Maintain accurate records to assess the health of your company. You won’t be able to easily spot patterns, calculate ratios, or make decisions in the future without them. These records are also required when you file tax returns, and also to support the data that you present in your financial statements. These include income (profit and loss) statements as well as balance sheets.
The majority of states have departments of corporations or secretary of state offices that require companies to file an official statement of ownership. Most have made these documents available online. You can search for these records by name of the company and the websites typically offer a list of names of the officers and directors, their addresses, and additional information about the business. Certain private firms or companies compile directories of business. These may list the headquarters city or city where the company is registered. They also include contact information, as well as the chief officer or the officers of the company and a short description about the kind of business in which the firm is involved.
Many cities require any person who wishes to do business in their city to sign up. These documents are accessible on the internet. Some counties have fictitious company name indexes where the top officers of a partnership or their addresses are listed. Some states maintain an inventory of all fictitious names for businesses. The secretary of state and corporate departments have also made these online.
