Some things ARE free!

It's my favorite saying, "ain't nothin' free, kid." My own kids quote it back to me all the time. So proud!

This time though, I wanted to warn you against companies charging you for things that you really can get for yourself for the low, low price of spending a few minutes online and revving up your printer. That's almost free. It's your Certificate of Good Standing with the Colorado Secretary of State, and there's a company hoping to get you to spend $70 so they can do the same thing for you.

If you receive a letter that looks like this, toss it.

This company, CO Certificate Service, wants to charge $70 to business owners (specifically newbies trying hard to get their business off the ground and stay on the right side of the government) to get a printed copy of their Certificate of Good Standing from the Secretary of State, which is automatically given to businesses who have current Periodic Reports filed with the Colorado Secretary of State. (That's not free, FYI. It's $10/year once you're set up. The initial fee is $50. There are companies out there that charge you a LOT more than that to get it done. Full disclosure, this is a service we offer, but it's less than $25 or less for our staff to fill out all the forms for you. But we always tell clients they can do it themselves, all they have to do is invest is their time and know enough about their business to answer the questions correctly.)

To get back to today's issue though, don't fall for this latest gouge. Here's how you can download your own Certificate of Good Standing (just in case you really want a printed copy of it for some reason).

1. Search for your business with the Colorado Secretary of State Business Lookup tool: https://www.sos.state.co.us/biz/BusinessEntityCriteriaExt.do?resetTransTyp=Y

2. Enter your business name and choose the correct listing.

3. Click on the ID number for your business.

4. Choose 'Get A Certificate Of Good Standing'

5. Click print.

See how easy that was? You're welcome. That'll be $70. (Just kidding, this time my advice is free!)