General Counsel Manual

The reason is that annual reports filed online are immediately available publicly on our website. Reports filed on paper, however, are processed in the order in which they are received. Due to the volume of reports received and our limited resources, at peak filing times (generally March through May each year) it can take up to 180 days from the day an annual report is submitted to us until the report is scanned and accessible online.

Practice Tip #3: Some business entities are not required to file an annual report with the Secretary of State. You may be able to save search time if you keep this in mind. Examples of kinds of business entities that do not have to file annual reports include:

• Professional Corporations
• Professional Limited Liability Companies
• Nonprofit Corporations
• Limited Partnerships
• General Partnerships (They are not registered at the Secretary of State’s office.)
• Sole Proprietorships (They are not registered at the Secretary of State’s office.)

3. Registered Agent Searches:

Practice Tip: When you search our Registered Agent database, you may get better results if you search using either “Name starting with” or “Name contains all words.”

The reason is that our information systems are set up so that Registered Agent names must be precise. For example: A business incorporates and names John Smith as the Registered Agent. In its first annual report, it lists John Q. Smith, Jr. as the Registered Agent. Our system will treat that as a change in the agent’s name, although it may be the same person.

4. Company Official Searches:

Practice Tip: When you search our Company Officials database, you may get better results if you search using either “Name starting with” or “Name contains all words.” For example, with regard to the example above for ZYX and John Williams, you may want to search for John Williams as well as John A. Williams. In this way, you would be able to determine all of the business entities where Mr. Williams is listed as a company official and/or officer.

The reason is that our information systems are set up so company official names must be precise. For example, ZYX Company files its first Annual Report and lists “John Williams” as President. Mr. Williams has two other corporations. He files Annual Reports for those businesses with his name listed as “John A. Williams.” When ZYX files its second annual report, it lists John A. Williams as President. Our system will treat that as a change in the President’s name, although it may be the same person. A company official search for John Williams would not produce Mr. Williams’ other two companies as a search result.