TEXAS SECRETARY of STATE
JANE NELSON

GENERAL INFORMATION

Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, and Limited Partnerships are filed with the Business and Public Filings Section of the Office of the Secretary of State. Certain information taken from the formation document and an index of any subsequently filed documents are maintained in the BEST (Business Entity and Secured Transactions) database. Data includes: Legal business name, entity type, formation date, name and address of the registered agent, initial directors/partners or managing members. Principal office address and taxpayer identification numbers may or may not be in the file as this information comes from a supplemental filing that may or may not be required (depending on the entity type) or may not have been provided. Telephone numbers are not available.

Data files in electronic format that can be downloaded from our web site (SOSDirect) by placing a bulk order request. There are several different bulk order products currently available:

• Master Unload – a ‘snapshot’ of the entire BEST database as created the first weekend following the end of the previous month. Customers may choose to place an order for the next unload that will be created (labeled as the ‘New’ Master Unload) or the ‘Previous’ version, which is the one that is currently available. (Creation dates are listed.).
• Daily Filing Update – a file that includes all of the database updates for a specific day. Customers frequently begin by purchasing a Master Unload in order to create a database, and then subscribe to the Daily Filing Update so that they can download and update their databases on a daily basis to keep their data current with that maintained on the SOS BEST database.
• Weekly Filing Update – contains data for only the new formation filings that have been processed for a specific week.

The files above are in fixed record-length .txt format but are NOT comma-delimited. (Note: These files are not formatted for reading; the data needs to be imported into a database from which formatting for use can be done.) A Record Layout of the data is available for customers to download and review at no charge.

In addition there are files that are available in comma-delimited format that contain a subset of the data, frequently requested by customers who wish to easily import the data into desktop software applications in order to generate lists.

• List by Entity Description – a comma-delimited file that contains data for a specified entity type (ex: Limited Partnerships). This file is retrievable in Excel, Access or any another software using comma-delimited format.
• Weekly Subscription New Filings (Sunday through Saturday, comma-delimited format) – contains a subset of the data for the new formation filings processed for a specific week.

Record layouts for these ‘List’ downloads are available using links from this HELP information as well. Customers should review the record layout to see what data elements are included in the records for these files.

To subscribe to SOSDirect, click here.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Should you have any further questions, please contact the certifying team at 512-463-5578 or email [email protected]

FEES

Previous Master Unload: $1350.00
New Master Unload: $1750.00
List by Entity Description (comma-delimited format): $200.00
Daily Filing Update/Replacement (Subscription): $60.00
Weekly Filing Update/Replacement (Subscription): $20.00
Weekly Subscription New Filings (Sunday through Saturday, comma-delimited format): $20.00

ORDERING INFORMATION

When you have selected a product and are ready to order, you will need to request an SOSDirect Account from the SOSDirect Login screen. To subscribe to SOSDirect, click here.

Once your account is set up and you are given a SOSDirect USER ID and Password, you may then log into SOSDirect.

1. Log into the Texas SOSDirect Internet page by inserting your SOSDirect User ID and Password and click Submit. Then select payment method, verify contact information, and click Continue. The subscriber Account Login screen that is displayed will provide you with your session code in bold numbers and letters. Important: Make note of the session code for future reference or before logging out, select Briefcase from the Menu Bar and print the displayed screen.
2. Select Business Organizations from the Menu Bar.
3. From the Business Organizations Menu screen, under Inquiries and Orders, select Bulk Order - Data.
4. The Business Organizations Bulk Orders screen appears; click on Place Bulk Order. This brings up a screen that displays the list of products that are available. (NOTE: Please read carefully all instructions on this screen (top and bottom) before placing an order. Reference the description of products available in this HELP file prior to making a selection).
5. Select the Bulk Order Type; complete item 1. Subscription Period and item 2. Entity Description, if applicable, and click the Submit Bulk Order button. Result: The Bulk Order Confirmation screen appears and provides user with the document tracking number for the order. The Bulk Order will be placed in the subscriber’s Active Bulk Orders screen for retrieval at the following days of the week:
   Previous Master Unload – within 1 to 2 hours of request;
   New Master Unload – within 1 to 2 hours of request;
   Master Unload – within 1 to 2 hours of request;
   List by Entity Description – within 1 to 2 hours of request;
   Daily Filing Update Subscription – next business day from the date requested;
   Weekly Filing Update Subscription – Tuesday morning of the week following request;
   Weekly Subscription New Filings – Tuesday morning of the week following request;
   Active Entity List for One Registered Agent – within 1 to 2 hours of request.
6. On the Bulk Order Confirmation screen, if you want to view your bulk order or place another order:
   -If Yes, click on click here, and repeat Steps 4 – 6.
   -If No, go to Step 7.
7. Click Logout.

