I got a scary looking “official” letter. Do I really need to pay that?

For most people starting a business is a giant mix of euphoria and fear. After filing the paperwork to start your LLC or corporation you may be riding high on a wave of elation, only to have it come crashing down when you get your first official looking piece of mail. Urgent. Action required. Did you forget to do something important?

Not necessarily.

Once your paperwork is filed with the state, you are now part of publicly accessible records that fraudsters often tap into. Very often people will find new businesses and send off notices of phony requirements (or even of real but optional items) to try to make off with part of your hard-earned money. Business owners are frequently misled by these pieces of mail suggesting there is still more they need to do to keep their business in good legal standing with the government. Knowing up front what you really need will help give you piece of mind when these lousy letters find their way to you.

Annual Board of Directors Meeting

Wherever you live you’ll want to make sure you are in compliance with your state’s Department of Revenue. Generally speaking once you’ve filed your paperwork there isn’t much else you need to file (or pay) outside of renewing it yearly. However for corporations, you must also have at a minimum an annual Board of Director meeting and minutes (or notes documenting items discussed and agreed upon) on file.

Corporate Certificate of Status

A corporate Certificate of Status is optional for most businesses, usually only needed if required by your bank or another vendor. If you do need to get one, you should only get this directly from your state. Other services offering to do it for you charge big add on fees and then submit the same simple paperwork you would.

Let us help

While there is a lot of fraud and fake notices out there, there is no one blog that can answer for the demands of each individual business in every single state. However we want you to have peace of mind knowing exactly which letters you can send through the shredder and never give another thought to. Contact us today, sometimes all it takes is just a short 5-minute conversation!