Rules
Fictitious Business Name Search: Confirm the Filing Office Before You Sign
A fictitious business name search starts with the filing office. This guide covers county and state DBA filing, search steps, and where the check stalls.
Desk
Guides Desk
Complete walkthroughs of entity registry lookup, written to be followed rather than skimmed.
Rules
Beneficial ownership information report search: who still has to file
Beneficial ownership information report duty after March 2025: US-formed companies are exempt, foreign registrants still file. How to tell, what to keep.
Guides
Business License Lookup vs Entity Registration: Two Different Checks
A business license lookup and an entity registration answer different questions, held by different offices. Pick the register that matches the question.
Guides
Certificate of Good Standing Lookup: What the Paper Does Not Prove
Certificate of good standing lookup proves a filing, not a business. Track certificate age in days and know when to re-pull before a closing or signing.
Rules
What FinCEN's beneficial ownership search can and cannot show?
A beneficial ownership search cannot show FinCEN's BOI database; only authorized users see it. Here is who may access BOI and what you can find.
Features
Why Wyoming and Nevada draw privacy-focused LLC filings
Wyoming and Nevada LLC filings keep member names off the public state search, but FinCEN beneficial ownership reporting still collects them.
Guides
How US states name a certificate of good standing or existence
A certificate of good standing and a certificate of existence both prove an entity is active, but states name and issue them differently. Here is the difference.
Guides
How to read a Delaware entity file and its franchise tax dates
A Delaware entity file shows the registered agent, filing history and status. Learn how to read it, plus the franchise tax due dates and late charges.
Rules
Checking an EIN and tax status without breaking IRS privacy rules
How to check an EIN and tax status within IRS privacy limits: what the IRS will and will not confirm, Tax Exempt Organization Search, and state revenue lookups.
Features
Nine dated lines keep a state office's directories page trustworthy over time
Keeping office notes current: what changes about a filing register, how you find out, and the nine dated lines that make such a note worth trusting.
Guides
State entity directories: reaching the real filing office
State entity directories: reaching the real filing office through a government path, spotting the paid lookalikes, and expecting variation between states.
Rules
7 things to check before trusting public data apis data
Seven checks that separate a register's own wording from your interpretation of it, so an entity record stays answerable when a decision is challenged.
Features
Public data APIs facts: what an empty field or result means
Public data APIs facts on empties: four meanings of a blank field, why no answer is not no match, and how to test coverage before you trust a source.
Reviews
Public data APIs: questions before you build
Public data APIs for registry records raise licensing and technical questions. Learn what to check before building and how to plan for missing access.
Rules
Officer lookup: nine roles a state register records, when to pull each, and the columns that track them
The nine officer roles a state register records, when each one is worth pulling, the fields it omits, and five columns that keep the entries usable.
Maintenance
An officer lookup checks the company, not the person behind the name
Officer lookup as a check on a company: what registry entries support about signing authority, what states never collect, and what to ask for instead.
Guides
Registered agent lookup data: a schema that cannot mislead
Registered agent lookup data as columns: store dated observations, key on the entity number, keep personal names out, and label the address.
Reviews
Registered agent lookup facts: what the record shows
Registered agent lookup facts: what the public record shows, what it does not, and why delivery to the agent is not the same as the company speaking.
Costs
Registered agent record: what the address proves and what it does not
What a registered agent record establishes about service of process, vacancies, shared commercial addresses, and why the address is not a place of business.
Reviews
Registration Status: What a Registry Record Shows
Registration status explained: what the field shows, its limits, when certificates help, and how to interpret a missing result.
Guides
What order should you open filing history documents in?
Filing history search, step by step: reach the home-state entity page, sort oldest first, choose which images to open, and record what you did not check.
Rules
Business Entity Search by State: Washington Fields
A business entity search by state in Washington shows the entity name, UBI number, status, registered agent, and governors — not licensing or solvency.
Features
Why business name search rankings can't exist
Business name search rankings are traffic products, not findings: no shared criterion and no outcome data exist, so score your own shortlist instead.
Rules
Business Entity Search Canada: Registry Lookup Step by Step
Business entity search Canada, step by step: the federal and provincial registries by name, the joint portal, and what a NUANS report costs.
Rules
How to Check a Company's Status Before Signing a Contract
How to check a company's status before signing: search the state registry, confirm the record and filing history, then check license, DBA and lien records.
Rules
SIC Code Lookup by Company: Reading Industry Codes in a Registry File
A SIC code lookup by company: use SEC EDGAR when available, verify the industry in OSHA's SIC Manual, and distinguish state registry fields from NAICS records.
Costs
Seven verification gates: what stands between a name idea and a truly free choice
Business name search checks in order, cheapest first: seven gates, what a hit means, what silence does not, and how far up the ladder to go.
Reviews
Business name search timeline: the record after a rename
What a register records after a rename: the amendment, where the former name survives, why processing times differ by office, and the work after.
Industry
What a company verification directory can and can't confirm
A company verification directory maps business-check questions to the bodies that may hold answers and clarifies what those records can—and cannot—establish.
Industry
Entity number lookup facts for a number you were handed
Entity number lookup facts for a number on an invoice or email: which register it belongs to, what a match confirms, and what a mismatch tells you to ask.
Features
5 lessons worth learning about filing history by country
Filing history by country differs in the United States and the United Kingdom. Compare US state records with Companies House filings, accounts and charges.
Costs
What a NUANS Report Costs in Canada and What You Can Skip
NUANS report costs in Canada run from about CAD 25 to CAD 150, and the report expires in roughly 90 days. Here is what else the search does not cover.
Guides
Business name search monitoring: a quarterly watch after clearance
Monitor a business name after clearance: a quarterly search routine, triggers to search early, and how to grade a similar entity, trademark, or marketplace seller.
Features
A ten-step checklist for company verification, legal name first
A ten-step company verification checklist: pin the legal entity, read status and history, check authority, and record what no register can confirm.
Rules
A company name, compared to a state file number, makes an unreliable lookup key
Entity number lookup: why company names fail as keys, what a state file number survives, and which other identifiers prove nothing about registration.
Industry
What a filing history can tell you about an entity
Learn what a business entity filing history can reveal about continuity, gaps, clusters, and the limits of registry records before drawing conclusions.
Maintenance
Reading secretary of state search data with a sceptical eye
Secretary of state search data in four layers: the index, document images, certified copies and bulk access, and how to ask for what is not online.
Rules
Getting secretary of state search facts right the first time
Secretary of state search facts: the one claim each registry field will carry, the claim it will not, and the date rule that makes any of it evidence.
Features
Business name search: state approval is not the right to use it
Business name search at a state office checks availability only. What the approval covers, what it leaves open, and why trademark clearance is a risk call.
Guides
Secretary of state search: how to run one from cold
How to run a secretary of state search from cold: get the legal name and state, read the status correctly, and find the records the register does not hold.