While working with the Federal government, businesses must learn to navigate the acronyms and numbers that each agency or department adopts. This can be hard for many small businesses, where employees are asked to wear many hats. Therefore, contacting Connecticut PTAC, who keeps up to date with the entire new and old lingo, are a great resource to ask… “What does that mean?”
Below is a quick guide to the more commonly known Federal government-wide language:
FSG – Federal Supply Group – A two digit number assigned to a general group of products in the federal supply system. (The 1st two digits of a FSC)
FSC – Federal Supply Code – A four digit number assigned to a specific subgroup of products within a Federal Supply Group. (The 1st four digits of a NSN)
NSN – National Stock Number – A 13 digit number assigned to a single unique specific product which is purchased often enough to justify assignment of an NSN from a recent solicitation.
Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) Number – A prerequisite to getting registered to do business with the government. A DUNS Number will be assigned at no cost to you.
CAGE Code – Commercial and Government Entity – A unique 5 digit alpha-numeric code assigned to each government and commercial organization doing business with the Department of Defense is assigned as a function of the System for Award Management (SAM) registration.
NAICS Code – North American Industrial Classification System – A six digit code that is replacing the SIC Code, developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America.
If you or another business needs assistance with government contracting and understanding something, contact your local PTAC Counselor. You can register to become a client at www.ctptac.org. “Let’s Get Started”
Written by Valerie Marchand