A company called Compliance Services is sending businesses in Florida notices offering to file “Annual Minutes” for a fee of $125. Please watch out: while it is true that Florida law requires corporations to keep minutes of its shareholder or board meetings, you do not have to pay anyone to prepare your corporation’s minutes. Further, minutes do not have to be filed with any agency of the State of Florida.

The mail from Compliance Services is usually in a green envelope and might say “Important – Annual Minutes Requirement Statement” on the front of the envelope. Inside is a form titled “Annual Minutes Requirement Statement” that looks like an official government document and asks for $125 prepare minutes for your corporation.

While this mail looks like an official government form, it is from a private company not affiliated in any way with the government.
This mail has confused some FUBA members into thinking that they are taking care of their Annual Report requirement by paying this company $125. If you give this company $125, they will send you a set of minutes, but this does not take the place of filing the Annual Report for your corporation or LLC. In fact, if you read the notice from Compliance Services carefully, it does contain a disclaimer on the second page that it does not satisfy the requirement to file an Annual Report.

Please do not confuse a notice from Compliance Services with the legitimate requirement that corporations and LLC’s must file an Annual Report each year with the Division of Corporations to keep their entity’s information up-to-date.