A Kansas Certificate of Good Standing is issued online through the Kansas Secretary of State’s Copies and Certifications portal, and the document is available to download as soon as you pay. The certificate confirms your business is registered in Kansas and current on everything the state requires. Banks, licensing boards, and other states ask for it before approving loans, issuing licenses, or letting you register to do business across state lines.
How to Order Online
Kansas handles these orders exclusively through the Secretary of State’s website. There is no paper request option.1Business Center One Stop. Obtain Copies of Business Documents
- Create a user account on the Secretary of State’s business filing system.
- Open the “Purchase Certified Copy/Certificate of Good Standing Search” tool and look up your business by name or entity ID.
- Click “Select Business” next to the correct result and follow the prompts to add the certificate to your order.
- Pay by credit card or electronic check. The certificate downloads immediately and stays in your account’s “Completed Filings” section for 14 days.2Kansas Secretary of State. Copies and Certifications
You don’t have to be an owner or officer to request a certificate. These are public records, and anyone can order one for any Kansas entity. The catch is that the Secretary of State only issues the certificate if the business is actually in good standing. If filings are overdue or the entity is forfeited, the order will not go through until the record is cleaned up.3Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 17-7510 – Failure to File Business Entity Information Report or Pay Annual Report Fee
What the Certificate Shows
The document lists your business name as it appears in state records, confirms good standing, gives the original formation date in Kansas, and carries the Secretary of State’s certification with the date of issuance.2Kansas Secretary of State. Copies and Certifications The issuance date matters because most banks and government agencies want a certificate no older than 30 to 90 days, so order close to the deadline you’re trying to meet.
Each certificate includes a verification code. Whoever receives it can enter that code on the Secretary of State’s website to confirm the certificate is authentic and unaltered.2Kansas Secretary of State. Copies and Certifications That matters most when you’re sending the certificate to an out-of-state agency or a lender that wants independent confirmation.
Make Sure You Qualify Before You Pay
Two things keep a Kansas business in good standing: a current biennial information report and an active Kansas resident agent with a registered office. Lose either, and the certificate won’t issue.
Kansas switched from annual to biennial reports in January 2024. Your reporting year depends on when your entity was formed: entities formed in even-numbered years file in each subsequent even year, and entities formed in odd-numbered years file in each subsequent odd year.4Kansas Secretary of State. Biennial Filing The deadline is April 15 of your reporting year,5Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 17-7503 – Domestic Corporations Organized for Profit; Business Entity Information Report and the fee is $90 online or $110 on paper.6Kansas Secretary of State. Information Report Filing Fee Schedule The requirement covers for-profit corporations, nonprofit corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.7Kansas Secretary of State. Information Reports
Miss April 15 and your entity enters “delinquent” status, which limits what you can file but still lets you submit the overdue report.8Kansas Secretary of State. Information Reports – Section: Delinquency Status for Failure to File After three months without a filing, the state moves the entity to “forfeited” status, and no further filings are accepted until you reinstate.9Kansas Business Center One Stop. Maintain Good Standing Status A forfeited entity cannot get a Certificate of Good Standing.3Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 17-7510 – Failure to File Business Entity Information Report or Pay Annual Report Fee
If Your Business Is Forfeited, Reinstate First
Reinstatement requires the right form, every missed information report, and the fees that go with them. Corporations and business trusts file a Certificate of Revival (Form RR). LLCs, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships file a Certificate of Reinstatement (Form RL).10Kansas Secretary of State. Reinstate a Business
Kansas caps the back-filing. For-profit entities only owe reports for the last five reporting cycles, which covers ten calendar years. Nonprofit corporations are capped at one reporting year.10Kansas Secretary of State. Reinstate a Business
The fees stack. For LLCs, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships, reinstatement runs a $35 filing fee, an $85 penalty fee for entities forfeited over missed reports, and $110 for each information report filed with the reinstatement. One missed report costs $230; five missed reports reach $670.11Kansas Secretary of State. Instructions for Filing Certificate of Reinstatement If the forfeiture was solely because the business lost its resident agent, skip the $85 penalty.
Once the Secretary of State restores your entity to active status, go back to the Copies and Certifications portal and order the certificate.