Monitoring key attributes of a business in its registration record—such as its name, entity type, status, addresses, or business officers—is essential for anyone tasked with tracking business activity or flagging risk signals. Relying on state-provided filings or manually checking state websites can create unnecessary challenges and inefficiencies.
The Limitations of State Filings
When relying on bulk historical data from Secretary of State offices, you may quickly encounter problems:
- Inconsistent Data Across States: Not all states provide the same level of detail. For example, Tennessee and California’s bulk data only includes annual reports or generic filing information, omitting events like name changes or updates to business officer information. To get the full information, you need to go to the websites for each state and search the business manually.
- Lack of Detailed Change Information: Some states may tell you that a specific change occurred but won’t provide specific details. In Washington, for example, you’ll know an address has changed but won’t see both the old and new addresses for comparison.
One alternative to using the bulk data would be to manually lookup a business on the state’s website. While manually searching each state's website can sometimes give you more detailed history on a business, it’s a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. It's simply not practical for monitoring a large number of businesses on an ongoing basis.
The Solution: Custom Monitoring
The best way to stay on top of changes in business records is by setting up custom monitoring that flags updates to key fields. With Livesight BusinessMatch, which covers all 50 states and DC, you can track businesses effortlessly. Livesight refreshes data several times each month, running monitoring reports to flag changes to key fields like business name, status, entity type, addresses, and officers.
What sets this approach apart is that it provides both the previous and current values for these fields, allowing you to see exactly what changed. This makes it simple to understand the impact of the changes without the need to manually track them down.
Monitoring Portfolios with Ease
Beyond monitoring all businesses in Secretary of State records, Livesight also offers customized monitoring for client portfolios. Customers can receive monthly or quarterly reports that highlight changes in their portfolios, keeping their business databases up-to-date without all the manual work.
