Essentials of 8a Certification Program

If a company has 8a certification, this usually mean to say that this business is applied for the development program of the SBA and was recognized eligible for the 8a certification by the government as it matches all the prerequisites of this SBA program.

What is the SBA 8a Program?

It is a governmental program run by Small Business Administration (SBA). It lends the helping hands to small and disadvantaged business organizations to reveal governmental contracts. The annual goal of the Gov’t is specially to award at least 5% of the contracts to the business firms. The disadvantaged-businesses are the organizations which are owned unconditionally and are controlled by one or more individuals as socially and economically disadvantaged defined by SBA. These individuals are either belongs to certain groups of people who may be African Americans, Native Americans, or Hispanic Americans who are in a socially disadvantage position. These individuals must also not have any economic advantage.

BENEFITS OF 8A PROGRAM

Qualifying for 8a certification requirements and getting into the SBA 8a Program can provide to have extraordinary benefits.  Small and disadvantaged groups of businesses firms can afford to gain certain privileges when submitting an SBA 8a program application. Several training programs are there to provide disadvantaged businesses with marketing as well as technical assistance. To have a SBA 8a certified business, it really pays off so you should definitely try for it and should apply 8a certification.

PROCESS TO BE A SBA 8A CERTIFIED

You need to qualify all the eligibility criteria of the 8a Program, before you are to go for enjoying benefits. These are as follows:

The criteria to achieve 8a certification are: 

  1. You should have a Small business. This program is only for small investors and market players. The average revenue for your three years should not exceed beyond a certain limit as set by the government.
  2. Your company must be in a disadvantaged position of the business to need help. In other words it means that at least 51% of ownerships have to be by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. 
  3. You should be a first time participant. If you already have 8(a) certification for your business or have recently applied for it then you are not eligible to apply again.
  4. The owner of the business firm should possess good character. No false information should be given by the applicant firm. Again the firm should have no records of involving in criminal case or activity.  If so found then steps should be taken against the business firm immediately and registration for 8a certification will be prohibited.

Process of Application for 8a SBA Certification

There are certain procedures that you are in need to follow for 8a SBA certification:

  1. You need to register with SAM (System for Award Management). This step is very important as you need to log in to certify.sba.gov. After getting to have the SAM account it means that your business is registered officially and has EIN or TIN for the payment of taxes. It also means that have you also had the DUNS numbers.
  2. You should collect all necessary documents that govern your business and any other related documents necessary for 8a business certification before you opt for the registration process. The required documents generally includes financial statements, copies of signed documents such as of Federal personal and business tax returns, bank statements, personal history statements, and other additional documents SBA that are found to be necessary for the measurement of your eligibility criteria. 
  3. After you are ready, please check out whether your business firm is found eligible for 8a SBA Certification Program given the check list. You can then submit your 8a certification application at certify.sba.gov electronically.

Need for a consultant to be a SBA 8a certified Business Owner:

You are advised to hire a professional business consultant that can specialize on processing your applications for governmental contracts to find an easier way to get your business 8a certified.  These consultants are usually trained and have full-fledged knowledge about the process of 8a certification and its documents requirements. They can well prepare the application for 8a certification program that has a high chance of approval nearly hundred per cent. They submit all the required documents in time without having raised your tension in any away. They also communicate with the officers of SBA and thus help to resolve any documentation problem or the problem in process of the application quickly and efficiently. So if you are to apply for the first time then be very wise to have a consultant service for your 8a certification program.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Know Some Detailed Information on 8a Certification

Image
The 8(a) Business Development Program is a nine-year program designed to help small, disadvantaged businesses compete in the federal contracting market. The program, which is administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), provides a variety of assistance and benefits to help participating businesses grow and succeed. The 8(a) program is an excellent way for small, disadvantaged businesses to gain access to federal contracting opportunities. It provides a range of benefits, including: Access to federal contracts: 8(a) businesses are eligible to compete for certain federal contracts that are set aside for small businesses. Mentor ship: Participating businesses have access to mentors and advisors who provide guidance and advice on how to succeed in the federal contracting market. Financial assistance: 8(a) businesses may be eligible for financial assistance, such as loans, grants, and other forms of support. Networking opportunities: 8(a) businesses have access to a net
Read more

Decoding the steps to SBA 8A certification

Image
There are five areas to determine whether or not a firm qualifies for SBA 8a certification or meets the requirements.  First and foremost the individuals running the firm and applying for certification need to establish beyond any doubt that they are socially and economically disadvantaged. The owner should have unconditional control of the firm so that the firm shouldn't have any control issues. Further, the firm should have no ethical issues and be absolutely free from ethical or other entanglements which might impair his or her judgment. The firm also has to establish its potential to complete federal contracts for SBA 8a certification and hence the applicants shouldn't try to paint themselves as too economically disadvantaged in their narratives, let the SBA consider them too weak to fulfill the federal contracts.                                                     Economically disadvantaged means  that the 3 year average income should not exceed $250,000 for the fi
Read more

How long it takes to go through 8a certification timeline

Image
8a certification handling time infers the course of events and in addition the time required to experience all the means associated with getting a business confirmed by the nodal organization supporting all 8a confirmation applications, which happens to be Small Business Administration. (SBA) with proper 8a certification timeline. The time required to get ready and gather the 8a application differs from customer to customer, however for the most part it has been seen that it takes between a month and half with the SBA having the option to favor the accreditation inside 4 months, based on the candidate meeting all the essential qualifications and having other acceptable financial and social accounts helpful to fulfill the fundamental necessities. In general it is evaluated that the whole 8a certification timeline approaches a half year all things considered, with the fortunate ones seeing their applications being cleared inside a half year, and the unfortunate ones see their applicatio
Read more