In Iowa 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 Iowa, requests a "Good Standing Certificate".  In these cases an Iowa Certificate of Existence will fulfill the requirements for an Iowa Good Standing Certificate.

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

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

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

Total cost for an Iowa 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 Iowa Good Standing Certificate will cost.

• The Iowa company must be registered as a legal entity with the Iowa Secretary of State as a Corporation, LLC or LP.
• The Iowa company cannot be in default or suspended as defined by the laws of the state of Iowa.
• The Iowa company must have filed all reports required by the Iowa Secretary of State or any other state of Iowa 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 Iowa Secretary of State, an Iowa Good Standing Certificate includes the following information:

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

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.

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

If your Corporation, LLC or LP falls out of Good Standing with the IA Secretary of State it is technically illegal for your company to do business in the state of Iowa or any other state. This could lead to the piercing of the corporate veil and make the owners of the Iowa 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 an Iowa Company depends on the exactly why the Corporation, LLC or LP is not in Good Standing. In some cases the fees for reinstatement of an Iowa Company may be more expensive that those for walking away from the business and then creating an entirely new company.

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

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

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

Yes. Each Iowa Certificate of Existence includes a unique Certificate ID which may be used to verify the Certificate with the Iowa Secretary of State.

Yes.  An Iowa Good Standing Certificate includes the Date of Incorporation for an Iowa Corporation or the Date of Organization for an Iowa LLC.

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

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

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

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

Each Iowa Good Standing Certificate comes with a Certificate ID.  An Iowa Certificate of Good Standing may be verified using the Certificate ID on the Iowa Secretary of State web site.

We can email you a copy of your Iowa Good Standing Certificate the same day, usually within 2-3 hours after we get your order.  If the recipient of your Iowa Certificate of Good Standing requires official validation, they can go to the Iowa Secretary of State web site for quick verification.  The web address to verify an Iowa Certificate of Good Standing on the Iowa Secretary of State web site is printed on each Iowa Good Standing Certificate.

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

In Iowa a Tax Status Compliance Certificate is called a . An Iowa is issued by the Iowa Iowa 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 Iowa for an Iowa Attorney we can help.

If you are ready to order an Iowa 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.