Last Updated on January 2, 2022
Massachusetts Business Corporation Registry Search
The Massachusetts State Corporation Registry acts as the recorder of all the corporate entities that are registered with the Secretary of State of Massachusetts. The corporate database is a storehouse of the documents and filings of business entities that are incorporated in the state. The registry holds records of the following types of entities in the state:
- Corporation
- Limited Liability Companies
- Limited Partnerships
- Limited Liability Partnerships
- Limited Companies
Quick Links
How to do a Massachusetts Business Entity Search
If you are trying to find information about any business entity that is headquartered in Massachusetts, then you are at the right place. The online tool of the Massachusetts SOS allows you to search for any entity that has its incorporation in the state.
To perform the search you need to have any of the credentials below:
- Entity Name
- Individual Name
- Identification Number
- Filing Number
Read on the guidelines below to take out the best from your search.
Search by Business Name
Step 1. Visit the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website to begin your search. The page which appears looks similar to the screenshot below.
Step 2. On the search page, first select the search criteria, whether you want to search by Business Entity name, individual name, identification number or filing Number. Select the appropriate button. In the screenshot below, we have selected entity name.
Step 3. Type in the entity name in the appropriate field. For a sample, let us type “Country Curtains” in the Entity Name field. The screenshot illustrates the process better.
Step 4. Now it’s time to select the search type. From the drop down menu select begin with, exact match, full text or soundex. Here we have kept it begin with. Let us refer to the screenshot below.
Step 5. Click on the Search Corporations button. The result page will appear with entities beginning with the name Country Curtains. Refer to the below screenshot.
Step 6. Click on the entity name for further details like the:
- Identification number
- Business Name
- Entity Type (Corporation, Limited Liability Company)
- Date of Organization
- Principal Office Address
- Registered Agent Information
- Officers / Board of Directors
Additionally, you can also request a Certificate of Good Standing, Legal Existence, Dissolution or Merger for a small fee by clicking on the request Certificate button. You can also look up copies of information such as the Articles of Organization (Limited Liability Company), Articles of Incorporation (Corporation), Annual Reports, etc.
Business Licenses
The business name registration is different from business licensing in Massachusetts. The state of Massachusetts website has more information regarding Massachusetts business licenses.
Also see: How to do a Massachusetts UCC search
Information on Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
The Secretary of the Commonwealth for Massachusetts equivalent to the Secretary of State is a position created under the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Secretary of State of Massachusetts is also the principal public information official of the US state.
The current officeholder is William F. Galvin who is serving his sixth term in the office now. He was first elected to the position in 1994 and won re-elections in the years 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 consecutively.
Contact Information
Secretary of the Commonwealth
Corporations Division
McCormack Building
One Ashburton Place, 17th floor
Boston, MA 02108
617-727-9640
Fax: 617-742-4538
Email: corpinfo@sec.state.ma.us
Functionalities :
The Secretary of the State of Massachusetts, apart from being in charge of the various public affairs like licenses, authorizations, guardian of the public archives and documents, oversees the following departments as well.
- The Corporations Division
- The Archives of Massachusetts
- The Election Division
- The State Record Centre
- The Public Records Division
- The Securities Division
- The Massachusetts Historical Commission
