The registry terms that appear on a company profile, defined in plain language. Each links to a full definition.
- Registry number
- A registry number is the unique identifier a government business registry assigns to a company when it is formed or first registered in a jurisdiction. It stays with the entity for its lifetime and is the most reliable key for looking a company up in official records.
- Entity status
- Entity status is the current standing of a company in its registry — for example active, in good standing, dissolved, revoked or suspended. It reflects whether the entity has met its filing and fee obligations and is legally permitted to operate.
- Entity type
- Entity type is the legal form under which a business is registered — such as a corporation (Inc.), limited liability company (LLC), limited partnership (LP) or nonprofit. It determines the entity's liability, tax treatment and filing obligations.
- Incorporation date
- The incorporation date is the day a registry recognized a company as a legal entity — the date its formation filing was accepted. It marks the start of the entity's legal existence and is used to measure how long the business has been established.
- Registered agent
- A registered agent is the person or company a business designates to receive legal documents and official government notices on its behalf. Nearly every jurisdiction requires one, with a physical address in that jurisdiction, as a condition of registration.
- Jurisdiction
- A jurisdiction is the state, province or country whose registry a company is registered under and whose laws govern it. An entity's home jurisdiction is where it was formed; it may register additionally in other jurisdictions where it does business.
- NAICS code
- A NAICS code is a number from the North American Industry Classification System that identifies the industry a business operates in. Ranging from broad two-digit sectors to specific six-digit industries, it is the standard used by US, Canadian and Mexican agencies.
- Good standing
- Good standing means a company has met all of its registry's requirements — filed its required reports and paid its fees — and is therefore fully authorized to operate. A certificate of good standing is the registry's formal confirmation of that status.
- Dissolution
- Dissolution is the formal ending of a company's legal existence. It can be voluntary — the owners file to close the entity — or administrative, when a registry dissolves an entity for failing to file reports or pay fees.
- Annual report
- An annual report is a periodic filing a company must submit to its registry to keep its registration current — typically confirming its address, registered agent and officers, and paying a fee. Missing it can push an entity out of good standing.
- Foreign qualification
- Foreign qualification is the process by which a company registered in one jurisdiction gains authority to do business in another. "Foreign" here means out-of-state or out-of-country, not non-domestic — a Delaware company operating in Texas qualifies as a foreign entity in Texas.
- Trade name
- A trade name, also called a DBA ("doing business as") or fictitious name, is a name a company uses publicly that differs from its registered legal name. Registering a trade name lets an entity operate under a brand without forming a separate company.