Filing Your Annual Registration in Georgia

After you form your Georgia corporation by filing Articles of Incorporation, there are still steps to take to remain legally compliant and in good standing. Your first step is to file your initial registration with the Secretary of State.

What is a Georgia initial annual registration?

A Georgia initial annual registration is necessary to record many of the decisions made at the initial board meeting. Because you submit your Articles of Incorporation prior to the first board meeting, there is some information that you’re not going to have until after your board of directors has met. 

All domestic (formed in Georgia) for-profit and nonprofit corporations must file an initial annual registration. LLCs and foreign (businesses formed in another state) entities are not required to file one.

Georgia Initial Annual Registration Requirements

The Georgia initial annual registration form must be filed within 90 days of incorporation. Essentially, you have three months from the date you submit your Articles of Incorporation to hold your initial board meeting, make some decisions, and follow up with your Georgia initial annual registration. 

This form is submitted to the Secretary of State. Corporations that form between October 2 and December 31 must file between January 1 and April 1 of the next year. The fee varies depending on whether you’re a for-profit or non-profit corporation. These fees are subject to change, so check with the Secretary of State to ensure you have the most updated fee schedule. 

How to Submit Your Georgia Initial Annual Registration

You can file your Georgia initial report electronically annual on the Georgia Corporation Division website. You also have the option to submit your forms via mail or hand delivery, but you will still have to create an account to obtain and print out the necessary forms. 

What information is required for the initial annual registration?

It’s important to keep a thorough record of minutes from your first board meeting for multiple reasons. The first reason is that record keeping is a requirement, and the second reason is because it will help you fill out some of the required sections for your initial annual registration. Your initial report will need to include:

• Control number or the name of the corporation
• Name of the person filing the annual registration 
• A valid email address 
• Name and address of the registered agent (must be a physical street address in Georgia where an individual can be located in-person for the company) 
• Mailing address of the principal office 
• Name and address of each officer (CEO, CFO, Secretary) 
• Payment method for filing fees

Knowing what information you need before the initial board meeting can help save you time and effort in backtracking to get all the contact information required.

Georgia Annual Reports

In Georgia, your business’s initial annual report will contain essentially the same information as subsequent annual reports. Filing an annual report provides a record of changes to an entity’s management structure, mailing address, and registered agent’s name and address.  

Filing annual reports can be a daunting task and there are penalties for failing to comply. Entities that don’t timely file annual reports and pay all required fees may be subject to administrative dissolution or revocation of their legal status to conduct business. 
One of the easiest ways to keep your business compliant is to use ZenBusiness’s annual report filing service and is also a feature in our Worry-Free Compliance service. This will allow you to spend more time focusing on what you do best — running your business.