representative approved by your organization’s E-Business Point of Contact — an internal step involving a real person
- SBIR company registration, for any of the eleven SBIR agencies
- Agency systems — eRA Commons for NIH, Research.gov for NSF, DSIP for Defense
None is difficult. All are slow, and each is a hard gate.
Do it before you need it
The most common avoidable failure in federal grantseeking is discovering an opportunity, starting registration, and missing the deadline. If you are not currently registered, that is this month’s task regardless of whether you have found something to apply to.
Going deeper
Eligibility and registration — the gates before the deadline covers size standards, the affiliation trap and the full stack.