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Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said promptly processing registrations helps entrepreneurs contribute to the state’s economy and provide jobs for Pennsylvanians. PHOTO/FILE
Prompt processing of Pa. business registrations maintained by DOS
The Department of State (DOS) maintained a two-to-four-day processing time for business and charity registrations throughout 2024, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced Thursday.
The processing time is down from an average of 40 days in January 2023 and allows Pennsylvania businesses and nonprofits to move at the speed of business, according to a release.
“The Shapiro Administration is committed to state government helping those setting up a corporation or charitable operation move through the process efficiently,” Schmidt said in a statement. “Throughout last year, we continuously processed these registrations in a matter of days, helping our entrepreneurs get to the work of contributing to the state’s economy and providing good-paying jobs for Pennsylvanians.”
In January 2023, the average processing time for business, charity, and trademark filings was 40 days. By January 2024, the average processing time was down to four days. The Department of State maintained that pace despite a significant increase in filings over the previous year.
“Maintaining this dramatic improvement required a multipronged approach,” Schmidt said. “Key among the changes were reducing hiring times, appropriately staffing the Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations (BCCO), which handles this work, and employing hands-on managerial tactics to prevent any filing backlog from forming.”
BCCO serves as the repository for more than 2.4 million records of companies registered to do business in Pennsylvania.
The reduction in processing times is also due, in part, to a sizeable increase in the percentage of filings submitted online through the Department’s Business Filing Services portal. In 2024, 89% of filings were submitted online, compared with 54% in 2022, per the release.
“Allowing owners to file their necessary documents online drastically reduces staff time required to handle these documents, and – since owners are typing in the information themselves instead of forcing a staff member to read a handwritten paper form – it minimizes mistakes in the paperwork,” said Schmidt.
