System for Award Management Alert – Renew Before 60 Days Expiration Date in SAM

ST. PETERSBURG, FL--(Marketwired - August 27, 2015) - In order to pursue Federal Contracts you have to be active in SAM.gov or the System for Award Management. Bidding on Federal Contracts with less than 60 days remaining on your Federal SAM.gov registration significantly reduces your chances of getting awarded a contract. Failing to update the registration before this date may delay Federal payments and will definitely affect future Federal contracts. The System for Award Management or SAM.gov does not process updates the same day they are made, so please be prepared to update the registration up to 14 days before the 60 Day Expiration date. Businesses that have address changes or changes with POC’s will want to update this 74 days (14 days before their 60 Day expiration date) in advance to guarantee it will not affect future opportunities. If your business is unsure of your Federal Expiration date please use the SAM Status search on every page and the top of every page on https://www.uscontractorregistration.com. The site will automatically figure out the exact renewal date when you need to renew to prevent missed opportunities and payment issues. The site does not account for additional time needed for new POC’s or address changes as mentioned above when calculating expiration date.

The main reasons contracting officers do not like to award Federal Contracts to Business that are less then 60 Days from Expiring:

• The SAM.gov registration will need to be renewed before contract payment occurs. Below are the few reasons why this can be a problem.
• This is mainly a large problem with SAM lately due to many errors associated with renewals under new regulations especially with change of POC’s or new contacts at a company
• Changes in certification of ORCA filing due to new Foreign End Product Requirements
• New Requirements needed in the SAM Registration (This will be applicable if new requirements come, once you renew you are grandfathered in)
• Business owner simply forgetting to renew the registration
• Issues with the SAM database processing Renewals
• D&B update issues
• Address Change
• Company Name Change
• Merger – Acquisition – Novation Agreements
• It is highly recommended that you update your SAM.gov Registration often to keep everything up to date and certified. A sign that the business is not keeping the registration updated is very visible when it is placed on the 60 Day Expired List for SAM, since updates always reset the expiration date.
• Contracting Officers often have many bids from different vendors on each contract and a current registration less then 60 Days from expiration is a definite selling point for the business. Contracting officers like to view a registration free from errors and is more then 60 Days form expiration.

The Benefits of Renewing Your SAM.gov Registration early with US Federal Contractor Registration

Now the good news. SAM.gov registrations processed by US Federal Contractor Registration will update at the time of renewal and still be good for one calendar year after the previous expiration date. When you renew your registration with US Federal Contractor Registration you will still get the full time and the added benefit from not being on the 60 Day Expired Federal Contractors list sent by SAM.gov. So in short please renew your registration early and take advantage of all the Federal opportunities out there. Smart businesses renew 90 Days in advance to be sure no issues are present with renewal and to allow extra time to process changes such as new POC’s or address changes. Remember the date you click renew is not the date that you are renewed. The case managers at US Federal Contractor Registration still need to verify and update the data which can sometimes take up to 2 weeks.

Exceptions to renewing Early in SAM.gov (System for Award Management)

• Business Working their last Federal Contract – A dissolving or retiring business

Businesses that are not looking to take on any new Federal Contracts. The expiration date in SAM will work as long as the last Federal payment will occur before this date. If your final payment is after this date please renew early since you will be required to renew the registration before this final payment is received.

Contracting Officers are not allowed to issue payment if the SAM.gov Registration is not valid.

• Entities receiving Federal Grants

Federal Grant recipients that are not in open competition may not benefit directly from not being on the 60-Day Expiration list but it is still recommended that they renew early to prevent payment issues. Many Non-Profits have many volunteers and every year they change positions so allowing extra time to process these changes is still recommended. We have seen numerous Non-Profits along with state and local governments miss payments do to a registration update error. Remember it does not add to the entity cost to renew early with US Federal Contractor Registration. Your lifetime costs will always be the same and you will not have to worry about missing a payment if you renew early.

"Business looking to get Federal Contracts need to pay close attention to their expiration date in System for Award Management and remember renewing this registration is not an instant process. I have personally dealt with upset contractors that missed an award, due to failing to allow adequate time for the system to process an update. Renewing this registration 60 Days+ in advance is imperative for both large and small contractors to prevent issues like this from occurring in the future" Eric Knellinger, President of US Federal Contractor Registration

To renew your SAM.gov registration now please go to Renew my SAM.gov Registration

New entities looking to get registered please visit US Federal Contractor Registration.

The article can be found at Why do I need to renew my SAM Gov Registration 60 Days Early