Last Updated on March 22, 2023
Massachusetts SOS Business Search
Massachusetts SOS Business SearchThe 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 Company
- Limited Partnership
- Limited Liability Partnership
- Limited Company
If you are looking for information on a sole proprietorship or general partnership, visit the town clerk’s office where the business is located.
See: How to start an LLC in Massachusetts
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 (This refers to the state identification number and not the Employer Identification Number from the IRS)
- Filing Number
Read the guidelines below to take out the best from your search.
Business Name Search
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 the 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 to 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), filing date of the Annual Report, etc.
Business Licenses
The business name registration is different from a Massachusetts business license. 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 officer of the US state.
The current officeholder is William F. Galvin, who is serving his sixth term in 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