Hi TPS, You can visit business.gov's Steps to Registering a Business page for specific information about registering your small business. In terms of security clearance, I would contact the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Their contact information is at the bottom of the page. If anyone else has more information about security clearances, feel free to post! Message Edited by Christine_Lai on 08-25-2009 04:02 PM

Getting a Security Clearance can take upto several months, maybe even a year.. They go through your entire life, i.e. they interview friends, co-workers, family, friends, associates..They reveiw your medical records, credit, financials and ofcourse a background check...Really intense but I suppose it's worth it if your business depends on that clearance :)

Those are questions your accountant should know.Providing you have a CPA to handle your business finances. orlando computer repair ---This post was edited to remove a commercial link. Read our discussion policies for more Community best practices.

Dear TPS, Your question is: 'we need to register somewhere as a small business. Could you tell us how or where to do that?' At the federal level, there is no certification, as such for a small business. When you registered with CCR and got your TPIN, you self-certified as a small business and that was all you had to do. That self-certification allows you to apply for any small business set asides (SBSA) in your NAICS code. If you are a minority business and after you have been in existence for two years, you can apply for the Small Business Administration 8(a) program. If you are a veteran and 51% of the firm is owned by a veteran, then you can immediately register as a veteran owned business at www.vetbiz.gov. Jos A. Rivera, JD President & CEO Rivera, Sierra & Company, Inc.

Hi TPS, Being designated as a 'small business' is a self certification that is done through your CCR registration. If you are interested and meet all of the qualifications, 8(a) certification is a much better designation. The Small Business Administraion (SBA) makes the final determination on 8(a) certifications. It is adifficult process as the SBAmust make sure that applicants meet their stringentregulations. Hope this helps.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) uses the information you give the CCR to establish your eligibility for a variety of government programs, such as Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) and HUBZone, both of which can help your company secure government contracts. The CCR sends your businesss Trading Partner Profile (TPP) to the SBA for certification. Using the guidelines set by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), the SBA certifies your small business size status. Your companys total revenue and number of employees, including all divisions, branches, and affiliates as indicated on your TPP, determine your business status. When establishing or reviewing size requirements, the SBA uses the following factors: Industry structure analysis Degree of competition Average firm size Startup cost Entry barriers Distribution of sales and employment by firm size Impact of different size standard levels on the objectives of SBA programs Comments from the public on notices of proposed rulemaking I hope this helps you! Regards, Matthew

Regarding your security clearance question, the clearance level you receive through DHS will be accepted by all other federal agencies using that same level of clearance but only for that same level. If you need a higher level, you have to apply again.