To become a government contractor, you register your business in the federal System for Award Management at SAM.gov, classify what you sell using a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, confirm whether you qualify as a small business under that code, and then search federal solicitations for work that fits. Everything else — certifications, GSA Schedules, bonding, security clearances — is layered on top of those basics depending on what you sell and who you sell it to.
The steps below follow that order.
Pick Your NAICS Code and Check the Size Standard
Every federal solicitation is tied to a six-digit NAICS code that describes the work. You can look codes up through the Census Bureau tools or the NAICS website. Your primary code should match what you mostly do; you can list secondary codes for other lines of work.
The code matters for two reasons. First, agencies filter opportunities by NAICS, so buyers looking for what you sell need to find you under the right code. Second, the Small Business Administration sets a size standard for each NAICS code, expressed either as maximum average annual revenue or maximum number of employees.1eCFR. 13 CFR Part 121 – Small Business Size Regulations The limits vary widely:
- Engineering services (NAICS 541330): $25.5 million in average annual revenue
- Custom computer programming (NAICS 541511): $34 million in average annual revenue
- Machine shops (NAICS 332710): 500 employees
- Full-service restaurants (NAICS 722511): $11.5 million in average annual revenue
- Couriers and express delivery (NAICS 492110): 1,500 employees
If your firm, combined with any affiliated companies, falls below the size standard for a given NAICS code, you qualify as small for contracts under that code. That qualification is what opens the door to small business set-aside contracts and the socioeconomic programs described later.
Register in SAM.gov
SAM.gov is the only authorized portal for federal contractor registration, and registration is free. When you start, the system issues a Unique Entity ID (UEI), a 12-character identifier that replaced the old DUNS number across federal award systems.2General Services Administration. Unique Entity ID Is Here
Have these ready before you start:
- Your Taxpayer Identification Number or Employer Identification Number from the IRS
- Your bank’s routing number and your account number for electronic payments
- Your NAICS codes
A large part of the registration is the Representations and Certifications section, where you attest to compliance with labor, environmental, and ethics rules and disclose corporate officers and any prior debarments or suspensions.3eCFR. 48 CFR Part 4 Subpart 4.12 – Representations and Certifications False statements here can trigger civil penalties or criminal liability under the False Claims Act, so answer carefully.
Your registration must be renewed every 365 days.4SAM.gov. Get Started With Registration and the Unique Entity ID If it lapses, you become ineligible for new awards until you renew. You can update information at any time in between.
One habit to build early: before you team with another company or hire a subcontractor, use the exclusion search on SAM.gov to confirm they have not been suspended or debarred. As the prime contractor, you are responsible for making sure your subcontractors are eligible.5Acquisition.GOV. FAR 9.404 – Exclusions in the System for Award Management
Decide Whether a Socioeconomic Certification Fits You
You do not need any certification to bid on open-market federal contracts. But qualifying for a set-aside program significantly expands what you can compete for, because certain solicitations are restricted to certified firms only.
8(a) Business Development
The 8(a) program is a nine-year program for firms at least 51 percent owned and controlled by individuals who are both socially and economically disadvantaged.6eCFR. 13 CFR Part 124 Subpart A – 8(a) Business Development Application requires personal financial statements, tax returns, bank statements, and a narrative describing your social disadvantage. Disadvantaged owners must run day-to-day operations, not just hold shares.
Women-Owned Small Business
A WOSB must be at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more women who are U.S. citizens, and those women must handle both strategic decisions and day-to-day management.7eCFR. 13 CFR Part 127 – Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program The Economically Disadvantaged variant adds a financial-need test.
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business
An SDVOSB must be owned and controlled by one or more veterans with a service-connected disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The veteran must hold the highest officer position and directly manage the company.
HUBZone
HUBZone eligibility is about location. Your principal office must be inside a designated Historically Underutilized Business Zone, and at least 35 percent of your employees must live in a HUBZone.8eCFR. 13 CFR Part 126 – HUBZone Program You verify with lease agreements, utility bills, and payroll records. After winning a HUBZone contract, you must attempt to maintain that 35 percent residency threshold throughout performance.
Find Opportunities That Fit
The Contract Opportunities section of SAM.gov is where federal agencies post active solicitations.9SAM.gov. Contract Opportunities Anyone can browse without an account, but signing in lets you save searches, track changes, and join interested-vendor lists. You’ll see pre-solicitation notices, formal requests for proposals (RFPs), requests for quotations (RFQs), sole-source notices, and award notices.
Each solicitation spells out what the agency needs, how to format your response, and the submission deadline. Late submissions are almost never considered, regardless of the reason.
The GSA Schedule as an Alternate Path
Instead of chasing individual solicitations, you can pursue a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract. GSA pre-approves your pricing and terms once, and then federal buyers place orders through the GSA Advantage catalog and other ordering tools. The steps:10General Services Administration. Roadmap to Get a MAS Contract
- Complete the required Pathways to Success training and readiness assessment (roughly three to four hours).
- Read the MAS solicitation and identify the category that fits your offering.
- Register in the eOffer system in addition to SAM.gov.
- Submit your offer with pricing, relevant experience, financial statements, and any category-specific documents.
A MAS contract has a five-year base with three five-year options, so it can run up to 20 years. Firms with less than two years of experience in the offered products or services may qualify under GSA’s Startup Springboard, which allows executive experience and alternative financial documentation in place of a full corporate track record.
