Know Your Business
About Know Your Business
Quick answer. Knowing your business means you can name the legal entity, show its state file, say whether it is in good standing, and show that you screened relevant names. It does not mean you have a secret federal database.
What this site is for
Start with the customer’s own words: legal name, state, and what they sell. Then open that state’s entity search and see whether the words match a file. If they gave a trade name, find the entity that owns it. Many states put assumed names in a different index.
Ask who owns and who controls the company when your policy requires it. The registered agent rarely is that person. If the customer will not say, the checklist stays open. Do not fill the blank from a data broker and call it verified.
Federal beneficial-ownership rules have shifted. Read the current FinCEN page before you tell a customer they must file. This site does not file BOI reports and does not store SSNs.
What we will not pretend to be
Know Your Business is an educational checklist, not a regulated verification service.
Mail and the form reach hello@knowyourbusiness.us. Ordering a certificate, filing an annual report, or changing an agent happens on the official portal, not here.