For current public searches of U.S. federal contract awards, start with SAM.gov’s Contract Awards search. Use USAspending.gov to examine broader spending data, download records, and follow prime awards and subawards. To verify a figure, match the award identifiers and dates, determine whether the amount is an award summary, obligation, or outlay, and record the filters and retrieval date. A missing result is not proof that no award exists: reporting delays, coverage limits, and data exceptions can affect what appears.
Which federal portal should you use?
| Portal | Best for | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| SAM.gov Contract Awards | Searching federal contract actions and modifications, including by contract identifiers, recipient, agency, dates, product or service, place of performance, competition, and status. | Public-facing FPDS functionality has moved to SAM.gov. SAM.gov says users need to sign in to view search results. Its public contract data and exceptions are described on the portal’s transition and Contract Data pages. |
| USAspending.gov Advanced Search | Broader federal award and spending analysis, filters, downloads, and examining prime awards, transactions, and subawards. | Choose the relevant award type and time period, and distinguish award-level summaries from transaction-level records. Consult the site’s guide, glossary, data dictionary, and disclosures when interpreting fields. |
SAM.gov’s former ezSearch was decommissioned on February 24, 2026; use the Contract Awards search instead. The portal’s transition page says that “All public-facing functionality of FPDS has been fully transitioned to Sam.gov.”
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The portals are related but do not necessarily show the same record view or total. SAM.gov is the practical starting point for contract-action searches; USAspending is useful for analyzing spending across federal awards and tracing subawards. For programmatic work, USAspending has an API, and SAM.gov provides a data-service/API route. Check each portal’s current API documentation, key requirements, and endpoint behavior before relying on an automated workflow, since technical details can change.
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How to search for a federal contract award
- Gather identifiers first. Look for the solicitation number, PIID or contract number, referenced IDV PIID, recipient’s legal business name, UEI or CAGE/NCAGE, awarding agency, and approximate award or action date. An exact identifier is usually a more focused starting point than a broad keyword.
- Search SAM.gov Contract Awards. Enter the contract identifier if you have it. Otherwise, combine a recipient name or keyword with agency, date, or product-and-service filters. SAM.gov supports partial and wildcard searches for some identifiers. Narrow the results with the relevant organization, place-of-performance, competition, and status fields.
- Check the matching spending record in USAspending.gov. Search by recipient or award ID, set the relevant fiscal year or custom period, and select the appropriate award type. Compare an award-level summary with its transaction records rather than treating them as interchangeable.
- Select Subawards when needed. If the question is who received funding downstream from a prime award, search subawards as well as prime awards. A prime-recipient record alone may not identify the entity carrying out the work or receiving a first-tier subaward.
- Download records if you need to reproduce a total. USAspending offers downloads. Keep the selected filters and downloaded row-level data so another reader can reproduce the calculation. For API work, preserve the query and response alongside the date retrieved.
How to verify an award amount
Match the records before comparing dollars
Check the recipient, agency, PIID or award ID, referenced or parent vehicle where applicable, action date, and transaction or modification. Confirm whether each result describes an award summary or an individual action. A contract may have a potential value, a current award or summary amount, and one or more transaction obligations; these are different measures, not competing versions of a single number.
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Use the right federal money measure
- Obligation: a commitment of federal funds. It does not by itself mean the money has already been paid.
- Outlay: money actually paid.
- Potential or summary amount: an award-level figure that should not be described as an obligation or as cash paid unless the source field specifically supports that interpretation.
When publishing or sharing a figure, name the measure and source field. Do not add an award summary to transaction obligations, or describe obligations as outlays. USAspending’s guide and data dictionary can help clarify the field represented by a displayed value.
How to interpret dates, geography, and recipient records
Action date and reporting period are not the same thing
A signed or action date identifies when a contract action occurred; a fiscal-year filter or aggregation groups records by a reporting period. When comparing results, make sure the date basis matches the question. A difference in period selection can change totals even when the underlying award is the same.
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Recipient location is not necessarily the work location
A recipient’s address describes the recipient’s location, while place of performance is intended to describe where the work occurs. For example, a contractor may be headquartered in one state and perform work in another. Use the place-of-performance field when asking where contract work is performed, and state which location field you used.
Follow grant funding through subawards
For federal grants, a government recipient may pass funds to a local government or another entity. The prime recipient’s address alone does not establish where the funded project ultimately takes place. Examine subaward records when available and distinguish the prime recipient from downstream recipients.
Why a contract may not appear yet—or at all
Federal agencies report transactions after implementation, so recently executed actions may not be visible immediately. 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. These are timing descriptions, not guarantees that every record will appear on that schedule.
The same CRS report describes FPDS contract-award information as covering awards with estimated values of $10,000 or more. Treat that as a description of the report’s source context, not a universal threshold for every SAM.gov field or record category; check the current portal disclosure and data dictionary for the specific search.
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SAM.gov also describes the scope of its public-facing search and an exception for unrevealed DoD data. Coverage depends on the record type and applicable restrictions. Before concluding that an award is absent, search alternate identifier and recipient spellings, allow for reporting lag, and check the portal’s current disclosures. Include the date searched when communicating a negative result.
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- Save the official record detail page and note whether it came from SAM.gov or USAspending.gov.
- Record the exact identifiers, filters, date range, and award or transaction view used.
- Keep the export or API response and the retrieval date.
- Note the data dictionary or disclosure used to interpret a field or limitation.
- If two sources differ, report the difference and identify the record type, date basis, money measure, geography field, and prime-or-subaward level behind each figure. Do not silently combine them.
Finding state and local procurement awards
For an award from a state, county, city, tribal government, school district, or public authority, search that jurisdiction’s procurement or open-data portal. Federal portals are not comprehensive registers of local procurement. The right portal and record details depend on the jurisdiction, which must be known before a specific local search can be recommended.
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