The search itself is the Business Entities Online name search, which returns every entity whose name contains the words entered, and opens an official business profile for each. It occasionally asks the user to complete a captcha and search again. The same profile is where an owner clicks Add Filing, so the public search and the filing system are one application.
The more important point is what the profile lacks. The Secretary of State says plainly that it does not have the names or addresses of a company officers or directors, that business entities are not required to disclose directors, officers or members to it, that stockholder lists stay at the corporation principal office, and that bylaws are usually kept there too, though they may be filed. A search for who runs a South Carolina company therefore usually has to continue elsewhere. For records by place, see the South Carolina county pages.
- Ten dollars: a Certificate of Existence, the same thing as a good standing certificate, with the fee set by statute.
- Three dollars: the first page of a copy, with each further page fifty cents.
- No officer names: the Secretary of State holds none, and business corporations list directors on the annual report filed with the Department of Revenue.
- Two years: the window a nonprofit or LLC has to reinstate after administrative dissolution, while a business corporation can reinstate at any time.
Written by SearchSystems.net from South Carolina's own systems: the South Carolina Secretary of State business entities page, the Business Entities Online search, the document request page and its prices, the frequently asked questions about business entities, the #BizSchemeSOS page, the 2022 scam alert on certificates of existence, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Finding the people behind a company
The office answers to frequent questions point the researcher to the right agency. Business corporations must submit the names of their directors on annual reports filed with the South Carolina Department of Revenue, not with the Secretary of State, and the business entities page gives the Department of Revenue number for that information, (844) 898-8542. That is a real difference from most neighbouring states, where the secretary of state annual report is the standard place to find officers.
What the Secretary of State file does carry is the formation and its paper trail: articles, amendments, the registered agent and its South Carolina address, and the names, addresses and signatures of the incorporators or organizers, which must appear on the original articles. Those incorporators and organizers can never be added or removed later, so the formation document keeps a permanent record of who set the company up, even after ownership changes.
Articles of incorporation for a business corporation must also be signed by an attorney licensed in South Carolina and arrive with a CL-1, a Department of Revenue form, so a business corporation formed under the current rules passes through a lawyer and the tax office at birth.
No trade names and no sole proprietors
Two whole categories never reach the state register. Sole proprietorships and general partnerships do not file with the Secretary of State, and the office does not register DBA or trade names. A plumber trading under a catchy name, or two partners running a shop together, will simply not be in the search. Business licenses are issued at the county or city level, retail licenses come from the Department of Revenue, and professional licenses such as contractors and accountants come from the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, so for an unincorporated business those offices are the realistic places to look.
Names that are on file are protected only narrowly. The office will not let a new entity form with a name identical to one already in its database, but filing does not give an exclusive right to use the name, and the office does not mediate name or trademark disputes. A foreign company whose legal name is taken in South Carolina must file a fictitious name form to register, which is one way an out of state company can appear under a name different from its home state charter.
What documents cost, and the letters that charge more
The document request page sets the prices: a copy costs three dollars for the first page and fifty cents for each additional page, a Certificate of Existence or Authority costs ten dollars, and a Certificate of No Record or a certificate under seal costs twenty. A user can order copies of specific documents or of everything on file for an entity. The office describes the Certificate of Existence, which it says is also known as a certificate of good standing, as a statement that the entity exists and is in good standing with the office, and it is used for opening bank accounts and for applying to do business in another state.
That ten dollar certificate has been the bait in repeated mailings. In November 2022 and again in October 2023 the office warned of letters from a company calling itself South Carolina Certified Document Services, which told newly formed businesses they had one step left to remain in good standing and offered a bundle for $399.89, including a certificate of existence at $89.95, a labor law poster at $124.95 and an employer identification number at $199.99.
The office notes that the certificate is ten dollars from the state, and that the poster and the EIN are free from the National Labor Relations Board and the Internal Revenue Service.
How to recognize a misleading solicitation
Through its #BizSchemeSOS page, run with the National Association of Secretaries of State, the office lists the signs. The letters look like a government form or even name Secretary of State Mark Hammond. They offer a certificate of status or certified documents said to be needed for a bank account, a loan or a license renewal. They quote a document number or customer ID that matches nothing a state or federal agency issued. They ask the business to confirm its name and registered address on a form returned with a fee.
Their fine print says they are not affiliated with any government agency, and they use names like Division of Corporate Services or South Carolina Certificate Service.
The office rule of thumb is simple: a letter that looks governmental but asks for payment to a third party is likely deceptive. Questions about a solicitation go to the Business Filings Division at (803) 734-2158, and the Investigations Division can be reached at (803) 734-2170.
Dissolution, reinstatement and the tax link
Status changes in South Carolina are tied closely to the Department of Revenue. An entity that fails to file a tax return can be administratively dissolved, and to reinstate it the owners must first cure the tax filings with the Department of Revenue, which then issues a Certificate of Tax Compliance that has to accompany the application. A business corporation can reinstate at any time after administrative dissolution, but nonprofit corporations and limited liability companies must reinstate within two years of the dissolution date.
For anyone reading a record marked dissolved, that two year limit decides whether the same entity can come back or a new one must be formed.
A good standing certificate cannot be issued for an entity that is not in good standing, and the office lists that as one of the common reasons a document request is refused. A certificate of no record is likewise refused when the entity is in fact on file, which makes that twenty dollar certificate a reliable negative search result when it is issued.
What the office will not do
The Secretary of State describes itself as a ministerial filing office. It cannot give legal advice and it has no authority to investigate complaints against businesses. Consumers are pointed to the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs at (803) 734-4200 and to local law enforcement where a crime may be involved. It can look into charitable organizations, but a nonprofit that is not a charity falls to the Attorney General under section 33-31-171 of the Code.
Homeowners associations that incorporate file their articles with the office, which can supply copies, but complaints against them go to the Department of Consumer Affairs under the 2018 Homeowners Association Act.
For foreign entities, the most common reason the office rejected a filing in the last fiscal year after an unavailable name was a missing certificate of existence from the home state, which must be dated no more than thirty days before the application.
Questions about looking up a South Carolina business
Related South Carolina records
Other South Carolina guides on this site are the South Carolina public records law guide, the South Carolina court records guide for lawsuits and judgments, the South Carolina licenses guide for professional and trade licenses, and the South Carolina county pages for local business license offices.