Your Secretary of State identification number is on the formation paperwork the state returned when it approved your business, on any annual report you’ve filed since, and in the free business entity search on the Secretary of State website for the state where you registered. If you’re looking up another company’s number, that same public search is where to start — you just need to know which state the business is registered in.
What You’re Actually Looking For
When you register a corporation, LLC, limited partnership, or nonprofit, the state assigns the entity a unique identification number. Most states handle this through the Secretary of State’s office, though some route filings through a different agency such as a Department of State or business bureau.
States label the number differently: entity number, file number, corporate ID, charter number, or control number. Formats vary too, from short alphanumeric codes to longer numeric strings. The label and format don’t matter much; it’s the same thing in each state — the identifier the state uses to track your entity in its records.
It is not your federal Employer Identification Number. The EIN is a nine-digit number issued by the IRS for tax purposes and follows your business regardless of which state you operate in.1U.S. Small Business Administration. Get Federal and State Tax ID Numbers The Secretary of State ID is state-specific. A business registered in three states has three separate state-issued ID numbers but only one EIN. If your state also levies income or employment taxes, you may have a separate state tax ID from the revenue agency as well.
Finding Your Own Business’s Number
Start with whatever is closest to hand.
Your Formation Documents
The surest place to look is the paperwork the state returned after approving your registration. For a corporation, that’s your filed Articles of Incorporation. For an LLC, the Articles of Organization. For a limited partnership, the Certificate of Limited Partnership.2U.S. Small Business Administration. Register Your Business The state stamps or prints the assigned ID number on these documents when it processes them. If you filed electronically, the confirmation or receipt from the state’s online filing system includes it.
A Prior Annual Report or Certificate
Most states require periodic reports, annual or biennial, to keep registration current. Any report you’ve filed or received back from the state lists your entity ID near the top. Certificates of good standing or certificates of existence you’ve ordered previously display it prominently as well.
The State’s Online Business Search
If you can’t find the paperwork, go directly to the state’s business entity search portal. Navigate to the Secretary of State website for the state where you formed your business, find the “Business Search” or “Entity Search” tool, and type in your company’s legal name. The results page shows your ID number along with the entity’s status, formation date, and registered agent. The National Association of Secretaries of State maintains a directory that links to every state’s business registration page, which saves time hunting for the right site.3NASS. Corporate Registration
A Call to the Filing Office
When the online tools aren’t cooperating, phone the filing office. Have your business’s exact legal name and formation date ready, and staff can look up your entity and give you the number. In a few states a different agency handles business filings. The GAO has noted that in Alabama, for instance, formation documents initially go through the county probate judge before reaching the state office.4GAO. Minimal Ownership Information Is Collected and Available If you’re not sure which agency to contact, search for “[your state] business entity filing office.”
Looking Up Another Business’s Number
Business registration information is public record. You don’t need the company’s permission or any special access to look it up.
Go to the Secretary of State website for the state where the business is registered and use the public search tool. Enter the company’s legal name, not a trade name or DBA, but the formal name on file. The results show the entity’s ID number, its status (active, inactive, dissolved), the date it was formed, and its registered agent.
The harder part is knowing which state to search. A company headquartered in one state may be incorporated in another; Delaware and Nevada are popular formation states for businesses that operate elsewhere. If your first search turns up nothing, try the state where the company has its main office, or ask the business directly which state it’s formed in. The NASS directory makes it easy to jump between states’ search tools.3NASS. Corporate Registration
When the Search Returns Nothing
When a state’s search tool returns no results or the wrong results, the cause is almost always one of these:
- Spelling or punctuation mismatch. The name on file might use “LLC” while you searched “L.L.C.,” or the name might start with “The.” Try a partial name search if the tool allows it; entering just the first distinctive word often works better than the full name.
- Wrong state. The company may be incorporated somewhere other than where its offices are. Try Delaware, Nevada, or Wyoming if the company isn’t showing up where you expected.
- Dissolved entity hidden by default. Some search tools exclude dissolved entities unless you check a box or change a dropdown to include inactive records.
- DBA versus legal name. A business operating under a trade name may be registered under a completely different legal name. If you only know the trade name, try a broader search or check a separate fictitious name registry, which some states maintain separately.
- Recent filing not yet processed. Brand-new filings can take a few business days to appear in the online database, especially those submitted by mail.
If none of those fixes work, call the state office. Staff who work with the database daily can run searches the public tool can’t, including by registered agent name or partial entity number.
Businesses Registered in More Than One State
A business formed in one state that operates in another typically needs to foreign qualify in that second state, filing a registration application often called an Application for Certificate of Authority.2U.S. Small Business Administration. Register Your Business Once approved, the new state assigns its own separate identification number for that jurisdiction.
So a business operating in five states could have five different state-issued ID numbers, even though it’s a single legal entity. Each number is tied to the state that issued it. When you need to reference your entity number, use the right one for the right state. Submitting your home-state number on a filing meant for a foreign-qualified state will cause processing delays.
Name Changes and Mergers
If your business changes its legal name through an amendment filed with the Secretary of State, the entity ID number generally stays the same. The state updates the name on the record but keeps the original number as the permanent identifier. That’s part of why the number is useful; it tracks the entity through name changes, address changes, and agent changes.
Don’t confuse this with your EIN. The IRS has separate rules about when a name change requires a new Employer Identification Number, and those rules depend on your entity type.5Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change A simple name change usually doesn’t trigger a new EIN for corporations or partnerships, but you still need to notify the IRS.
Mergers work similarly at the state level. When two entities merge, the surviving entity typically keeps its state-issued ID number, and the non-surviving entity’s number becomes inactive. The IRS follows a parallel pattern: the surviving corporation keeps its EIN, while a newly created entity from a merger needs a new one.6Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN If you’re searching for a company that was acquired or merged, its old entity number may show up in the state’s database as inactive or merged, sometimes with a reference to the surviving entity.
When a Search Result Isn’t Official Enough
A free search result from the state’s website tells you the entity’s name, ID number, and status, but it is not an official document. For some purposes — closing a real estate transaction, qualifying to do business in another state, or satisfying a lender’s due diligence — you’ll need a certificate of good standing, also called a certificate of existence or certificate of status depending on the state.
A certificate of good standing is a certified document issued under the state’s seal that confirms the entity is validly registered and current on its filings. It carries legal weight that a screenshot or printout from the public search does not. Most states charge between $5 and $25 for an electronic certificate, with expedited or paper versions sometimes costing more. You can usually order one through the same online portal where you file annual reports.
If you need to prove another business’s status, say you’re vetting a contractor or confirming a vendor’s legitimacy, some states let anyone order a certificate for any entity, while others restrict the request to the entity itself or its authorized representative. Check the state’s website for ordering details before assuming you can get one for a company that isn’t yours.