A Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate is issued by the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and is often required for loans, to renew business licenses, or for tax or other business purposes in the state of Massachusetts or in any other state. A Massachusetts Certificate of Good Standing is evidence that your Massachusetts business franchise - your Massachusetts Corporation, LLC or LP - is in Existence, is authorized to transact business in the state of Massachusetts, and complies with all state of Massachusetts business requirements and therefore is in "Good Standing" in the state of Massachusetts.

Also known as a Massachusetts Certificate of Existence, a Massachusetts Certificate of Status or a Massachusetts Certificate of Authority, a Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate is a one page document which looks like a letter and bears the seal of the state of Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. A Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate is provided by the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and is conclusive evidence of the existence of your Massachusetts business franchise. In most cases a Massachusetts Certificate of Good Standing can be valid up to a year depending on the requirements of the Good Standing Certificate requester.

To obtain a Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate, your company must be registered as a legal entity with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, i.e., your company is in existence in the state of Massachusetts, and cannot be in default of Massachusetts corporate rules, or suspended by the state of Massachusetts.

Total cost for a Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate depends on the type of company - Corporation, LLC, LLP, LP - and how fast you need the Certificate. Choose your options in the Good Standing Certificate Cost Calculator below to determine exactly how much your Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate will cost.

• The Massachusetts company must be registered as a legal entity with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth as a Corporation, LLC or LP.
• The Massachusetts company cannot be in default or suspended as defined by the laws of the state of Massachusetts.
• The Massachusetts company must have filed all reports required by the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth or any other state of Massachusetts agency.

Some states verify that all taxes have been paid and all required reports have been filed. Other states include bare minimum language that confirms only that a company is in existence and has not been dissolved.

Along with the issuance date and signature of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, a Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate includes the following information:

A Corporation, LP or LLC that is registered in the state of Massachusetts may require a Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate to qualify as a "Foreign Corporation" in a state other than Massachusetts.  A Foreign Corporation is a Corporation that is registered with a state agency, usually the Secretary of State, in one state and has the Authority to do business in another state. 

For example, a Corporation registered in the state of California that plans to do business in the state of Massachusetts is a "Domestic Corporation" in California and a "Foreign Corporation" in the state of Massachusetts.

All states require you to register as a Foreign Corporation with a state agency, usually the Secretary of State, in order to do business in their state.  In order to register as a Foreign Corporation in any state you must provide evidence that you are registered and are in Good Standing in another state as a Domestic Corporation or LLC.  This evidence is a Certificate of Good Standing from the state in which your Corporation or LLC was originally formed.

A Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate is legal and official proof of Good Standing from the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.

If your Corporation, LLC or LP falls out of Good Standing with the MA Secretary of the Commonwealth it is technically illegal for your company to do business in the state of Massachusetts or any other state. This could lead to the piercing of the corporate veil and make the owners of the Massachusetts business liable for penalties and law suits.

In order to get back into Good Standing you will have to pay a Reinstatement Fee.

The cost to Reinstate a Massachusetts Company depends on the exactly why the Corporation, LLC or LP is not in Good Standing. In some cases the fees for reinstatement of a Massachusetts Company may be more expensive that those for walking away from the business and then creating an entirely new company.

A Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate is issued by the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth for business entities that have registered with the state of Massachusetts.  A Sole Proprietorship or DBA is not normally registered with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth so a Massachusetts Certificate of Good Standing cannot be issued for them.

If you own a Massachusetts business and have not registered as a Corporation, LLC, LP or other legal entity with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, then you are a Sole Proprietor by default.  Nothing needs to be filed with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth to create a Sole Proprietorship.  If you plan to use a name different from your first and last name then you would register in the Massachusetts county in which you do business with your first and last name "Doing Business As" (DBA) the name of your business (for example: Sue Smith, DBA Sue's Massachusetts Business).

A Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate may be referred to by another name.

Yes. Each Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate includes a unique Certificate Number which may be used to verify the Certificate with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Yes.  A Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate includes the Date of Incorporation for a Massachusetts Corporation or the Date of Organization for a Massachusetts LLC.

We can get your Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate as fast as 3-5 business days. If you choose the scanned email copy option on the Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate Cost Calculator below, we will send you a scanned copy of your Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate by email as soon as we get it from the MA Secretary of the Commonwealth.

The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth reserves the right to extend expedite periods in time of extreme volume, staff shortage or equipment malfunction.  We are dependent on, and have no control over, the staff and systems of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.  In our experience the time specified is the time it usually takes the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth to process Good Standing Certificate orders.  We get your Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate request to the MA Secretary of the Commonwealth ASAP.  Once it is at the state we have very little or no control over the Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate process.

A valid expiration date is not written on a Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate.  The validity of a Massachusetts Certificate of Good Standing is usually determined by the intended recipient of the Good Standing Certificate.

Some institutions may request that a Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate be less than a certain number of days old.  Generally the information included on a Massachusetts Certificate of Good Standing is implied to be valid for 60-90 days but it really depends on the nature of the business for which the Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate is being used.

Each Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate comes with a Certificate Number.  A Massachusetts Certificate of Good Standing may be verified using the Certificate Number on the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth web site.

If you need to verify that all outstanding tax liabilities for a Massachusetts Corporation or Massachusetts LLC have been paid then you need a Massachusetts Tax Status Compliance Certificate.

In Massachusetts a Tax Status Compliance Certificate is called a . A Massachusetts is issued by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and is sometimes called a Tax Clearance Certificate or an Entity Status Letter or a Certificate of Account Status.

If you need a Good Standing Certificate from the highest Court in the state of Massachusetts for a Massachusetts Attorney we can help.

If you are ready to order a Massachusetts Good Standing Certificate now, simply fill in the Good Standing Certificate Order Form below and press the Place Order button. If you have any questions you can call us at 855-771-2477 or email us at CorpServices@AllBizDocs.com.