Comply is the action layer. Where Verify confirms a business’s identity and Monitor watches for changes, Comply resolves compliance gaps and keeps businesses in good standing. Every compliance filing Palm processes is also an identity event — it confirms ownership, operating status, and jurisdiction to the state, and updates the business’s verified record.
How it works
Comply uses the data already in Palm’s vault to pre-fill state-specific forms and submit them. When the state accepts the filing, Palm updates the business’s record with the confirmed data.
This means you don’t need a separate compliance vendor or a manual data collection step. The same business record you verified through Verify and track through Monitor is the one Comply files against.
What Comply covers
Comply spans the full business lifecycle in three stages:
| Stage | What it does | Actions |
|---|
| Formation | Create the business entity | State filing, name availability, name rules validation, EIN application. |
| Ongoing Compliance | Keep it in good standing | Annual reports, Registered Agent services, foreign registration, amendments, etc. |
| Remediation | Fix problems when they arise | Reinstatement, filing correction, etc. |
- Name availability: Check whether a business name is available in the target state before filing. Prevents failed submissions and wasted filing fees.
- Name rules validation: Each state has its own naming requirements (required suffixes, restricted words, character limits). Palm validates names against state-specific rules before submission.
- State filing: Palm prepares and submits formation documents (Articles of Organization, Articles of Incorporation, etc.) to the Secretary of State. Includes entity type selection, jurisdiction, and Registered Agent designation.
- EIN application: Request an Employer Identification Number from the IRS for the newly formed (or existing) business. Palm collects the required information and submits the application.
Formation integrates with Onboard — a business formed through Palm is immediately available for verification and monitoring without re-entering data.
Ongoing Compliance
Keep a business in good standing through its required filings and services.
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Annual reports: Every state requires periodic filings to maintain good standing. Miss a deadline and the state can suspend or dissolve the registration. Palm handles the full lifecycle:
- Determine required filings, deadlines, and fees for a jurisdiction and entity type
- Calculate due dates (which depend on formation date, entity type, and state-specific rules)
- Calculate fees (flat amounts or formulas based on authorized shares, gross assets, or par value)
- Pre-fill and submit the state-specific form using verified data from the vault
- Refresh the identity record when the filing is accepted
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Registered Agent services: Every state-registered business must designate a Registered Agent to receive legal and government documents. Palm provides RA services managed entirely through the API:
| Action | Description |
|---|
| Provision | Assign Palm as the Registered Agent, during formation or for existing businesses. |
| Status check | Query the current RA status for a business. |
| Document forwarding | Legal and government documents received by the RA are forwarded through the API. |
| Change | Switch to Palm, or from Palm to another provider. Palm handles the state-specific filing (dedicated form, amendment, or statement of change). |
| Termination | Discontinue RA services when a business dissolves, switches providers, or is offboarded. |
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Reinstatement: When a business loses good standing through missed filings, unpaid fees, or administrative action, it may need to be reinstated before it can transact, open accounts, or meet regulatory requirements. Palm determines what’s needed (back filings, penalties, forms), pre-fills from the existing identity record, and submits the full reinstatement package to the state.
Reinstatement is typically triggered by a Monitor event — the business’s status changes to suspended, revoked, or dissolved, and Comply provides the path back to good standing.
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Filing corrections: When data on file with the state is wrong (name, address, officer information), Palm prepares and submits the appropriate amendment or correction filing.
Comply closes the loop that Onboard, Verify, and Monitor open.
Each product feeds the next. Verify creates the identity record. Monitor watches it. Comply acts on what Monitor finds. And every Comply filing refreshes the identity record that Verify and Monitor depend on — creating a cycle where compliance activity keeps the verified identity current over time.
When to use Comply
- Embedded compliance for platforms: If your platform serves businesses, offering compliance as an embedded feature reduces churn and creates a recurring touchpoint. A business that files its annual report through your platform is less likely to leave it.
- Lending and underwriting: A borrower that falls out of good standing is a covenant violation. Comply lets you cure compliance gaps programmatically rather than flagging them for manual follow-up.
- Post-verification maintenance: Verification is a point-in-time check. Comply keeps the underlying record current through the compliance activity that’s already required. Each filing is an identity refresh, not just a regulatory checkbox.
- Formation follow-through: Businesses formed through Comply immediately need a Registered Agent and will need annual reports going forward. Ongoing Compliance picks up where Formation ends.
State coverage
Palm’s compliance infrastructure maps the filing requirements, deadlines, fee structures, and submission processes for all 50 US states. Each state has different forms, different rules, and different submission methods — Palm normalizes this into a single interface.
Coverage includes domestic and foreign entity filings. Filing frequencies vary by state (annual, biennial, or one-time), and fee calculations account for state-specific inputs like authorized shares, gross assets, or par value.
For the current list of supported filing and entity types, contact us.
Before you begin
- A Palm API key — Get access
- A verified business — Verify a business. Comply uses the verified identity record to pre-fill filings.
- For monitoring-triggered actions: a monitoring subscription — Monitor.
