An Update on the System for Award Management (SAM)

As the Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center (APAC) has recently shared, the General Services Administration (GSA)’s System for Award Management is supporting an active investigation by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) into alleged third-party fraudulent activity in SAM. GSA has already taken proactive steps to address this issue and has notified affected entities.

As part of these proactive steps, the GSA recently announced an expansion on the new notarized letter requirement. The following is a statement from the GSA:

“Beginning on April 27, 2018, entities renewing or updating their SAM registration will be required to submit an original, signed notarized letter confirming the authorized Entity Administrator associated with the DUNS number before the registration is activated.”

This is in addition to the current requirement for new SAM registrants to submit such a letter. Keep in mind that it is possible to have a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, but to not be active until you pass this final stage of the process.

GSA has developed a template that businesses can use to create this letter, and the Office of Systems Management of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) — the branch of GSA responsible for SAM — has reached out to several Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) experts for their feedback.

Our counselors at APAC were involved in this process, keeping you - our client - in mind. We will be happy to share a template with you when it comes time for you to renew your SAM registration. Please contact your APAC counselor for more assistance in this process.

Another change that has been made is your banking information and Tax ID number or Social Security number have been made more private, as well as your MPIN. The Marketing Partner ID Number (MPIN) is mandatory for all registrants to create during the System for Award Management (SAM) registration process. The MPIN acts as your password in other systems, such as FBO, and it is important to remember it along with your usernames and passwords.

We are always available to help you for FREE with submitting, renewing, or updating your SAM registration. We will help you understand the new requirement. Just give us a call at 501-671-2390, or send an email to ptac@uada.edu.