As the calendar year winds down, it’s worth a deliberate pass through your business’s compliance obligations — especially if you operate across more than one state, where deadlines and requirements don’t always line up neatly.

**Annual reports and franchise taxes.** Most states require some form of annual report or franchise tax filing to keep an entity in good standing. Deadlines and fees vary by state, and by entity type within a state — worth confirming for each state where you’re registered, not just where you formed.

**Registered agent information.** Confirm your registered agent’s information is current in every state where you’re registered. A lapsed or outdated registered agent can result in missed legal notices — including, in the worst cases, notice of a lawsuit against your business.

**Corporate formalities.** For corporations, confirm required annual meetings were held (or documented as waived, if your bylaws allow it) and minutes are current. For LLCs, review whether your operating agreement still reflects how the business is actually being run.

**Licenses and permits.** Business licenses, professional licenses, and industry-specific permits often have their own renewal cycles independent of your entity’s annual filing — a good year-end review catches these before they lapse.

**Beneficial ownership and other federal filings.** With 2026’s rollback of federal BOI reporting for most domestic entities, this is one item that may have simplified — but it’s worth confirming your specific entity actually falls under that change rather than assuming it does.

**Contracts and agreements nearing renewal or expiration.** Leases, vendor agreements, and employment agreements with renewal deadlines are easy to let slide until they’ve already auto-renewed on terms you’d have wanted to renegotiate.

**The value of doing this now, not in March.** A year-end review catches small compliance gaps while there’s still time to fix them before they become late filings, lapsed licenses, or missed deadlines — all of which are more expensive and more stressful to resolve after the fact.

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Attorney Advertising. This post is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. No representation is made that the quality of legal services performed is greater than that of other lawyers. Laws vary by state and change over time — consult an attorney about your specific situation before acting on anything here.