Current State of Play within the Entity Filing and Reporting Software Space

Maintaining compliance with ever-changing regulatory requirements is a complex but necessary day-to-day task for any business. New laws and regulations can arise quickly, update frequently, and vary across different geographies, causing an immediate impact on a company’s operations and reporting requirements.

Relying on outside counsel or accountants to manage your entity’s filing and reporting processes can be overly expensive and time-consuming, wasting two of a company’s most important resources. As such, it is now more critical than ever to partner with a software platform that understands the customer’s need for consistent and scalable reporting processes executed by industry experts. Neglecting to find the right technology partner for entity filing and reporting may lead to failure to meet government requirements, hefty fines, a temporary pause in a Company’s operations, and loss of revenue.

Despite recent technological innovation and improvements in entity filing and reporting software, many providers remain archaic, unsecure, and unreliable. Finding the appropriate technology partner for your entity filing and reporting needs can be challenging and even frustrating given the number of different options for BOI Reporting, Registered Agent Services, Annual Reporting, and FBARs. When selecting your partner, it is important to do your research to understand exactly what you are signing up for and the risks of working with an outdated service provider. Modern problems require modern solutions, and relying on stale technology can expose your business to unnecessary risks and penalties.

Does your solution have adequate security to protect your private and sensitive information?

In 2022, cyber security dominated the headlines, with data breaches impacting 422 million people globally, an increase of 42% from 2021, including some of America’s biggest companies like American Airlines, Twitter and Microsoft. Unsurprisingly, according to a survey comprised of global risk management experts conducted as part of the 2023 Allianz Risk Barometer, cyber risks, like data breaches, rank as the most important risk to businesses worldwide.

When uploading sensitive information like social security numbers, license photos, or beneficial ownership data, you need a trustworthy technology partner with the latest and greatest cybersecurity measures to protect your information. Compliance management platforms with lackluster cyber security systems are increasingly susceptible to data breaches due to the nature of the data they manage. The 2022 Data Breach Report, an analysis conducted by The Identity Theft Resource Center, found that the top five attributes hackers are looking for are an individual’s name, social security number, date of birth, current home address, and driver’s license/state ID number.

Many compliance management platforms still rely on archaic processes and technology to collect and store your data. Some red flags to look out for are:

• Requesting you share your private and sensitive information via an unsecure phone line or email server
• Requesting you manually send your data in the form of a static Excel sheet or submit via a clunky website interface
• Requesting you fill out a lengthy order form (some can be up to 18 pages) with fine print allowing them to share your information with third parties or use it for marketing purposes
• Storing your private and sensitive information in a location where unauthorized employees or other beneficial owners of your company can gain access 

FileForms utilizes and employs fundamental best practices concerning data security, access control, and authentication:

• Customer data is encrypted in transit and at rest utilizing state-of-the-art encryption standards
• Careful consideration is given for any employee that has direct access to customer data with audit trails maintained for support purposes
• Third-party vendors through which customer data is passed are carefully vetted for security practices and only include well-known service providers such as AWS and Twilio
• User authentication utilizes a modern “secure by default” password-less approach that reduces attack vectors and ensures your account safety
• Back-end functionality features a “serverless” architecture that ensures any vulnerabilities are patched as soon as possible by industry-best security teams
• Third-party software libraries are constantly monitored for vulnerabilities and are updated/replaced as needed

FileForms also provides Doc-u Vault, a state-of-the-art, secure storage environment for Owners to upload source documentation.

Will this solution address your compliance needs in a timely and efficient manner?

Time is of the essence when submitting regulatory filings, and the last thing a business needs is to be stuck on a helpline with no one coming to the phone or dancing around with a customer service chatbot for hours while precious time is wasted!

Many modern-day entity filing and reporting companies still have antiquated websites that lack very basic user automation and connectivity to databases via API forcing customers to manually enter their information, which can be time-consuming and error-prone.

FileForms offers a proprietary, high-tech platform that enables customers to accurately complete and submit their BOI forms in 10 minutes or less. The platform utilizes automation to enhance user experience by auto-populating global public record data into the form fields and avoiding manual-intensive processes.

FileForms also offers Filing Wizard to provide users with a step-by-step process to assist entity owners in determining their BOI filing requirements in a matter of minutes. User accounts aggregate info into a single data storage repository with document upload functionality used for future filing requirements, saving time and mitigating redundant manual data inputs.

Are you being quoted a fair price for your entity filing and reporting needs?

Websites will claim to offer a breadth of vaguely described services with the goal of up-selling and cross-selling your business unnecessary products and services at a steep cost. Keep an eye out for hidden fees.

FileForms is a one-stop shop for all business forms and reports, including BOI reports, FBARs, annual reports and registered agent services. Our solutions are substantially more affordable than incumbent tech solutions or using a law firm.

How reliable and accessible is your entity filing and reporting technology platform? 

Reliability and accessibility is everything when selecting your entity filing and reporting technology partner. Maintaining and monitoring corporate records is a key strategic asset required for a host of corporate activities, in addition to punctually filing reports with regulatory bodies. These records must be accurate and readily accessible to authorized stakeholders throughout the organization at a moment’s notice. Many providers do not offer continuous monitoring and alerts for changes to ownership or general business information that may require the submission of a new form. Using one of these unreliable services can leave your business exposed to hefty fines and penalties if FinCEN deems your business as non-compliant:

• Civil penalties include fines of $500 per day, with a maximum of up to $10,000, for a failure to timely report
• Willfully failing to report or knowingly providing inaccurate information can result in criminal penalties, including up to two years of imprisonment

FileForms provides continuous monitoring for Owners and affiliated entities to identify potential changes in Entity or Owners data, which may require a new BOI report filing. FileForms offers instant push notification capability via email or SMS to facilitate filings for all affiliated entities and Owners who may be required to file a BOI report.