How to Verify a Business Registration

Before you invest in a company, hire a vendor, or partner with a firm, verifying that the business is actually registered and in good standing is a basic but essential step. A surprising number of businesses operate without proper registration — or under a registration that has lapsed, been revoked, or belongs to a different entity entirely.

Secretary of State Business Search

Every state has a Secretary of State (or equivalent office) that maintains a database of registered business entities — corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and nonprofits. Most states offer free online searches.

A Secretary of State search will tell you:

• Entity name and type — is it an LLC, corporation, or something else?
• Status — active, inactive, dissolved, revoked, or suspended
• Date of formation — when was the business created?
• Registered agent — the person or company designated to receive legal documents
• Principal office address
• Officers and directors (for corporations) or members/managers (for LLCs) — though this varies by state

What "Good Standing" Actually Means

A business in good standing has filed all required annual reports and paid all fees to the state. A business that has lost its good standing may have had its authority to operate suspended. This is a significant red flag — it can mean the business is not paying its taxes or complying with basic state requirements.

An administratively dissolved business is one that the state has shut down for non-compliance. This does not necessarily mean fraud — sometimes it is just negligence — but it should prompt further questions.

Check Multiple States

A business may be incorporated in one state (Delaware is the most common for corporations) but operate in another. If a company tells you they are a Delaware LLC but they operate in Georgia, check both states. In Georgia, they should be registered as a foreign LLC authorized to do business in the state.

DBA and Assumed Name Searches

Some businesses operate under a name different from their legal entity name, using a DBA (Doing Business As) or assumed name filing. These are typically filed at the county level, not the state level. If a business name does not appear in the Secretary of State database, it may be operating under a DBA filed with the county clerk.

BBB and Online Reviews

The Better Business Bureau maintains profiles on many businesses, including complaint history and accreditation status. While BBB ratings are imperfect, a pattern of unresolved complaints is a meaningful signal. Combine this with Google reviews and industry-specific review sites for a fuller picture.

A CROW Business Intelligence Report covers litigation history, corporate filings, liens, and more — the due diligence your investment deserves.

Beyond Registration: Check the People

A business can be properly registered while the people behind it have problematic histories. Running a CROW report on the principals of a business reveals their personal criminal history, civil lawsuits, bankruptcies, and other public records that a business registration search will never show. The entity might be clean on paper, but the people running it may not be.