When you receive the Packing Slip for Session email, you can log into SOSDirect again, select Bulk Order – Data, go to the Business Organizations Bulk Orders screen . Click on that order as listed in the Bulk Order Type column, which is a link to the Available Bulk Orders screen from which files can be accessed for download. Note that the Master Unloads contain several gigabytes of data and for that reason is broken into smaller files – then zipped for download. Verify that you have adequate drive space for unzipping and working with this large volume of data.

SUBSCRIPTION CANCELLATION

You may cancel a Daily or Weekly Filing Update subscription at any time at no charge. Simply log onto the SOSDirect system and go to the Bulk Orders - Data screen. This displays a list of all of the bulk order products that have been ordered. Follow the instructions under Active Bulk Order(s) to cancel a subscription. Non-subscription items may not be cancelled from SOSDirect. If you have placed an order for one of these products in error and need to cancel it, please contact our office: Certifying Team at 512-463-5578 or email [email protected].

RECORD LAYOUT

To retrieve the bulk order file layout for all order types except Business Organizations List by Entity Description), click here.
To retrieve the bulk order file layout for Business Organizations List by Entity Description) data information, click here.

SAMPLE DATA

To retrieve a sample data daily file, click here.
To retrieve a sample data weekly file, click here.
To retrieve a sample Business Organizations List by Entity Description data, click here.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I’m interested in purchasing some Corporations Data – what do I need to do?

1. You will want to review the list of bulk order products listed in the General Information section of this HELP document in order to decide which one best suits your business needs.
   
2. If you are planning to purchase one of the non comma-delimited files you will want to first download and review a copy of the record layout which provides details regarding the data contained in the various record types. This should help you determine the requirements for storing and retrieving the data since these files are not easily loaded to desktop software such as Access or Excel. A Full Master Unload includes a large volume of data and is divided into a few smaller files and then zipped.
   
   A record layout for the comma-delimited files is also available to download. These are found in RECORD LAYOUT stated above. This will provide detailed information regarding what data elements are included in the file. (NOTE: Sample data files are also available for download from the SAMPLE DATA section of this HELP page.)
   
3. When you have decided upon a product and are ready to place an order, if you do not already have a SOSDirect Account, it will be necessary to submit a request to have one set up. Web forms required for submitting such a request are accessed using a link from the SOSDirect Login page. Once your account is set up and you have received a SOSDirect User ID and Password you can then log onto the system and follow the ORDERING INFORMATION instructions stated above

How do I access the data files that I’ve ordered?

1. Upon placing an order you’ll receive a response of acknowledgement indicating that you will be notified via email when your order is ready and listing a document number. You should be able to return to the bulk order site within 24 hours (except for New Master Unloads) – and find a listing of your subscriptions (orders) with associated information.
   
2. Once the file is available, the description under the Bulk Order Type heading becomes a link that will take you to a screen where the files (zipped) are available for downloading. You will need to have WinZip or some other software on your desktop to unzip the downloaded file.

It depends upon the product. A price list is available under FEES stated above. Note that customers are billed for subscription by the month at the end of each month. Daily Update Subscription customers are billed for only those daily files generated for days that the office is open (although files are created and available for weekends and holidays since web filings are processed for those days as well). Subscribers are billed by the month for daily and weekly files. There are no subscriptions for Master Unload files (they must be ordered each time).