PLEASE NOTE:  In Tennessee a Good Standing Certificate is called a Certificate of Existence.  This sometimes causes confusion when the requesting party, commonly the Secretary of State in another state besides Tennessee, requests a "Good Standing Certificate".  In these cases a Tennessee Certificate of Existence will fulfill the requirements for a Tennessee Good Standing Certificate.

A Tennessee Good Standing Certificate is issued by the Tennessee Secretary of State and is often required for loans, to renew business licenses, or for tax or other business purposes in the state of Tennessee or in any other state.

A Tennessee Certificate of Good Standing is evidence that your Tennessee business franchise - your Tennessee Corporation, LLC or LP - is in Existence, is authorized to transact business in the state of Tennessee, and complies with all state of Tennessee business requirements and therefore is in "Good Standing" in the state of Tennessee.

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

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

Total cost for a Tennessee 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 Tennessee Good Standing Certificate will cost.

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

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

A Corporation, LP or LLC that is registered in the state of Tennessee may require a Tennessee Good Standing Certificate to qualify as a "Foreign Corporation" in a state other than Tennessee.  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 Tennessee is a "Domestic Corporation" in California and a "Foreign Corporation" in the state of Tennessee.

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 Tennessee Good Standing Certificate is legal and official proof of Good Standing from the Tennessee Secretary of State.

If your Corporation, LLC or LP falls out of Good Standing with the TN Secretary of State it is technically illegal for your company to do business in the state of Tennessee or any other state. This could lead to the piercing of the corporate veil and make the owners of the Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee Company may be more expensive that those for walking away from the business and then creating an entirely new company.

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

If you own a Tennessee business and have not registered as a Corporation, LLC, LP or other legal entity with the Tennessee Secretary of State, then you are a Sole Proprietor by default.  Nothing needs to be filed with the Tennessee Secretary of State 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee Business).

In Tennessee a Good Standing Certificate is called a Certificate of Existence.   A Tennessee Certificate of Existence may be referred to by another name.

Yes. Each Tennessee Certificate of Existence includes a unique Control Number which may be used to verify the Certificate with the Tennessee Secretary of State.

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

If you place your order for a Tennessee Good Standing Certificate before 1 PM Tennessee time we can get your Tennessee Good Standing Certificate as fast as 2-3 hours. We will send you a scanned copy of your Tennessee Good Standing Certificate by email and put a paper copy of your Certificate in the mail as soon as we get it from the TN Secretary of State.

The Tennessee Secretary of State 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 Tennessee Secretary of State.  In our experience the time specified is the time it usually takes the Tennessee Secretary of State to process Good Standing Certificate orders.  We get your Tennessee Good Standing Certificate request to the TN Secretary of State ASAP.  Once it is at the state we have very little or no control over the Tennessee Good Standing Certificate process.

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

Some institutions may request that a Tennessee Good Standing Certificate be less than a certain number of days old.  Generally the information included on a Tennessee 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 Tennessee Good Standing Certificate is being used.

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

In Tennessee a Tax Status Compliance Certificate is called a Letter of Tax Clearance. A Tennessee Letter of Tax Clearance is issued by the Tennessee 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 Tennessee for a Tennessee Attorney we can help.

If you are ready to order a Tennessee 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.