In Texas a Good Standing Certificate is called a Certificate of Fact.  This sometimes causes confusion when the requesting party, commonly the Secretary of State in another state besides Texas, requests a "Good Standing Certificate".  In these cases a Texas Certificate of Fact will fulfill the requirements for a Texas Good Standing Certificate.

A Texas Good Standing Certificate is issued by the Texas Secretary of State and is often required for loans, to renew business licenses, or for tax or other business purposes in the state of Texas or in any other state. A Texas Certificate of Good Standing is evidence that your Texas business franchise - your Texas Corporation, LLC or LP - is in Existence, is authorized to transact business in the state of Texas, and complies with all state of Texas business requirements and therefore is in "Good Standing" in the state of Texas.

Also known as a Texas Certificate of Existence, a Texas Certificate of Status or a Texas Certificate of Authority, a Texas Good Standing Certificate is a one page document which looks like a letter and bears the seal of the state of Texas Secretary of State. A Texas Good Standing Certificate is provided by the Texas Secretary of State and is conclusive evidence of the existence of your Texas business franchise. In most cases a Texas Certificate of Good Standing can be valid up to a year depending on the requirements of the Good Standing Certificate requester.

To obtain a Texas Good Standing Certificate, your company must be registered as a legal entity with the Texas Secretary of State, i.e., your company is in existence in the state of Texas, and cannot be in default of Texas corporate rules, or suspended by the state of Texas.

Total cost for a Texas Good Standing Certificate depends on how fast you need the Certificate. Choose your options in the Good Standing Certificate Cost Calculator below to determine exactly how much your Texas Good Standing Certificate will cost.

• The Texas company must be registered as a legal entity with the Texas Secretary of State as a Corporation, LLC or LP.
• The Texas company cannot be in default or suspended as defined by the laws of the state of Texas.
• The Texas company must have filed all reports required by the Texas Secretary of State or any other state of Texas agency.

Some states verify that all taxes have been paid and all required reports have been filed. Other states include bare minimum language that confirms only that a company is in existence and has not been dissolved.

Along with the issuance date and signature of the Texas Secretary of State, a Texas Good Standing Certificate includes the following information:

A Corporation, LP or LLC that is registered in the state of Texas may require a Texas Good Standing Certificate to qualify as a "Foreign Corporation" in a state other than Texas.  A Foreign Corporation is a Corporation that is registered with a state agency, usually the Secretary of State, in one state and has the Authority to do business in another state. 

For example, a Corporation registered in the state of California that plans to do business in the state of Texas is a "Domestic Corporation" in California and a "Foreign Corporation" in the state of Texas.

All states require you to register as a Foreign Corporation with a state agency, usually the Secretary of State, in order to do business in their state.  In order to register as a Foreign Corporation in any state you must provide evidence that you are registered and are in Good Standing in another state as a Domestic Corporation or LLC.  This evidence is a Certificate of Good Standing from the state in which your Corporation or LLC was originally formed.

A Texas Good Standing Certificate is legal and official proof of Good Standing from the Texas Secretary of State.

If your Corporation, LLC or LP falls out of Good Standing with the TX Secretary of State it is technically illegal for your company to do business in the state of Texas or any other state. This could lead to the piercing of the corporate veil and make the owners of the Texas business liable for penalties and law suits.

In order to get back into Good Standing you will have to pay a Reinstatement Fee.

The cost to Reinstate a Texas Company depends on the exactly why the Corporation, LLC or LP is not in Good Standing. In some cases the fees for reinstatement of a Texas Company may be more expensive that those for walking away from the business and then creating an entirely new company.

A Texas Good Standing Certificate is issued by the Texas Secretary of State for business entities that have registered with the state of Texas.  A Sole Proprietorship or DBA is not normally registered with the Texas Secretary of State so a Texas Certificate of Good Standing cannot be issued for them.

If you own a Texas business and have not registered as a Corporation, LLC, LP or other legal entity with the Texas Secretary of State, then you are a Sole Proprietor by default.  Nothing needs to be filed with the Texas Secretary of State to create a Sole Proprietorship.  If you plan to use a name different from your first and last name then you would register in the Texas county in which you do business with your first and last name "Doing Business As" (DBA) the name of your business (for example: Sue Smith, DBA Sue's Texas Business).

In Texas a Good Standing Certificate is called a Certificate of Fact.   A Texas Certificate of Fact may be referred to by another name.

Yes. Each Texas Certificate of Fact includes a unique Document Number which may be used to verify the Certificate with the Texas Secretary of State.

Yes.  A Texas Good Standing Certificate includes the Date of Incorporation for a Texas Corporation or the Date of Organization for a Texas LLC.

If you place your order for a Texas Good Standing Certificate before 1 PM Texas time we can get your Texas Good Standing Certificate as fast as 2-3 hours. We will send you a scanned copy of your Texas Good Standing Certificate by email and put a paper copy of your Certificate in the mail as soon as we get it from the TX Secretary of State.

The Texas Secretary of State reserves the right to extend expedite periods in time of extreme volume, staff shortage or equipment malfunction.  We are dependent on, and have no control over, the staff and systems of the Texas Secretary of State.  In our experience the time specified is the time it usually takes the Texas Secretary of State to process Good Standing Certificate orders.  We get your Texas Good Standing Certificate request to the TX Secretary of State ASAP.  Once it is at the state we have very little or no control over the Texas Good Standing Certificate process.

A valid expiration date is not written on a Texas Good Standing Certificate.  The validity of a Texas Certificate of Good Standing is usually determined by the intended recipient of the Good Standing Certificate.

Some institutions may request that a Texas Good Standing Certificate be less than a certain number of days old.  Generally the information included on a Texas Certificate of Good Standing is implied to be valid for 60-90 days but it really depends on the nature of the business for which the Texas Good Standing Certificate is being used.

If you need to verify that all outstanding tax liabilities for a Texas Corporation or Texas LLC have been paid then you need a Texas Tax Status Compliance Certificate.

In Texas a Tax Status Compliance Certificate is called a Certificate of Account Status. A Texas Certificate of Account Status is issued by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and is sometimes called a Tax Clearance Certificate or an Entity Status Letter or a Certificate of Account Status.

If you need a Good Standing Certificate from the highest Court in the state of Texas for a Texas Attorney we can help.

If you are ready to order a Texas Good Standing Certificate now, simply fill in the Good Standing Certificate Order Form below and press the Place Order button. If you have any questions you can call us at 855-771-2477 or email us at CorpServices@AllBizDocs.com.