Is Your Arizona Business Ready for Year-End Compliance?
By Anjali Patel
Arizona Business Year-End Compliance
As the year winds down, Arizona business owners are busy wrapping up projects, closing out books, and trying to get a few quiet days before the holidays. It’s easy to focus on what’s in front of you, like client work, payroll, and planning for the next quarter. Before the calendar turns, it’s worth taking a moment to make sure your business is actually in good standing with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Many owners assume that once their LLC or corporation is formed, it quietly stays compliant forever. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. A few missed updates, an expired statutory agent, or an overlooked filing can cause more problems than people realize. The good news is that a quick year-end check can prevent most of it.
For corporations, Arizona law requires an annual report each year, typically in the same month your company was originally incorporated. The filing verifies that your ownership, business address, and statutory agent information are all accurate. It’s easy to forget about if you’re not on a set reminder system, but the Corporation Commission doesn’t send much warning before flagging an entity as delinquent. Once that happens, your corporation can lose its good standing and—if left uncorrected—be administratively dissolved. That makes banking, contracting, and even renewing licenses unnecessarily complicated.
Corporations that have changed their structure or ownership this year should also review whether an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation needs to be filed. Any change to your share structure, purpose, or statutory agent belongs on record with the Commission. Internal governance documents, like corporate bylaws, don’t get filed with the state, but they should still match the company’s current operations. If the bylaws still reflect an old board composition or outdated voting procedures, take the time to clean that up now.
For LLCs, compliance used to be much simpler—no annual reports and very little required communication after formation. That’s about to shift. In May 2025, the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a set of anti-fraud measures aimed at improving accuracy in business filings. One of those, the LLC Attestation of Existence, will require the Commission to contact LLCs that haven’t filed anything for two years. The notice will arrive each January and ask the company to confirm electronically that it’s still active. It’s a one-click response through the online portal, but failure to respond within sixty days will trigger a 120-day administrative dissolution process.
The new system isn’t live yet—the start date will coincide with the Commission’s upcoming online filing upgrades—but it’s expected to roll out soon. When it does, many LLCs are likely to be caught off guard, especially those that hold real estate, vehicles, or other assets and haven’t touched their filings since formation. If you fall into that category, start checking in on your registration now. Make sure your statutory agent and business email are valid, because that’s where the Commission will send the notice.
For more detail on the new policies, including identification and signing authority requirements, see our earlier post, Arizona Corporation Commission Launches New Policies to Prevent Business Filing Fraud.
Year-end is also a good time to make sure your internal records are consistent. The entity name and address on file with the Corporation Commission should match your EIN, bank accounts, insurance policies, and contracts. Mismatched details might seem minor, but they can cause delays when you need to verify ownership or renew a license. If you’ve brought on a new partner, adjusted your management structure, or reworked profit allocations, review your operating agreement or bylaws so that your documents reflect what’s actually happening day to day.
The bigger picture here is that Arizona is moving toward more active oversight of business filings. The days of “set it and forget it” LLCs are coming to an end. A few minutes of review this month can help you avoid administrative surprises next year—and give you the peace of mind that your company is ready to move confidently into the new year.