| By :
Myra Cisse
The Central Contractors Registry is a must if you are seeking government contracts for your business. Since October 1, 2003, federal mandate requires that any business that wishes to conduct business with the federal government under a FAR(Federal Acquisition Regulation)-based contact must first be registered in the CCR. I've briefly touched on the CCR before but it is so integral to doing business with the government that it warrants its own article. The CCR is a free online registrant database for the US Federal Government that collects, validates, disseminates and stores data. CCR collects some data from Dun &Bradstreet; therefore a DUNS number is a prerequisite to registering in CCR. Once you've gotten your DUNS# from D&B, you can proceed to the CCR website to start your registration. CCR will collect and validate data from D&B, but getting your DUNS# does not automatically mean you are registered in CCR, that is a process you must manually complete. A new registration in the CCR will take 3 to 5 days to process. The system will communicate your status to your designated Primary Point of Contact (POC) and will also advise your POC of any deficiencies or errors in your filings. The CCR is a detailed database requiring information for your parent company (if applicable), physical as well as mailing address, all applicable NAICS codesand Points of contacts. Another interesting thing that CCR requests is your banking information. You may be hesitant about including that information in the CCR, but your file will be incomplete without it. And bear in mind and incomplete registrant cannot get contracts. Part of the CCR registration process is creating a CAGE code for your business. The Commercial and Government Entity code is a 5 character number that is often used in the federal government. The Defense Logistics Information Service(DLIS) is the only authorized source of CAGE codes and they are the CAGE Code system administrators. If your company is not already listed in the DLIS, then your business will be assigned a CAGE code upon registration in the CCR. Once you file your CCR, you can't just forget about it. The CCR must be renewed every year but you want to be sure to do it more often than that. You want to be sure your CCR information is consistent with your D&B record and with the information you provide to the IRS. I recommend that you revalidate your CCR every quarter. Just put it on the "To Do" list with your quarterly tax filings. That way you are touching it 4 times a year and you are sure to have the most recent changes to your business reflected.
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