C. SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT AND UNIQUE ENTITY IDENTIFIERS

An organization must be registered with SAM to submit a grant application, and registration requires the organization to provide an EIN from the IRS. The SAM registration and renewal processes have multiple steps and can take four to six weeks to complete. Applicants are advised to register for an EIN and complete the SAM registration (or renewal) process well in advance of the application submission deadline.

i. System for Award Management

SAM is a web-enabled government-wide application that collects, validates, stores, and disseminates business information about the federal government’s trading partners, supporting the contract award, grant, and electronic payment processes. SAM registration is required to submit a grant application and must be maintained with current information while an application for funding is pending and during the performance period of any federal award. More information about these processes is available at SAM.gov.

Unless exempted from this requirement under 2 CFR § 25.110, a clinic must maintain current information in SAM. This includes information on the clinic’s immediate and highest-level owner and subsidiaries and the clinic’s predecessors awarded a federal contract or federal financial assistance within the last three years, if applicable, until the clinic submits the final financial report required under this federal award or receives the final payment, whichever is later. This requires that the clinic review and update the information at least annually after the initial registration and more frequently if required by changes in the clinic’s information or another federal award term. See Appendix A to 2 CFR Part 25. Individuals registering a new entity and those renewing a registration must provide an original, signed notarized letter stating that the individual is the authorized Entity Administrator before the registration will be activated or renewed.

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If already registered in SAM, renewal of the registration is required annually. Check when your registration will expire and update information as needed. You may update it as often as you want, but you must update it at least once per year. The process can take several weeks to complete.

ii. Employer Identification Number

An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a unique nine-digit number assigned by the IRS to business entities operating in the United States or U.S. territories for identification and is required to submit an LITC grant application. Applicants without an EIN should submit a Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number, to the IRS. If applying by mail, it can take multiple weeks for the IRS to assign a number. The fastest way to obtain an EIN is online at www.IRS.gov/ein. There are options to apply by fax or by mail, but applicants are strongly encouraged to use online submission. For more information, search “How to Apply for an EIN” on IRS.gov.

iii. Unique Entity Identifier

Organizations must provide a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) with the grant application. The UEI is assigned and managed through SAM. For those already registered in SAM, timely annual renewal is required.

iv. Organization Name Change Requests

All sponsoring organization name changes are processed through SAM. As a reminder, the LITC Program Office must be kept informed of any changes to the sponsoring organization. See Section VI.E.i, Changes in Entity of Sponsoring Organization.