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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In California a Tax Status Compliance Certificate is called a Entity Status Letter. A California Entity Status Letter is issued by the California Franchise Tax Board and is sometimes called a Tax Clearance Certificate or a Certificate of Account Status.

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

If you are ready to order a California 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.