Supplier review · registration scope

All Awards or Financial Assistance Only?

An active SAM registration and the right registration purpose are separate checks. Before using a record for a federal contract opportunity, confirm its purpose as well as its identity, status and evidence date.

GSA’s checklist distinguishes All Awards from Financial Assistance Awards Only. Neither label, a UEI nor an “active” status is a complete vendor approval. This guide helps you record what has actually been established.

Three routes that do different jobs

The first two are registration options in GSA’s official checklist. The third obtains an identifier without completing registration. Do not treat them as three interchangeable levels of vendor approval.

Registration

All Awards

Contracts and assistance

GSA describes this as the registration option for bidding on contracts and other procurements, as well as applying for financial assistance.

Still check current status and the requirements of the specific opportunity.

Registration

Financial Assistance Awards Only

Assistance only

GSA describes this option as applying for financial assistance, including grants and loans, only.

This is not the All Awards registration option for bidding on contracts.

Identifier request

Unique Entity ID only

Identifier without registration

SAM.gov allows an organization to obtain a UEI without completing a registration. Certain transactions, such as sub-awardee reporting, may only need a UEI.

A UEI-only request does not allow direct applications for federal awards. Check the transaction’s requirements.

Source: GSA Entity Registration Checklist for the two registration options; SAM.gov registration guidance for UEI-only requests. These definitions do not establish any particular company’s purpose.

Start with the transaction, then the evidence

Name the transaction. Are you reviewing a direct federal contract opportunity, a financial assistance application or another transaction? Read that opportunity’s instructions. A general supplier-onboarding checklist cannot substitute for them.
Match the entity. Record its legal name, UEI and physical location. Do not use a parent, affiliate or similarly named company’s evidence to fill a gap.
Check purpose explicitly. Use the matching official SAM.gov record or ask the authorized entity representative for evidence of its registration purpose and when it was checked. If the evidence does not establish purpose, record “not established.” Do not infer it from industry codes, company size, CAGE code or a readiness score.
Check status separately. Record the registration status, expiration date and source/check date. An extract date is not today’s confirmation; an active label does not answer the purpose question. CageCheck’s dated lookup is a starting point, not confirmation of registration purpose.
Keep other checks open. Complete the applicable official exclusions check and the opportunity-specific review. All Awards is a scope label, not proof of technical capability, absence of exclusions or approval for a particular award.

Worked example: an “active” screenshot for a contract file

Fictional review scenario. No real company, identifier or observed customer result.

A buyer preparing a file for a direct federal contract opportunity receives a supplier’s screenshot showing a matching UEI and active registration. A second document says “Financial Assistance Awards Only.” The buyer has evidence about identity and status, plus a purpose that needs clarification for this transaction.

Keep the observations

Save the matching identifier, what each document says, the document dates and the review date. Do not discard the active-status evidence or rewrite the assistance-only label.

Ask the missing question

Ask the authorized representative to confirm the current registration purpose for the same entity, with dated official evidence. Reconcile it with the opportunity’s instructions before treating the registration review as complete.

The finding is “purpose needs reconciliation for this contract review,” not “vendor is excluded” or “vendor is approved.” No registration change is made by this guide. If a change is needed, the authorized representative uses the official SAM.gov process.

A note for your review file

Copy and complete this locally. Keep unknown fields explicit; this page does not collect or send your note. Do not include passwords, banking data or login credentials.

Transaction / opportunity reference: [complete]
Registration requirement in its instructions: [quote or reference]
Entity legal name / UEI / location matched: [complete]
Registration purpose: [All Awards / Financial Assistance Awards Only / not established]
Purpose evidence / document date / check date: [complete]
Registration status / expiration / source date: [record separately]
Mismatch or missing evidence: [complete; do not infer]
Next official check / person responsible in your process: [complete]
Exclusions and opportunity-specific checks: [separate findings]
Review outcome: [unresolved until required evidence is reconciled]

Start with the existing dated SAM registration lookup, then confirm the matching current official evidence. If no record is returned, follow the missing-record checklist; a missing match cannot tell you its purpose.

Official sources and limits

GSA Federal Service Desk — Entity Registration Checklist: defines All Awards and Financial Assistance Awards Only, with separate preparation checklists.
SAM.gov — Entity Registration: explains registration versus a UEI-only request, including direct-award and certain sub-awardee use cases.
SAM.gov — Entity Information: official starting point for checking the matching entity. Use the authorized representative and official support if the needed evidence is unavailable to you.

Definitions checked November 2, 2026. The decision sequence, fictional example and blank note are CageCheck editorial guidance, not agency instructions or an eligibility determination. No company’s purpose was inferred, no registration was changed and no new source extract was loaded for this page.