Know Your Business

Entity identity, ownership clues, and a review request for compliance teams.

Know Your Business

Glossary

Quick answer. A glossary on this site fixes the words a filing office uses, so a status label from one state is not silently translated into another state’s label. 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.

Official office

USA.gov — State governments

Open the official search

Steps

  1. Collect the claimed legal name and state

    Ask the customer. Do not infer the state from a website footer alone.

  2. Match a file number

    Copy it from the secretary of state.

  3. Note status in the state’s words

    Active, withdrawn, forfeited — use their label.

  4. Record the open questions

    EIN, owners, sanctions. An open question is better than a fake answer.

Terms that get mixed up

File number, entity number, charter number, and document number are local names for the identifier on the detail page. EIN is federal and usually absent. Registered agent is not an owner. Good standing is a certificate in many states and only a status word in others.

Use the glossary when a contract uses a term the office does not print. Quote the office’s word in the note, and put the contract’s word in parentheses.

Write what you know and what you asked

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.

Common mistakes

  • Equating a storefront with a legal entity.
  • Inventing owners.
  • Advising on BOI from memory.
  • Storing SSNs in a marketing form.

Questions

What is know your business?

The practice of confirming a legal entity and the people behind it using official records and your own policy.

Do I need a file number?

Yes, if you claim the entity exists. A name match without a number is unfinished.

Can this site certify my vendor?

No. We can point you at the state file and the OFAC tool and help you read them.

Sources reviewed