Government Contracting Glossary
Federal procurement has its own vocabulary. This glossary covers the essential terms every government contractor needs to know — from registration basics like SAM.gov and UEI to competition concepts like set-asides and past performance.
8(a) Business Development Program
An SBA program for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses that provides access to sole-source and set-aside contracts.
CAGE Code
A 5-character identifier assigned to entities that do business with the federal government, used to track contractors across contracts.
Capability Statement
A concise marketing document used by contractors to summarize their qualifications, experience, and differentiators for government buyers.
EDWOSB (Economically Disadvantaged WOSB)
A subset of the WOSB program for women-owned businesses where the woman owner is also economically disadvantaged.
FPDS (Federal Procurement Data System)
The central database that collects and publishes data on all federal contract actions above the micro-purchase threshold.
HUBZone
An SBA program that provides contracting preferences to small businesses located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones.
NAICS Code
A standardized numeric code that classifies businesses by industry sector, used by federal agencies to categorize contract opportunities.
Past Performance
A contractor's record of performing on previous contracts, used by agencies as a key evaluation factor in awarding new contracts.
PSC Code (Product Service Code)
A 4-character code that describes the type of product or service being procured in a federal contract.
RFP (Request for Proposal)
A solicitation type used when the government wants to evaluate technical approaches and past performance alongside price.
RFQ (Request for Quotation)
A solicitation type used for straightforward purchases where the government requests price quotes from vendors.
SAM.gov
The System for Award Management — the official U.S. government website where businesses register to bid on federal contracts and where agencies post opportunities.
SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research)
A federal program that reserves a portion of agency R&D budgets for competitive awards to small businesses conducting innovative research.
SDVOSB (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business)
A contracting program that provides set-aside opportunities and sole-source awards to small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.
Set-Aside
A federal procurement restriction that limits competition for a contract to a specific category of small business.
Small Business Size Standard
The maximum revenue or employee count a firm can have and still qualify as a small business for a given NAICS code.
Solicitation
A formal request issued by a federal agency inviting businesses to submit proposals or bids for a contract.
STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer)
A federal program similar to SBIR that requires small businesses to partner with a research institution for R&D funding.
UEI (Unique Entity Identifier)
A 12-character alphanumeric identifier assigned to every entity registered in SAM.gov, replacing the former DUNS number.
WOSB (Women-Owned Small Business)
A federal contracting program that provides set-aside opportunities for small businesses owned and controlled by women.