Questions about filing a report on BOI Ally
Q: What is a FinCEN ID?
A: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a department of the US Department of the Treasury. They offer a “FinCEN Identifier” which verifies your identity and requires an upload of a government issued photo ID. Once you have this FinCEN ID, you can enter that number in the forms on this website and skip over entering all of your personal information and uploading your photo ID. If you are being entered as a beneficial owner for multiple companies, you will save time by getting a FinCEN ID. You can obtain one quickly at https://fincenid.fincen.gov by following their directions (which will take you to Login.gov). We recommend that you obtain a FinCEN ID for both your company and for the individuals you list as beneficial owners. This will make updates in the future much easier for you, and it is very likely that most companies will need to update their reports in the future. Remember that your FinCEN identifier needs to be updated if there is any change in your information (address, etc.), and this also triggers a requirement that you update your BOI Report.
Q: Why can’t I submit my report? It won’t let me.
A: There is an error in your report. The area with an error is marked with a 
Q: What if I need to go back and change something I answered earlier before I submit my information to BOI Ally?
A: Go to the My Reports tab at the top of the screen. Select the report for the company you want to make a change for, and then you should see a set of categories which you can select from to edit the information you have submitted. If you need to change or add to information for a beneficial owner, select “Beneficial Owners” and you will be led to a page which lists all the beneficial owners you have identified. From there, you can edit the information for that person or add additional information or documentation for that person.
Q: What if I created my business by paying a company to file the origination papers with the secretary of state?
A: This question is only relevant to companies created on or after January 1, 2024, which must list Company Applicants. Many businesses are created by using a commercial service. If you created your business using a commercial filing service, you will need to contact them to obtain the identification of an individual responsible for that filing. The commercial filing services are prepared for these questions and should be able to quickly give you the name, address, and photo ID for the person you can list as the actual filer under the Company Applicant information. If you prepared the filing on a website that provided self-service software or online tools, you do not need to list a beneficial owner from the commercial filing service. If you list a person at a commercial filing service as a company applicant, you must also list the person who provided the information for the filing as a company applicant.
Q: How can I determine the date my company was formed so that I know whether it was created before or after January 1, 2024?
A: The best way is to reach out to the secretary of state’s office for the state in which your company was incorporated/registered. You should be able to either access your formation documents online or call their office and obtain this information. The safest route is to look to the date the incorporation/registration was filed with the secretary of state’s office.
Q: What is an exempt entity?
A: Certain types of companies are exempted from having to file a BOI Report. Check here to determine if your company is exempt from filing. These exemptions are narrow and do not apply to the vast majority of small and medium sized businesses. The most common exemptions are for large businesses (those with 21 or more full-time employees and more than $5 million in annual gross receipts), subsidiaries of large businesses (100% owned by the large business), inactive companies (no recent activity, no assets or liabilities), tax exempt entities with a 501(c)(3) tax exemption, and other very specific businesses in certain industry sectors. If you are not certain whether your company is exempt, check for free on BOI Ally by clicking on the link above.
Q: What if I have now determined that my company is exempt from filing?
A. If you have determined that your company is exempt, consider the following: If it is foreseeable that your company might become non-exempt in the future (the number of employees may dip below 21 in future years, etc.), we recommend that you proceed with filing your report as though the company were non-exempt now. There is no penalty for overreporting or filing a report even if your company is exempt. However, there are strict penalties for failing to file if your company becomes non-exempt at any time in the future. If you are certain that your company is exempt and do not want to file a BOI Report, click here to report to FinCEN that your company is exempt from filing.
Q: What if I previously reported that my company is exempt but now it has lost its exempt status?
A: You will need to Update your report and report all information as though this was an Initial Filing, including reporting all beneficial owners.
Q: What if I previously filed a BOI Report but my company has now become exempt?
A. If you have determined that your company is now exempt, consider the following: If it is foreseeable that your company might become non-exempt in the future (the number of employees may dip below 21 in future years, etc.), we recommend that you proceed with filing your report as though the company were non-exempt now. There is no penalty for overreporting or filing a report even if your company is exempt. However, there are strict penalties for failing to file if your company becomes non-exempt at any time in the future. If you are certain that your company is now exempt and will remain exempt, click here to report to FinCEN that your company is newly exempt.
Q: What is the difference between correcting and updating a prior report?
A: You are required to “correct” a prior report if the report contains inaccurate information from a previously filed BOI Report. You are required to “update” a prior report if there has been a change to the company information or beneficial ownership information. In both cases, all of the BOI Report information must be reported, including the information which remains accurate from prior filings. Note: we strongly recommend you “Update” your report rather than “Correct” your report if you are only reporting changes which have occurred. By submitting a corrected report, you could potentially draw the attention of FinCEN to the fact that you admit you filed inaccurate information previously. If you did discover you filed inaccurate information previously, FinCEN gives you 90 days from the discovery of that fact to correct your report. Beyond the 90 days, you are subject to the daily penalty.
Q: Can I delete or remove information from a previous BOI Report? If a beneficial owner leaves, can I remove them from our report?
A: No. FinCEN does not allow for the removal of information. You can add to it, but you cannot delete information from a previously filed report.
Q: What if I realize something is inaccurate in the BOI Report I submitted?
A: The Corporate Transparency Act provides for a brief safe harbor. If you learn new information which leads you to believe there is an inaccuracy in your report, you have 90 days in which to correct your report. If the correction is done in this 90 day window, you can avoid the $591 per day penalty. However, if you already knew something was inaccurate in the report when you filed it, the safe harbor will not apply and you will be penalized $591 per day for each day the report was inaccurate, from the day of filing up to the day you correct it.
Q: I own several companies which need to file BOI Reports. Can I just enter this information once and have it applied to several companies?
A: FinCEN says no. Each company will have to provide a separate report. However, in this instance, it would greatly behoove you to obtain FinCEN IDs for the persons who will appear as beneficial owners across those companies. Rather than enter their full information and ID for each company, you can simply enter their FinCEN ID for each company and move on.
Q: If my company is partially owned by another company, why does it matter whether that owner company is exempt or non-exempt?
A: If your company is 100% owned by an exempt company, your company is also exempted from filing a BOI Report. If your company is only partly owned by another company (an ownership of 25% or more of your company but less than 100%), if that owner company is exempt, you do not need to list a beneficial owner for the owner company, but that does not exempt your company from filing. If the owner company is not exempt, you must list at least one individual who is the beneficial owner of the owner company. Your company is only exempt from filing under this scenario if it is 100% owned by an exempt company. If your company is owned by an exempt company, but that exempt company’s holding is less than 100%, your company needs to file a BOI Report.
Q: What sort of confirmation will I receive once I submit my information on BOI Ally? Will I receive a filing confirmation from FinCEN to keep in my records?
A: Upon submission on BOI Ally, we will immediately provide you with confirmation that your information has been submitted for attorney review and filing, along with a copy of the information which you have provided. Once BOI Ally’s legal review is completed and your BOI Report has been submitted to FinCEN, BOI Ally will provide you with a copy of the filing confirmation it receives from FinCEN. The filing confirmation from FinCEN is a transcript of the BOI Report, as reflected in the records of FinCEN, along with a confirmation of the date filed.