About EntityCheck.org
EntityCheck.org is an independent guide to the business registries of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. It exists because the facts a founder, lender or researcher needs are spread across 51 agency websites that use different names for the same things. This page explains where our facts come from, how we decide a fact is right, and what our tools do.
Not a government site
We are not a government agency and are not connected to any state office. We cannot file documents, change a record, reserve a name or issue a certificate. Every state guide links to the agency that can.
Which sources we accept
| Fact | Source we use | Not accepted |
|---|---|---|
| Fees and expedite charges | The agency's published fee schedule or form | Formation company blogs, price roundups |
| Deadlines and filing rules | The state statute or the agency's own instructions | Search result snippets |
| Search links and system changes | The agency's website and its official notices | Third-party directories |
| Bulk data terms and prices | The agency's data or order page; independent reports only when marked as such | Unmarked estimates |
| EIN and nonprofit records | IRS data and SEC EDGAR | Commercial EIN databases |
How a fact gets a date
A state guide shows a "checked" date only after each fee on it has been compared line by line with the agency's current fee schedule or official notice, and that document is listed in the guide's sources. Guides that have not been through that step say "Compiled October 2026" instead. Today 2 of 51 guides carry a checked date, and the data updates log shows the progress. When we cannot confirm a value from an official source, we leave it out or label it rather than estimate it.
When a state changes something, we record what changed, the date it took effect, the document it came from, and what we checked and found unchanged. Louisiana's October 2026 fee increase and Texas's move to SOSPortal are recent examples.
Where the data lives
Fees, deadlines, agency names and links for all 51 jurisdictions sit in one data file that every page reads from, so a correction made once appears on the state guide, the fee directory, the reservation table and the cost tables at the same time. Live search results come from three kinds of source: state open-data portals for New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Connecticut and Texas; IRS and SEC records for the EIN lookup; and, where enabled, a commercial registry data service for other states. Which states publish their registers at all is covered in data downloads by state.
What the name check does and does not do
The name check is a first screen. A match tells you a similar name is already on file. No match does not mean the state will accept your name: the state decides when it reviews a filing, and it may also reject names that are only slightly different. Trademark rights are a separate question. Our guide to claiming a name covers the full order of checks.
How the site is funded
The site does not charge readers. If we add advertising or partner links, they will be labeled, and the official state link will always appear before any paid link on a state guide.
Contact and corrections
Found something wrong? Email [email protected] with the state and a link to the official page. We open that page before changing anything and log the result. More options are on the contact page.