Ava Torres

Posted on Oct 2

5 Public-Record Checks for KYB Entity Verification

#kyb #compliance #apify #automation

Know Your Business (KYB) starts with a boring question: does this company actually exist, and is it in good standing?

Most onboarding flows still treat a Google search and a website as enough. That is not entity verification. US public records already expose registration status, officers, filings, and federal footprints — if you know which systems to query.

Here are five free public-record checks I use when verifying a business entity. Each one maps to a concrete KYB signal, not a marketing claim.

1. Secretary of State business filings (entity existence + standing)

Every LLC and corporation must register with the Secretary of State where it was formed. The filing is public and usually answers:

Whether the company is Active, Dissolved, or Suspended
Formation date
Registered agent
Officers and directors (coverage varies by state)

If a counterparty says they were “founded in 2015” but the state filing shows incorporation in 2024, treat that as a KYB red flag — not a branding detail.

Where to check manually: each state has its own portal — Texas SOSDirect, New York DOS, California bizfileOnline.

Where to check programmatically: multi-state registry search is painful to maintain yourself. I use US Business Entity Search when I need structured JSON across several states in one workflow. For single-state deep dives there are also dedicated actors for New York, Texas, California, and Florida.

2. SEC EDGAR (public filer identity)

If the company claims to be publicly traded — or you need officer/filing evidence for a known public parent — verify it on SEC EDGAR. Public companies file quarterly (10-Q) and annual (10-K) reports. You can also review:

Enforcement-related disclosures and exhibits
Insider transaction forms
The filing entity’s legal name and Central Index Key (CIK)

Important KYB nuance: a ticker or brand name is not the same as a state-registered legal entity. Keep EDGAR evidence separate from Secretary of State evidence instead of merging them into one “company” object.

Where to check: EDGAR Company Search or SEC EDGAR Company Filings for structured output.

3. IRS Form 990 (nonprofit claims)

If an organization claims nonprofit status, Form 990 is public. It typically shows:

Revenue and expenses
Executive compensation
Board member names
Program descriptions

Fraudulent or misrepresented nonprofits show up here more often than people expect. For KYB, the 990 is useful when the customer is a 501(c) entity, a foundation, or a nonprofit vendor in a payment flow.

Where to check: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer or IRS 990 Nonprofit Search.

4. USASpending (federal award claims)

If a company claims federal contract or grant work, verify awards on USASpending.gov. Published awards include:

Award amount
Awarding agency
Period of performance
Contract / award description

This is especially useful before subcontracting, onboarding a government contractor as a merchant, or validating a “we work with federal agencies” claim in sales diligence.

Where to check: USASpending.gov or USASpending Federal Spending Search.

5. FDIC BankFind (financial institution claims)

If you are dealing with a bank or bank-like institution, confirm FDIC insurance status in BankFind. Records typically include:

Whether the institution is active
FDIC certificate number
Assets and deposits
Branch locations
Regulatory history

If a “bank” is not in BankFind, it is not FDIC-insured — and that should stop a KYB flow cold until you understand what the entity actually is.

Where to check: FDIC BankFind or FDIC BankFind Search.

A minimal KYB evidence bundle

When I automate these checks, I keep sources separated:

subject: legal name + state (+ optional EIN / domain / ticker)
evidence:
  - secretary_of_state: status, formation date, agents/officers
  - sec_edgar: CIK, legal name, recent filings (if applicable)
  - irs_990: filing year, officers, revenue (if nonprofit)
  - usaspending: awards matching the claimed entity (if gov claims)
  - fdic_bankfind: certificate + active status (if bank claims)
flags:
  - name mismatch across sources
  - dissolved / suspended / inactive status
  - claimed public / nonprofit / bank status with no matching record

Do not flatten everything into one confidence score. KYB reviewers need source-level evidence they can re-check.

Why automate the SOS step first

The other four sources are often conditional. Secretary of State existence and standing is the default gate for almost every US business onboarding path.

Manually, these five checks are doable in a short diligence pass. At vendor-list or continuous-monitoring scale, portal hopping becomes the bottleneck. That is why I start automation with US Business Entity Search, then attach EDGAR / 990 / USASpending / BankFind actors only when the claim type requires them.

Related actors in the same KYB lane:

Full set: apify.com/pink_comic

What verification steps are in your KYB checklist today — and which ones are still manual?

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