What Is an Annual Report?

An annual report is a filing that provides details of your company's business activities over the previous year. Some states call annual reports ”Statements of Information” for LLCs.

Annual reports give state governing authorities important information, including the names and addresses of directors or managing members of a corporation or LLC, as well as the company and Registered Agent address.

As a business manager, director or owner, you’re obliged to follow state regulations and meet certain requirements, one of which is to file an annual report for your LLC or corporation.

Some states only require you to file a report every two years, called a “biennial report.”

A formal annual report is required to be filed with your Secretary of State.

You may also need to create additional yearly reports for your investors, shareholders or stakeholders, but these business or financial reports are not the same as LLC or corporation annual reports.

Who Needs to File an Annual Report?

If you’ve incorporated a business — as an LLC, LLP, S Corp or C Corp — you must file an annual report (or equivalent report based on your state's schedule), normally with your Secretary of State. This applies no matter how big or small your business is.

Annual reports can be daunting and filing incorrectly (or not at all) can cause serious headaches and consequences later, such as late penalties, dissolution and loss of liability protection.

Avoid tiresome paperwork and the repercussions of noncompliance by letting LegalHoop take care of the paperwork for you. Free up your time to focus on what matters — your business.

Who Doesn’t Need to File an Annual Report?

Generally, sole proprietors and partnerships don’t have to file an annual report because the business is not a separate entity from the business owner.

What Does an LLC or Corporate Annual Report Contain?

Annual reports vary in complexity and typically include the following:

The principal business (head office) address of the company

The names and addresses of the managers of the business (directors and officers in a corporation, members and managers in an LLC)

Important identification numbers for your business

The purpose of your business

Authorized signatories and Registered Agents

The number of shares of stock issued by the business

What’s the Purpose of an Annual Report?

The purpose of an annual report is to keep your state informed of your business’s activities throughout the previous year and declare any changes to the details or ownership of your business — for example, if the business has changed locations or has new directors or managers.

Annual reports also provide shareholders and any other interested people with information about your business’s financial performance.

Need to make changes to your business outside of the usual annual reporting time? No problem! You can file an Articles of Amendment form or have LegalHoop take care of it for you.

What Happens If I Don't File an Annual Report or Miss the Deadline?

If you don’t file your annual report or miss the deadline, you put your business at risk. Your state could impose a late penalty fine and your business could lose its “good standing.”

Further delaying filing means your business could be dissolved by your state agency and struck off the register. If this happens, you’ll no longer have liability protection and can’t continue as an LLC or corporation.

How to File Your Annual Report

If you need to file an annual report for your LLC or corporation, you can normally do so online through your state’s website.

In addition to filing your annual report, you’ll also need to pay a fee — these fees vary from state to state and could range between $50 and $400.

Some states will also require you to file other business documentation if important details of your business have changed.

When Is Your Annual Report Due?

In some states, annual reports need to be filed on a predetermined date for all entities regardless of the date of formation. Other states require the annual report to be filed on the anniversary date of formation.

The due dates for LLC and corporation annual reports vary from state to state. You can find your filing date on your state’s website.

Business and Financial Annual Reports

In addition to formally filing a corporate annual report, you may also need to produce business and financial reports for investors, directors, managers and other stakeholders.

Although there aren’t any “legal” requirements for what these reports should contain, there are certain conventions for what’s included.

Businesses exist to make a profit, so finances are usually at the forefront of business annual reports.

Annual business reports can be presented as:

Balance sheets

Profit and loss statements

Reports on shares and stock issued

Financial projections and forecasts

An annual business report can also include several other areas:

An executive summary

Letter from the chairman or board of directors

Assessment of opportunities and risks

Whether you’re filing a formal annual report for your LLC, S Corp or C Corp, or you’re creating other business and financial reports, it’s important to ensure that you understand exactly what’s required from you.

LegalHoop is the expert at making sure annual reports are perfect. Save yourself the time and effort of preparing and filing your annual report, and let us take care of things.

Need Help Filing Your LLC Annual Report?

Save the stress and free up time while avoiding missed deadlines, state fines and the risk of dissolution. Let LegalHoop handle your paperwork.

Place your order below and a LegalHoop representative will contact you to get the specific information required to complete and file the annual report in your state of formation.

Benefits of Filing Your Annual Report with LegalHoop
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Common Questions About Filing an Annual Report
How Much Does It Cost to File an Annual Report? icon icon
  • Our service fee to file an annual report is $99.
  • The fee is the same whether you need to file an LLC annual report or an annual report for your corporation or nonprofit.
  • The state fee will vary. To review the fee in your state, select your entity type and the entity state at the bottom of the page.
Are There Any Hidden Costs? icon icon

No! We pride ourselves on transparency. There are absolutely no hidden costs associated with filing your annual report.

Are There Specific Rules for My State? icon icon

Yes. Some states proceed to immediate dissolution if your annual report is not filed by the deadline. This means that your company will no longer be registered with the state and the legal and tax benefits of being incorporated will no longer be available to you. States that do this are Florida, Wyoming, Georgia and Virginia.

Other states have 20-90 day grace periods.

Discover everything you need to know about your state-specific compliance filing requirements.

What Happens If the Annual Report Cannot Be Filed? icon icon

If your entity has been administratively revoked, otherwise dissolved or the report is not due within a close proximity to you placing your order, our policy is to contact and inform you then issue a full refund.

If your company has been dissolved for any reason, we can assist with reinstatement and then proceed to file the Annual Report.

What Will I Receive When the Annual Report Is Filed? icon icon

Once the filing is complete, your governing state agency will typically return a filed copy of your Annual Report which is then mailed to you.

What Is the Purpose of Filing an Annual Report? icon icon

The purpose of filing an Annual Report is to provide your state with important and up to date information about your business and any changes, or updated information since the last filing period.

What Happens If You Don’t File an Annual Report? icon icon

If you don't file your LLC Annual Report, or don't file it on time, there are several things that can happen:

  • The state will write to you and could impose a late filing penalty that you’ll be obligated to pay in addition to your regular Annual Report filing cost.
  • The state will inform you when you must file by to avoid further action being taken against you or your business.

If you still do not file, your business will lose its “good standing,” which could make it harder to run certain business operations.

If you continue to not file, your state agency will dissolve your business and then strike it off the register.

Having reached this point, you’ll lose your liability protection and you won’t be able to continue as an LLC or corporation.

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