A Missouri Certificate of Good Standing comes from the Corporations Division of the Missouri Secretary of State in Jefferson City. You can buy it online for $10, through the same business services site that holds filings and the Business Entity Search.
The price is low, so the real work is making sure the record is clean before you order. Missouri can dissolve a corporation for several reasons, and an out-of-state company can lose its authority over a single missing agent. This page covers both. For the rest of the division's work, see the Missouri office guide.
The $10 Missouri certificate
The Secretary of State's fee schedule lists the Certificate of Good Standing at $10. A certified copy of a business record ordered online costs the same. If someone wants a certified record as well as the certificate, you can order both online.
| What the state calls it | Certificate of Good Standing (sos.mo.gov, checked ) |
|---|---|
| Fee | $10 (sos.mo.gov, checked ) |
| Where to order | sos.mo.gov/business/corporations/generalinfo (sos.mo.gov, checked ) |
Missouri does not publish a processing time for this order, and its fee schedule lists no expedite fee. Plan around that if your deadline is close.
How to order it
- Search the company in the Business Entity Search. If you have your annual reminder, use the charter number printed on it. That is the most exact way in.
- Check the status. It should not say Administratively Dissolved or Revoked.
- Request the Certificate of Good Standing online.
- Pay $10.
- Save the certificate and give a copy to whoever asked for it.
Statuses that block a Missouri certificate
Missouri defines two status words that matter here. Both describe a company that cannot show good standing until it acts.
Every status word Missouri uses is explained in our Missouri office guide.
Administratively Dissolved is the one corporations see. The Secretary of State uses it after a missed annual report, unpaid franchise tax, a lapsed registered agent or registered office, or fraud. It does not mean the corporation has stopped existing. Revoked applies to foreign companies whose certificate of authority was pulled because they let their registered agent lapse.
Clearing the record
Corporations file a yearly annual registration report with the Secretary of State. Two state pages list different online fees for it, so check the current amount on the filing screen. A late report adds $15 for every 30 day period it is overdue.
Before the state dissolves a corporation, it sends a written notice. The corporation then has 60 days to correct the problem. If that window passes, the company can still come back through a rescission of the dissolution. File the missing reports, restore the agent if that was the cause, and wait for the record to change before you order.
LLCs file no annual report in Missouri. For them, the main risk is the registered agent. The agent must be a Missouri resident, or a corporation allowed to work in Missouri, with a street address. A PO box alone or a retail mailbox store will not do.
Who asks for it
Banks ask when you open an account or apply for a loan. Another state asks when your Missouri company registers there as a foreign entity. Our certificate of good standing guide explains what each one checks.
Sources
- www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Business/fees.pdf: good standing certificate, certificate fee. Checked .
- www.sos.mo.gov/business/corporations/generalinfo: certificate ordering. Checked .