Business Compliance: Entity Management

Entity management is the term to describe business compliance for your LLC, corporation, or other business structure. Keeping your business compliant is a big deal. But doing the work to stay compliant shouldn't be.

We coach business owners on what it takes to keep their new and existing business entities in good standing. The easiest way to start is with a free consultation. By looking up your business name in public records, we can alert you to noncompliance or risks you may not be aware of.

Entity Management Education

Our first goal is to spare you from the phrase “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Allow us to personalize your journey with one of the following two options.

ComplianceAdvisor™ for New Business Owners

Our most popular program, ComplianceAdvisor™ is geared to the new business owner. This program assumes that you have just registered your business and are ready to start the journey of setting up your records and learning how to administer your entity. The program includes a 40-page e-Book written by Harbor’s Mike Montali and two hours of one-on-one coaching with the author. The first session is focused on the initial tasks to get your records, financial separation, and other aspects of your business set up. The second session reviews your compliance calendar worksheet to ensure you have a framework outlining the annual tasks that you will conduct to stay compliant.

Free Compliance Audit for Established Business Owners

By starting with a free consultation with our staff, we can immediately personalize the dialogue and establish common ground as to the current state of compliance of your business entity or entities.

Entity Management Activities

After starting your LLC, corporation, or other business entity, further work is required to run your entity correctly. You must tend to recurring maintenance and one-time filings so your business will remain in "good standing" with the government. You must also abide by behaviors that keep your "corporate veil" from being pierced and exposing you to liability. Below is a sample of the activities that might apply to your business.

1.) Recurring Tasks

1. Compliance with the PA Department of State
• Decennial Report of Continued Existence
• Decennial Report - Insignia or Mark Used with Articles or Supplies
• Annual Report for Nonprofits
• Annual Registration - Registered Limited Liability Partnership/Company
• Renewal/Assignment of Registration of Mark (every 5 years)
• Registered Agent Services (every 1 year or per the renewal contract with your provider)
2. Maintenance of your business entity
• Recurring director and shareholder meetings (usually annually, per your by-laws), minutes, and record-keeping
3. Licenses
• Professional license renewals
4. Compliance with the PA Department of Revenue (administered through eTides)
• Renew your sales tax license every five years
• Pay your Sales and Use tax (semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually depending on your tax liability)
• Pay employer withholding (1099, W-2, W03, 501)
• File unemployment compensation quarterly reports (Form UC-2A) and pay unemployment compensation contributions (Form UC-2)
• Personal Income Tax periodic payments and self-employment tax withholdings, depending on your situation
5. Local requirements (varies)
• County and municipal taxes
• County and municipal licenses / permits
• County and municipal zoning
6. Industry-specific requirements (varies)
• For example: If you own a restaurant, you must keep up with food safety certifications and health inspections.

2.) One-Time Tasks

1. Compliance with the PA Department of State
• Business Name and Mark
• Amend, withdraw or cancel a fictitious name
• Termination of Registration of Association Name
• Foreign Application for Registration of Name - Nonqualified
• Registration/Amendment of Mark used with Articles or Supplies
• Consent to Appropriation of Name
• Change of Registered Office
• Disclosures of the business entity
• Statement with Respent to Shares
• Articles of Amendment
• Changes to structure of the domestic Pennsylvania business entity
• Mergers
• Divisions
• Exchanges
• Conversions
• Amendments / Elections
• Certificate of Cancellation
• Certificate Pursuant to Judicial Order
• Withdrawal by Limited/General or LLP Partner
• Changes to structure of the foreign business entity doing business in Pennsylvania
• Domestication
• Foreign entity Statement of Merger, Consolidation or Division
• Application for Termination of Authority
• Change of Address by Withdrawn Corporations
• Application for Registration of Name - Nonqualified
• Termination / dissolution of the business entity
• Statement/Certificate of Termination
• Articles of Dissolution by Shareholders / Members
• Articles of Involuntary Dissolution
• Revival of the business entity
• Miscellaneous
• Summary of record
• Statement of Correction
• Docketing Statement - Changes
2. Maintenance of your business entity
• Announce and hold required director and shareholder meetings
• Track meeting minutes, adoption and updates to by-laws, and other meeting resolutions
• Record stock transfers, keep shareholder's contact information, and provide required communications to shareholders
3. Licenses
• Obtain initial professional licenses
4. Compliance with the PA Department of Revenue (administered through eTides)
• Sales tax reinstatement if it was suspended or revoked

3.) Basic business behaviors to preserve your business entity

1. Routine behaviors to master
• Use appropriate signatures, receipts, and other written or verbal disclosures that indicates your business actions are on behalf of a business entity, not as an individual
• Keep records. Understand what documents should be created and how long they should be retained
2. Financial matters
• Never mingle personal and business funds
• Understand what expenses constitute business versus personal expenditures
• Establish and follow guidelines for how you pay yourself and your partners via salary and/or from profits. For example, an S Corporation has strict shareholder compensation requirements.
• Consistently follow your chosen bookkeeping method (cash or accrual)
3. Licenses / Zoning / Permits
• Abide by the expectations established of you in your professional license(s), permits, and zoning designation