Can a sole proprietor register in SAM.gov, and which name goes in?
Whether a sole proprietor can register in SAM.gov, which name to type, and why this page does not decide entity type or size.
Updated
A sole proprietor can register in SAM.gov when the business will receive federal contracts or federal financial assistance, or when an agency or a prime asks for an active registration. The name you type is your legal name, and if the business was not formed with its state you ask the Federal Service Desk or a free counselor which record that name is checked against. This page does not decide your entity type or your size status.
Can a sole proprietor register in SAM.gov?
A sole proprietor can register in SAM.gov when the business will receive federal contracts or federal financial assistance, or when an agency or a prime asks for an active registration. That is the same reason any other entity registers. You state the entity type. This page does not.
The guide on how to register walks the order of a first registration, without click paths inside sam.gov. The guide on your UEI is the identifier. Neither page chooses an entity type for you.
Which name goes in?
The name that has to go in is your legal name. If the business was formed with its state, it is the name on your formation paperwork, character for character. If it was not, as with a sole proprietor, ask the Federal Service Desk or a free counselor which record your legal name is checked against before you start.
The name on your sign, on your invoices, or the name customers know is not the legal name unless it is the same string of characters. If you do business under a different name, that is a DBA, and SAM.gov has a separate place for it. Putting the DBA where the legal name belongs is a common reason a registration comes back. This page does not tell you which of your names is the legal one.
What about a taxpayer identification number?
A taxpayer identification number is asked only inside sam.gov's own forms. This page never shows one, never asks you to type one, and never shows a Social Security number.
That number is not part of the public record a lookup shows. The UEI is the public identifier, and it is a different thing. The guide on your UEI is that code.
Who decides the entity type and the size status?
You state the entity type. Size status is a different question: how a business counts as small depends on facts about the business and the work, and this page does not decide it for you.
Who owns and controls the business, and whether another business has to be counted with yours, are the same kind of question. Take them to a free counselor or an attorney. The card just below this guide names places to ask.
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