What is a Colorado Periodic Report?

A Step-By-Step Guide to Completing and Filing Your Periodic Report

So you are sitting down to your computer with a nice cup of coffee and checking your emails for the morning and one message, in particular, stands out to you. It reads “Reminder – Periodic Report Due”. Immediately you think to yourself…

What is a Periodic Report?
Do I Have to File a Periodic Report?
When is the Periodic Report Due?
What Steps Do I Take to File a Periodic Report?
How Much Does it Cost to File a Periodic Report?
What If I Didn’t Get an Email from the State of Colorado but I Know it is Time for Me to File My Periodic Report? Where Do I Go to Get Started?
Should I Send The Periodic Report Email to my CPA or Attorney to Deal With?

It is amazing how one single email can give you an unwanted feeling of anxiety. Here at The Fitness CPA, we understand what you are going through and we are going to help you. These questions that you are asking yourself are all common questions and we will address them for you in this article. You may be considering completing and filing the periodic report yourself. Below we have a step by step guide that will help you through the process because it is possible to complete the filing yourself. The cost to file your periodic report is $10. However, if this is not something you want to tackle, we would be glad to help you here at The Fitness CPA. Since 2010 our team has registered over 200 Colorado periodic reports. Our fee is the $10 renewal fee plus $40 for our time invested.

What is a Periodic Report?

Your business entity was originally registered with the Colorado Secretary of State. This periodic report is an annual renewal of your registration with the Colorado Secretary of State and reserves your right to keep your business name for this state and keep your business information current.

Do I Have to File a Periodic Report?

Yes, you have to file the Periodic Report if your business is still in operation. There is no way around this. When you open the email from the state, you will find that they have written you a very nice message informing you of the due date that this report has to be filed by. They go on to say that if you do not file this report by the due date your business will become noncompliant and you will be assessed a late fee. Late fees are normally $50 in addition to the normal filing fee. If you continue to be noncompliant, your business will become delinquent, and you will not be able to do business in the state.

When is the Periodic Report Due?

Your periodic report is due annually. It must be filed within a 3 month period starting the 1st day of the incorporation anniversary month. So if you originally filed with the Colorado Secretary of State on March 15^th, you have from March 1^st to May 30^th of each year to file your annual report.

What Steps Do I Take To File a Periodic Report?

In the email from the state, they will give you a link so that you can get started with filing the report. Click on Summary.

The first screen after entering the link is a Summary of your business information that you originally filed with the Colorado Secretary of State. As you scroll down, you will see the link for File a Form that you will want to click.

Next, you will see a list of documents that are available for filing. You can change your address or registered agent through the Statements of Change. If something on the summary page was wrong, you can fill out a Statement of Correction with the correct information. Another item you can do from here is to dissolve an LLC. Then, of course, the one we are here for is the first item on the list, which is to File a Periodic Report. Click this to go to the next screen.

Here you will see that the fee for filing the report is $10. You will want to make sure the address is correct and that this is where you want mail from the Colorado Secretary of State to go to. This will pre-fill with what you originally filed with them. Most businesses prefer that business mail arrives at their home address due to privacy concerns and the potential for employees to intercept tax and other mail either accidentally or on purpose. If this is correct, you can move on and there is no need to fill out the mailing address section.

There will need to be a registered agent if not already filled out. Typically this is the business owner. The registered agent has to live in the state where the business is located. If the business owner is not located in the same state as the business, they can get someone in the state, like their CPA or attorney, to be their registered agent. You will just need to put in their name and home address.

Another item on this page is Email notification. More than likely you will be checking the first box of “My email address is already signed up for this record” since you received an email with this notice in the first place. However, if you want to change the email address or want to stop receiving them, you can do this here. If you leave it as is, the Colorado Secretary of State will send you this renewal each year to your email address so you don’t have to worry about remembering to file this each and every year. They will do the remembering for you!

At the bottom of this page you will need to put in who is filing this document and that would be you, the owner. You will, again, just put in your name and address and then click the submit button at the bottom of the screen.

How Much Does it Cost to File a Periodic Report?

Now you are almost done. Next on the screen, a PDF will load for you to view and look over one more time to make sure the information you entered is correct. If all looks good, click “Pay Now” at the bottom left of this screen.

The next screen will let you know the dollar amount you owe the state and it will ask which option you would like to use for payment. Unless you have a prepaid account set up with the state, you will be selecting Credit or Debit.

Then you will be directed to a screen to enter your credit card information. Once you click Pay Now, you will get a confirmation number and a final PDF of your Periodic Report. It’s a good idea to save this to report for your records.

Whew! You are done! A lot of screens and directions above but as you can probably see once you are in there, this is fairly straightforward. It is basically confirming information and entering a payment. It shouldn’t take you more than ten to fifteen minutes.

What If I Didn’t Get an Email from the State of Colorado but I Know it is Time for Me to File My Periodic Report? Where Do I Go to Get Started?

Go to www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/business/FAQs/reports.html
Click on Business Organizations in the left hand column and then click Search

Enter your business name or ID and click search

Once you see your business, click on the highlighted ID number
Then click File a Form
Then you will click File Periodic Report
From there, you will follow the same step-by-step procedures as above

Should I Send The Periodic Report Email to My CPA or Attorney to Deal With?

Lastly, you may ask yourself if you should send this to your attorney or CPA to take care of it for you. For sure you can send this to one of them to take it off your plate. But as you can see from above, this is a straightforward and fairly quick action for you as the business owner. The cost is only $10 for the renewal and can be done in 10 to 15 minutes. If you choose to send it to your CPA or attorney there will be the state’s fee of $10 for the renewal plus up to a $100 charge for the tax professional to do this on your behalf. Here at the Fitness CPA, we would, of course, be glad to file this for you and our fee is the $10 renewal fee plus $40 for our time invested.

Each year we have about half of our clients asking us to complete the filing and half do it themselves. Either choice is perfectly reasonable.

So in summary, a periodic report is a renewal of your business with the Colorado Secretary of State. Yes, you are required to file this and pay this within the three month anniversary window of the date you originally filed your business with the state at a cost of $10. You will have to renew this each and every year to keep your business registration current. You can choose to file this each year yourself or send to your attorney or CPA to file it for you.

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Natalie Knott

Wife, mom of three kiddos, dog momma and beach lover!
I love sports! All sports! In my past I’ve played basketball, softball, volleyball, and ran track. It’s very hard for me to now sit quietly on the sidelines as I watch my kids play…..I want to be out there playing or coaching. A close second to that is working out at the gym, which I really enjoy.
Working with our team to help our owners tackle challenges is what I enjoy most. Whether it’s running payrolls, taking care of bookkeeping, creating financial statements or answering questions, I love helping owners do things more efficiently.

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