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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFor current public searches of U.S. federal contract awards, use SAM.gov Contract Awards. Use USAspending.gov Advanced Search to analyze federal awards and spending across contracts and financial assistance, download data, and inspect prime awards or subawards. Verify what each result represents before comparing amounts: an award summary, a contract action, an obligation, and an outlay are not the same thing.
Choose the portal that matches your question
| Portal | Best for | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| SAM.gov Contract Awards | Searching published federal contract actions and modifications by contract identifiers, recipient, agency, dates, products or services, and other filters. | The public-facing FPDS functionality moved to SAM.gov. SAM.gov ezSearch was decommissioned on February 24, 2026; use the current Contract Awards search instead. Public users need a SAM.gov account and sign-in to view search results. |
| USAspending.gov Advanced Search | Analyzing federal awards and spending across procurement and financial assistance; filtering by recipient, award ID, time period, location, agency, award type, amount, NAICS, and other fields; downloading results; and exploring prime awards and subawards. | It supports award- and transaction-level views, which may not match a SAM.gov result one-for-one. Choose Subawards when you need to trace first-tier subawards rather than only prime awards. |
| The relevant state, local, tribal, or public-authority portal | Finding procurement awards made by a particular state, county, city, tribal government, school district, or public authority. | There is no single federal database that serves as a comprehensive register of all state and local procurement awards. Find the portal for the awarding jurisdiction. |
GSA says that the public-facing FPDS functionality has transitioned to SAM.gov and that FPDS users are redirected there. For a federal award search, start at SAM.gov’s Contract Awards or Contract Data area rather than relying on old instructions for FPDS ezSearch.
Find a federal contract award in SAM.gov
Gather identifiers before searching
The most reliable starting point is a specific identifier. Collect whatever you have from this list:
- Solicitation number or PIID (the procurement instrument identifier, often used as the contract number).
- Referenced or parent IDV PIID, if the contract was issued under an indefinite-delivery vehicle or another parent award.
- Recipient’s legal business name, UEI, or CAGE/NCAGE code.
- Awarding agency and an approximate award or action date.
- Product or service terms, place of performance, competition details, or award status that could narrow results.
If you do not have a contract identifier, combine the recipient or a distinctive keyword with the agency and a date or product/service filter. SAM.gov supports partial and wildcard searches for some identifiers. Search variations in a company name when appropriate, and verify a match against the identifier and agency rather than relying on a name alone.
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Search and inspect the result
- Open SAM.gov Contract Awards. Sign in to view the public search results.
- Search the strongest identifier first. If none is available, enter the recipient or a focused keyword and apply agency, date, product/service, or other relevant filters.
- Open the matching record and note its scope. Check the PIID or related vehicle, recipient, agency, action date, and whether the entry is an award record or a particular contract action/modification.
- Record the search context. Save the filters, identifiers, result detail, and date searched so another person can reproduce the lookup.
SAM.gov describes its public contract data as covering the published classes of unclassified contract actions and modifications. It also identifies exceptions for DoD unrevealed data. A search result should therefore be understood within the portal’s stated coverage and exclusions, not as proof that every federal procurement record is publicly visible.
Use USAspending to examine spending and related awards
USAspending.gov is useful when the question is broader than “which contract action was recorded?” It provides federal award and spending search across procurement and financial assistance, with filters such as recipient, award ID, fiscal year or custom period, location, agency, award type, description, amount, and NAICS. Its site also provides downloads and supporting materials such as a glossary, data dictionary, guide, and disclosures.
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- Open Advanced Search. Search by recipient or award ID when possible; otherwise combine a name or keyword with an agency and time period.
- Set the period and award type. Decide whether the question concerns a fiscal year, a custom date range, procurement, financial assistance, or a broader set of awards.
- Choose the relevant record level. Compare award-level summaries with transaction-level records when you need to understand changes over time. Select Subawards to look for first-tier subaward records.
- Download the filtered data if you need to reproduce totals. Preserve the export and the filters used; a displayed total can depend on the search scope and record level.
