Maintaining accurate records can help you track the health of your business. Without them, you won’t be able to easily discern trends, calculate ratios or make decisions for the future. These records are also required when you file tax returns and to back up the information you report in your financial statements. These include income statements (profit and loss statements) and balance sheets.
Most states have departments of corporations or secretary of state offices that require businesses to submit an official statement of ownership. The majority have these documents on the internet. You can look up these records using the name of the company, and the websites often provide a list with the names of directors and officers as well as their addresses and additional information about the company. Certain private firms or companies make directories of business. These directories can include the city of a company’s headquarters or where it’s registered. They often also include contact information, the primary officer or officers, as well as an overview of the kind of business the company is involved with.
Many cities require that any person or company engaging in a business within the city file a registration, and a number of cities have put these documents online. Certain counties keep fake names of companies, in which the top executives of a partnership or their addresses are listed. Certain states have a master list of all fictitious business names and some counties, as well as the secretary of state or corporate departments have made these indexes available online.