Subcontracting as an Entry Point
Subcontracting under an established prime is one of the most common ways new businesses break in. Large businesses that win contracts expected to exceed $900,000 ($2 million for construction) must submit a formal small business subcontracting plan.11Acquisition.GOV. Subpart 19.7 – The Small Business Subcontracting Program Those primes actively look for qualified small business partners to meet their subcontracting goals, which creates a real opening for newer firms.
Understand How Your Bid Will Be Evaluated
How agencies pick a winner depends on the acquisition method, and knowing which one you’re facing changes how you write the proposal.
Under sealed bidding, all bids are opened publicly at a set time and the award typically goes to the lowest-priced responsive bidder.12eCFR. 48 CFR Part 14 – Sealed Bidding Price dominates, and there’s no negotiation after opening. This method fits straightforward purchases with clearly defined requirements.
For more complex work, agencies use competitive proposals, also called negotiated procurements. Evaluators weigh technical approach, management capability, and past performance alongside price.13Acquisition.GOV. Part 15 – Contracting by Negotiation A stronger technical proposal can beat a lower price when the solicitation says technical factors outweigh cost.
If you’re new and have no relevant past performance history, the agency cannot count that against you. Your lack of history must be treated as neutral, neither favorable nor unfavorable.14eCFR. 48 CFR 15.305 – Proposal Evaluation That rule is what keeps set-aside competitions open to first-time bidders.
Not every purchase runs through a full competition. Contracts at or below the simplified acquisition threshold of $350,000 use streamlined procedures with less paperwork.15Federal Register. Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds Below the micro-purchase threshold of $15,000, an agency can buy directly from a vendor without soliciting competitive quotes. For construction subject to prevailing-wage laws, the micro-purchase threshold drops to $2,000; for services covered by labor-standards laws, it drops to $2,500. These lower-dollar buys are a practical way to start building a performance record.
What Happens After You Win
Federal contracts come with ongoing compliance obligations that go beyond delivering the work on time.
Accounting. Cost-reimbursement contracts and many larger fixed-price contracts require an accounting system that can withstand a Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) review. An adequate system separates direct from indirect costs, tracks labor hours by contract, allocates overhead consistently, excludes unallowable costs, posts at least monthly, and produces billing records that reconcile to your general ledger.16Defense Contract Audit Agency. Accounting System Requirements and Pre-Award Audits Set this up before you bid on cost-type contracts.
Labor standards. Service contracts covered by the Service Contract Act require you to pay at least the prevailing wage rate set by the Department of Labor for the work location and job classification, or an applicable Executive Order minimum wage, whichever is higher.17eCFR. 29 CFR Part 23 Subpart C – Contractor Requirements Construction has parallel rules under the Davis-Bacon Act. Both require posting wage determinations at the worksite.
Invoicing and payment. Defense contracts typically require electronic invoicing through the Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) system inside the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE). Register at piee.eb.mil, and get your CAGE code (a five-character facility identifier) activated before you try to submit. Civilian agencies may specify different portals in the contract, so read the payment instructions in every award. Under the Prompt Payment Act, agencies must pay proper invoices within 30 days of receipt in most cases; deadlines are shorter for perishables (seven days for meat and fish, ten days for dairy and agricultural commodities), and missed deadlines trigger automatic interest.18eCFR. 5 CFR 1315.4 – Prompt Payment Standards and Required Notices
If You Don’t Win: Debriefings and Protests
Losing bidders in competitive procurements have the right to a debriefing. At a post-award debriefing the agency must disclose, at minimum, the evaluated cost and technical rating of both the winner and your firm, any significant weaknesses in your proposal, the overall ranking of bidders if one was developed, and a summary of why the winner was selected.19eCFR. 48 CFR Part 15 Subpart 15.5 – Preaward, Award, and Postaward Notifications, Protests, and Mistakes The agency will not share other bidders’ proprietary cost data or their past-performance references.
If you think the agency made an error, you can file a bid protest. Agency-level protests must be received within 10 days of award, or within 5 days after a debriefing, whichever is later.20Acquisition.GOV. FAR 33.103 – Protests to the Agency Protests to the Government Accountability Office follow the same 10-day clock, and a timely GAO protest requires the agency to immediately suspend contract performance while the protest is resolved.21Acquisition.GOV. FAR Subpart 33.1 – Protests Filing an agency protest does not extend the GAO deadline, so if you’re considering GAO, act quickly even while the agency reviews your initial complaint.
Two Situations With Extra Requirements
If you’re aiming at federal construction work, budget for bonding. The Miller Act requires both a performance bond and a payment bond on any federal construction contract over $150,000.22Acquisition.GOV. FAR 28.102-1 – General For construction between $35,000 and $150,000, the contracting officer picks from alternative payment protections such as a payment bond, an irrevocable letter of credit, a tripartite escrow agreement, or certificates of deposit. Bonding capacity is a common barrier for newer construction firms, so start the relationship with a surety company early.
If you’re aiming at defense or intelligence work involving classified information, you’ll need a facility security clearance (FCL) and cleared personnel. You cannot apply for an FCL on your own; a government contracting activity or an already-cleared contractor must sponsor you based on a legitimate need to access classified material. Key management (at minimum the senior management official, facility security officer, and insider threat program senior official) must obtain personal clearances, and your company must not be under foreign ownership, control, or influence. The government funds clearance processing, but the timeline runs several months depending on the investigation tier. Not every contract requires clearances, so treat this as a lane rather than a general requirement.