- Check definitions and disclosures. Use USAspending’s guide, glossary, data dictionary, and disclosures to understand fields, coverage, and limits relevant to the result.
For programmatic analysis, USAspending offers an API. SAM.gov also provides a data-service/API route for contract-action searches and reporting. API documentation, access requirements, and endpoint behavior can change, so verify the current documentation on the relevant portal before building an automated workflow.
Reconcile results before reporting an amount
A SAM.gov record and a USAspending result can both be valid while answering different questions. Before combining or comparing them, align the record type, identifier, dates, money measure, geography, and award level.
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| Check | What to compare | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Record type | Award summary versus an individual transaction or modification. | A summary and one action are different scopes; do not treat an action amount as the contract’s total value. |
| Identifier | PIID or award ID, plus any parent or referenced vehicle identifier. | Related records can refer to a contract and the vehicle under which it was issued. |
| Time basis | Signed/action date versus a fiscal-year or custom-period aggregation. | A time-filtered spending total may include a different set of records than a single award action. |
| Money measure | Potential or award amount, obligation, or outlay. | These measures describe different things and cannot be silently substituted for one another. |
| Geography | Recipient location versus place of performance. | A recipient’s address may be different from where the work is performed. |
| Level and coverage | Prime award versus subaward; reporting timing and stated exclusions. | Prime-award records alone do not show all first-tier subaward activity, and public data have timing and coverage limits. |
Distinguish obligations from outlays
An obligation is a commitment of federal funds; an outlay is money actually paid. An obligation is not evidence that the same amount has already been disbursed. A contract’s total potential value, a current award or summary amount, an individual transaction’s obligation, and cumulative outlays are distinct figures. Name the measure shown by the source and its record level whenever you publish a number.
Read location fields carefully
Recipient location describes where the recipient is associated; place of performance is intended to describe where work occurs. For example, a contractor may be headquartered in one state and perform work in another. In federal grant records, a prime recipient may pass funds to a local government or another entity. When the intended question is where grant-funded activity reached, examine subaward data rather than inferring the final destination from the prime recipient’s address.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Account for reporting delays and missing records
A record that does not appear in a search is not conclusive proof that no award exists. Federal agencies report award transactions after implementation, and reporting takes time. A 2025 Congressional Research Service report describes a usual reporting window of up to 30 days and generally up to 90 days for Department of Defense data. Those figures explain possible lag; they are not guarantees that every record will appear on that exact schedule.
The same CRS report describes FPDS contract award information as covering awards with an estimated value of $10,000 or more. Treat that as a description of the source and report context, not a universal threshold for every SAM.gov field or record category. For a particular search, consult the current SAM.gov coverage information and data dictionary. SAM.gov also identifies a DoD unrevealed-data exception; do not assume that all contract details are publicly available.
- Try alternate recipient spellings and available identifiers.
- Check a parent or referenced vehicle when the award is associated with one.
- Widen the date range to account for reporting lag.
- Review the portal’s current coverage, exclusions, and disclosures before concluding that no public record exists.
- Include the date searched when documenting a result or a no-match search.
Make the verification reproducible
Keep enough information for a reader, auditor, or colleague to repeat the check:
- The official record detail page or API response.
- The exact identifiers and filters used, including date period and record level.
- The export, if totals were calculated from downloaded rows.
- The access date and the data dictionary or disclosure used to interpret fields.
- Any discrepancy between SAM.gov and USAspending, with the fields or scopes that differ.
For a published figure, state which source and view it came from, the retrieval date, and whether it is an award summary, action-level amount, obligation, or outlay. That lets readers distinguish a genuinely conflicting record from two systems showing different measures or scopes.
Find state and local awards in the right jurisdiction
For an award made by a state, county, city, tribal government, school district, or public authority, search that entity’s procurement or open-data portal. The appropriate database depends on who awarded the contract and how that jurisdiction publishes records; a federal search cannot replace a local procurement register. If a local award used federal funds, federal spending records may provide related context, but they do not necessarily provide a complete local award record.
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