Each year your company will have to comply with certain annual requirements in order to maintain the existence of your business entity. Following is a list of annual requirements that you will want to remember in order to keep your company in good standing.

Taxes

Although it may seem obvious one of the most important things you need to do in order to keep your company active is to file your state and federal tax returns. It is often thought that if the company did not conduct business during the tax year that annual returns do not need to be completed and filed. However, in most states, and with the IRS, you are required to file a return even if no business was conducted. We suggest you retain the services of an accountant in order to advise you of the required state and federal filings for your entity type.

Annual Reports

Many states have annual report filing requirements that are due to the Division of Corporations or Secretary of State within the state where your business is registered. What confuses some is that this filing is in addition to any state tax filings that you need to file. So, even though you may have filed your state and federal tax returns, your company can become inactive for not filing the annual report. Most states will send mail or email reminders of the annual report filing requirement but if they have the incorrect information you will not receive it. We suggest that you take note of when the filing is due and put it on your calendar to remind you each year. If Accumera provides you with annual registered agent services we will automatically remind you of this filing each year.

Annual Meetings

States require that all corporations hold annual meetings with shareholders and directors and record the minutes of each meeting. Copies of the minutes should be kept on record with the corporate kit as proof of the business from the meeting. The method and date on which these meetings are held is typically recorded in the corporate bylaws. These meetings are held to elect new directors or officers and discuss any other business the company has. By following this formality the corporation will maintain its corporate identity and limited liability protection.

While LLC’s are not required to hold annual meetings or record minutes of those meetings it is recommended that the LLC adopt a procedure and date to have an annual meeting in order to discuss any LLC issues and record notice of the outcome in the minutes.

As with annual reports we suggest that you add a reminder to your calendar to make sure you comply with the annual meeting requirements as set by your company.

Registered Agent

An important partner for your business is your commercial registered agent. Your commercial registered agent, such as Accumera, provides your company with a physical address for which your company can receive service of process and any state tax and annual report filing notices. A registered agent is required if you are not a resident of the state where you are conducting business or if you do not wish to publicly list yourself as the registered agent. Each year you will need to pay your registered agent for their services. You should also keep them up to date with your current contact information so they can reach out to you if needed. Failure to maintain a registered agent could result in your company becoming inactive and void with the Department of State.

Licensing

Business licensing is a requirement for most companies and should be maintained in order to keep your company active and limited liability intact. For instance, professional companies (PC’s and PLLC’s) are required to maintain a license with most states department of professional licensing. These licenses are normally renewed on a yearly basis but some last 3 or even 5 years. Further, some states require that an annual business license be maintained for any business to be conducted in that state. For instance, Nevada requires that an annual business license be paid for each year for any company registered with the Nevada Secretary of State. As all states have different licensing requirements it is wise to note the licenses that you are required to maintain and their expiration dates.

Please Contact us now to place an order or for more information on the process.