An Arizona Certificate of Good Standing is issued by the Corporations Division of the Arizona Corporation Commission. That is a key detail if you are used to other states, because Arizona's Secretary of State does not hold company records. Everything from the order to the payment happens with the Commission.
The certificate says one narrow thing. The Commission explains that good standing means only that the company meets its filing requirements at that moment. It is not a review of taxes, licenses or how the business is run. The Arizona office guide covers the Commission's other services.
Price and speed of an Arizona certificate
Arizona offers two speeds. The regular certificate costs $10 and takes about 7 to 10 business days, based on the Commission's FAQ. The expedited version costs $45.
| What the state calls it | Certificate of Good Standing (azcc.gov, checked ) |
|---|---|
| Fee | $10 (azcc.gov, checked ) |
| Where to order | azcc.gov/corporations/home (azcc.gov, checked ) |
The cheap option is fine for a bank account you are opening next month. For a loan that closes this week, pay for the faster one. Current wait times for Commission work are posted on its portal, so look there before you decide.
How to request it from the Commission
- Find the company in the Commission's entity search and confirm the exact name and entity number.
- Look at the status. It should read Active.
- Open the Corporations page linked in the table above. Online Commission work now runs through Arizona Business Center, the portal that replaced eCorp.
- Pick regular or expedited and pay the fee.
- Save the certificate in the form your requester asked for and note the date it was issued.
Arizona statuses that block a certificate
The Commission's FAQ defines four status words. Only one of them, Active, means the company is current and compliant.
Every status word Arizona uses is explained in our Arizona office guide.
Pending Inactive is the early warning for a corporation. It appears after the annual report deadline passes and a delinquency notice goes out. Delinquent points to filings or fees that are still open. Administratively Dissolved is the serious one: the company failed a legal duty, such as filing its report or keeping a statutory agent.
Fixing the record before you order
For a corporation, the fix usually starts with the annual report. A for-profit corporation pays $45 for the report and $9 for each month it is late. A nonprofit corporation pays $10 and has no late fee. If the report stays missing, administrative dissolution follows about 120 days after the Pending Inactive stage.
LLCs are different. They file no annual report in Arizona, so a missed report is not their problem. The risk for an LLC is losing its statutory agent. If yours resigned or moved, appoint a new one and then check that the record shows Active before you order.
Who asks for it
Banks use the certificate when you open an account or borrow. Other states ask for it when an Arizona company registers with them as a foreign business. Buyers, landlords and public agencies sometimes ask too. Our certificate of good standing guide explains what each one checks.
Sources
- azcc.gov/docs/default-source/corps-files/fee-schedules/fee-schedule-llcs.pdf: good standing certificate, certificate fee. Checked .
- www.azcc.gov/corporations/home: certificate ordering. Checked .