The Annual Report Challenge: Keeping Business Entities in Good Standing

What appears at first glance to be a simple matter of putting a task on your calendar can quickly grow into a time-consuming, research-intensive burden.

Failure to maintain good standing can result in financial penalties and interest, suspension, forfeiture and cancellation of your right to transact business. In addition to the three main requirements (filing annual reports with the appropriate Secretary of State, documenting corporate minutes, and having a registered agent for the receipt of service of process), you also face additional challenges you may not have considered.

• You'll need to maintain accurate records on each company within your control.
• You'll need to research all changes to reporting requirements and forms. This means keeping track of changing rules for each jurisdiction and for each business type involved.
• You'll need to keep track of due dates which vary from on jurisdiction to the next. You can't rely on the states to notify you when filings are due, since many provide no notice or provide notice only via a postcard.

If you make a mistake you'll have to start all over again. If you face a situation like California's backlog of filings, this can significantly delay your filing. Worse, if your mistake also causes you to lose your good standing status, the business name you're responsible for can be snapped up in an instant by another company. You also face contract voidability; that is, any parties to a contract can void the contract immediately when you lose your authority to conduct business.

CLAS can help you meet these challenges. We offer cost effective Annual Report Management Services to eliminate this critical and time consuming task. We can protect you by completing the necessary forms, filing the documents on your behalf, and returning proof of filing. Contact us to learn more about our Annual Report Management Services, or call us at 1.800.952.5696.