Every year, LLC company owners are required by Colorado State law to file for their LLC Periodic report (same as the annual report in other states).
In this case, filing an LLC Periodic report is essential for compliance and maintaining a good record with the government. Likewise, another reason for this is to avoid the dissolution of your LLC company.
With that said, this article will guide you through the steps of filing your Periodic LLC report in Colorado.
When to File Your LLC Periodic Report?
The Periodic Report should be filed every year within a 5-month window: 2 months before the month your LLC was formed, the month your LLC was formed, and 2 months after the month your LLC was formed. To avoid forgetting your Periodic report filing, you must always include it on your calendar of activities.
For example, you can create a reminder on your phone or calendar to help you remember around one to two months before the 5 months period to avoid missing the filing.
On the other hand, if it’s your first year to file for LLC Periodic reports, it’s due a year after the approval of your LLC application.
For example, suppose your company was established and certified on July 9, 2020. In that case, your first LLC 5-month Periodic Report window is between May to September, 2021.
Similarly, if you want to double-check the date when the state approved your LLC, it’s best to check your LLC’s Certificate of Formation. However, if you don’t want to go over the files again, you can search for your business name on the Colorado Secretary of State: Business Search Database and check the formation date.
The State of Colorado will only send notification about your periodic report to you in the first month of the 5-month window period you have only if you have subscribed to the State’s email notification.
What Are the Requirements You Need to Prepare?
Before you file, make sure that you have these documents or information prepared. Preparing these documents beforehand can help prevent any delays during the process.
- State-issued LLC entity number
- Date of organization
- Colorado Business EIN (entity identification number)
- Other important details about your company, such as:
- Your registered agent
- Its registered office address
- Officers/directors or partners updated contact information
- Insurance policy information including your proof of insurance, the insurance company’s name, the insurer’s name, and the policy date.
- Your signature and title if you are the one filing the report.
- 10 USD filing fee.
What Will Happen If I Don’t File My Company’s LLC Periodic Report?
Not filing your company’s LLC Periodic Report in Colorado will result in your company becoming delinquent by the State of Colorado as per the Colorado State law. However, you’ll be given the grace of 2 months after the 5 months window period as you’ll only be required to pay a late filing fee of 50 USD only. After the 2 months from the 5-month window, your LLC would become delinquent. To make the State cancel the delinquency on your LLC, you’ll be required to submit a Curing Delinquency Statement with the State of Colorado, and pay a filing fee of 100USD.
Note that, if you’re submitting the Curing Delinquency Statement, you do not need to submit your LLC periodic report for that year and the previous years your LLC was delinquent.
Where to File the LLC Periodic Report?
Fortunately, filing your company’s LLC Periodic Report is now easier. You can file your LLC Periodic report online with the Colorado Secretary of State. Further instructions on how to file are available below.
How to File Your LLC Periodic Report: A Step-by-Step Guide
To help you file your company’s LLC Periodic Report, this article has outlined the steps of the process. Check them out below.
Step 1: Go to the Colorado Secretary of State webpage for Record ID search and search for your LLC, select your LLC name when you see it, and confirm that you can make changes. Make the changes to your LLC as appropriate, if nothing has changed, you can leave them as they are.
You can also take the help of professional services such as ZenBusiness or Legalzoom to help you as your registered agent
Step 2: Enter your name and your address, it is better that you enter only your address and then submit.
Step 3: Review your Periodic report on the PDF document, you may have to zoom in to see it clearly. If you need to change any of the entries, click on the return to form option and make the changes. If all is fine, proceed to the payment section by selecting the pay now option.
Step 4: Choose the Credit or Debit Card payment option, enter your name, address, and email in the field that appears, input your card details and choose the pay now option.
Your Periodic report will be submitted after you have successfully made the payment and you will see a message congratulating you on filing your Periodic LLC report in Colorado after paying.
Upon completing your online Colorado LLC Periodic Report, it’s immediately processed by the system. It is advisable that you request for an email of a copy of your payment receipt and also download the PDF version of your periodic report, which you can print and then keep for record purposes.
What Is the Difference Between an LLC Periodic Report and LLC Partner Tax?
Most company owners mistake LLC Periodic Report and LLC Partner Tax as being the same. Due to this misconception, they either miss filing one or the other. If you have multi-member LLCs, which means you have two or more owners, you must file for LLC Partner Tax.
Other Transactions You Can Do Under the Periodic Reports and Change Services
Aside from filing your company’s LLC Periodic Report, here are the other business documents that can be generated through the Periodic Reports and Change Services:
- Changing of registered agent/office
- Reinstating a business entity
- Closing a business
There are two possible reasons you might want to change your LLC’s assigned registered agent. First, you are dissatisfied with your existing agent and would like to change services. Second, you are your own agent and would like to get the services of a registered agent.
Regardless of the reason, you’ll need a registered agent for your company. This is because an LLC licensed agent plays a vital role in every company. In this case, your registered agent is the official representative of your company.
For example, suppose the state needs to contact your company for some legal matters. In that case, there should be an authorized representative where they can send legal documents.
- Reinstating a business entity
One reason for filing a reinstatement is that your LLC faced dissolution due to non-filing of the Periodic Report or paying taxes.
Of course, aside from these, some of the other tasks you can perform in the Periodic Reports and Change Services:
- File an amendment
- Business name search
- Change tax/Employer registration record
Conclusion
Finally, you now know how to file your company’s LLC Periodic Report in Colorado. Making sure you comply with this requirement is essential to avoid penalties or the dissolution of your company.
In this case, to avoid forgetting your Periodic reporting, it’s best to organize your calendar. In fact, it’s recommended to set a reminder two months before your date of filing.
After all, as a business owner, it’s your responsibility to abide by the government’s ordinance to avoid penalties for your company.
