R.I. Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis earlier this week reminded the state’s nonprofits that this Friday was the deadline for filing annual reports with the state, a process that can be done online at sos.ri.gov.
Since taking office in 2007, Mollis has worked to make finding and filing forms online easier for businesses. In addition he has made tens of thousands of records available to the public through the Secretary of State’s website.
PBN: The deadline for nonprofits to file annual reports with the state was June 30. Why are you putting out a press release that says the deadline is July 30?
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MOLLIS: State law gives nonprofit corporations a grace period. As long as nonprofits file their annual reports within 30 days of the June 30 deadline, there is no penalty. Nonprofits that miss the grace period risk fines and the revocation of their legal corporate status. Nonprofits can use their annual report as an opportunity to promote their fiscal responsibility and openness. That can mean peace of mind for the people and organizations considering supporting them.
PBN: Are all the forms that a nonprofit needs to make its state-mandated filings online? How many forms are there? And what of for-profit corporations?
MOLLIS: In addition to nonprofits, for-profit corporations, limited liability companies and limited partnerships must also file with the state at various points in the year. Everything they need to comply with state reporting requirements is online. Filing electronically is easy. We created an app that reduces the paper forms to one electronic page. And annual reports are not the only documents that can be entered online. Our system enables you to file everything from Uniform Commercial Liens to Articles of Incorporation on our website. We’re eliminating as much paperwork as possible.
PBN: Why did it take longer to bring nonprofits the benefits of online filing?
MOLLIS: The challenge was developing the underlying app that enables online filing. Putting new skin on the apps to accommodate all the corporate entity types that have reporting requirements is fairly easy. We launched in 2008 with for-profit corporations followed closely by limited liability companies and limited partnerships. Nonprofits came a year later because of a stipulation in the law that required paper filings. We first had to go to the General Assembly and get the law amended to allow electronic filing.
PBN: Are there fees associated with filing online? Where does the revenue collected go?
MOLLIS: While online filing reduces processing costs for my office, the fee to file online is $2 more than the $20 fee to file paper annual reports. If that seems unintuitive, there is a reason. The state works with a private sector vendor – best known as ri.gov – to create a variety of online services without utilizing tax dollars. The $2 convenience charge associated with filing annual reports is not revenue for the state. Instead, the fee goes to ri.gov to cover the cost of creating and maintaining the service.
PBN: How successful has the effort to transfer form filing online been? How many for-profits have done online filing, and how many nonprofits do you expect to file online?
MOLLIS: Online filing is remarkably successful across the platform of corporate entity types. Last year, 55 percent of the 65,000 or so of the for-profits, nonprofits, LLCs and LPs filed electronically. That is remarkable penetration for a new service with bare-bones promotion. But we define success more than one way. First and foremost, online filing makes Rhode Island more business friendly. We not only eliminated the paperwork, but our virtual office is now open 24/7. In addition, we created a searchable database that gives the public access to all this information about corporate Rhode Island. As Providence Business News has reported, our next initiative is developing a Web-based master business application that will enable startups to file all the paperwork state agencies can require electronically.
