North Dakota Adds Certificate of Professional License Requirement to Annual Reports
Starting with the 2027 annual report, North Dakota requires professional business entities, Professional Corporations, Professional Limited Liability Companies, and Professional Limited Liability Partnerships, to submit a notarized Certificate of Professional License (SFN 13610) along with their annual report.
The new requirement is intended to verify that professional entities remain properly licensed and to reduce fraudulent filings by non-licensees.
What Is the Certificate of Professional License (SFN 13610)?
The Certificate of Professional License is a form that verifies the licensure of the professionals associated with a North Dakota professional entity. To be valid, the certificate must be:
- Completed by the entity’s licensing board, confirming that the individual(s) hold an active professional license
- Signed by an authorized representative of that licensing board
- Notarized by a notary public
- Submitted together with the entity’s annual report
Who This Affects
The requirement applies to any North Dakota professional entity structure spanning licensed professions well beyond a single industry, including Professional Corporations, Professional Limited Liability Companies, Professional Limited Liability Partnerships, and organizations that provide engineering, architecture, legal, or accounting services within North Dakota.
If your organization holds one of these entity types in North Dakota, this requirement applies to you regardless of industry.
Timeline: What to Do Before Your 2027 Annual Report
- Confirm your entity type. Determine whether your organization is registered in North Dakota as a Professional Corporation, Professional LLC, or Professional LLP.
- Contact your licensing board early. Ask what their process and turnaround time are for completing and signing a Certificate of Professional License. Board processing times will vary and may take longer during peak renewal seasons.
- Arrange notarization. The completed certificate must be notarized before it’s submitted.
- Submit your annual report. The certificate must accompany your 2027 annual report filing; it is not a standalone filing.
What This Means for North Dakota Professional Firms
This is a net-new documentation step, not a replacement for any existing part of the annual report. Firms that have historically treated their North Dakota annual report as a routine, single-step filing should budget extra lead time in 2027 to loop in their licensing board and a notary. Missing this step could put an otherwise-compliant annual report at risk of rejection.
Stay Ahead of North Dakota’s New Requirement
Regulatory changes like North Dakota’s new Certificate of Professional License requirement are easy to miss if you’re not actively monitoring state annual report rules, especially when, as here, the change stems from a statutory interpretation rather than new legislation. Harbor Compliance helps professional entities track annual report requirements across every state, so nothing falls through the cracks. Contact us today to learn how we can help your firm prepare for North Dakota’s 2027 filing season.
