Here are some helpful filing tips from our office that should help to make filing during the holiday season easier. Remember, the following services and options are not only available during the holidays, but the entire year.

• Delayed Effective Dates
• Online Filing of Business Documents
• Troubleshooting

Delayed Effective Dates

A delayed effective date allows you to file certain forms up to ninety (90) days before the day that you want the document to be effective. A delayed effective date can be used on forms that are filed online, such as articles of incorporation, as well as paper forms.

As an example of an online filing, if you need your articles of incorporation to be effective at 8:00 AM on January 1, 2017, file the form online early and specify that the articles of incorporation are to become effective on January 1, 2017, at 8:00 AM (01/01/2017 8:00 am). Remember, our website will be unavailable from 11:30 PM on Saturday, December 31, 2016, until 12:00 PM (noon) on Sunday, January 1, 2017.

As an example of a paper filing, if you need the effective date of a statement of merger to be December 26, 2016, submit the form early and specify that the statement of merger becomes effective on December 26, 2016 (12/26/2016). Please note that forms must be received in our office before the desired date; postmark dates are not sufficient.

Online Filing of Business Documents

Please note that online filing will be unavailable between 11:30 PM on Saturday, December 31, 2016, and 12:00 PM (noon) on Sunday, January 1, 2017. If you plan to file online on December 31st, be sure to complete the eFiling process before 11:30 PM.  If you haven’t completed your filing (including payment) by this time, it will be interrupted and you will have to start over again when the system is available.

Periodic Reports

A Periodic Report can be filed online at our website up to two months in advance of the date that it is due. For example, a Periodic Report that is due on October 1, 2016, can be filed as early as August 1, 2016. It’s better to file Periodic Reports before the last day of the month to avoid increased Internet filing traffic. Heavy traffic on our website may prevent the online filing of some Periodic Reports. Periodic Reports that are not filed by the due date will be subject to late fees.

To file a Periodic Report, visit our website at www.sos.state.co.us, click on "Business" or "Businesses, trademarks, trade names", and then on "Periodic report filing" under the Search & file heading.

View additional online filing instructions.

Troubleshooting

Information about which web browsers our website presently supports can be found on our browser compatibility page.