Keep accurate records for monitoring the health of your business. You can't easily identify patterns, calculate ratios or make future decisions without them. These records are also required to back up your financial statements, as well as when filing tax returns. These include income (profit and loss) statements as well as balance sheets.

Most states have departments of corporations or secretary of state offices that require businesses to file a formal statement of ownership. The majority have put these documents online. You can search for these records by name of the company, and often the websites will offer a list of officers or directors, their addresses and other information about the company. Some private companies or firms create directories of business. These may list the headquarters city or the city in which a company is registered. They also include contact information, as well as the principal officer or directors of the company and a short description about the type of business in which the company operates.

Many cities require that any person or business that is operating any business within the city file a registration and many cities have made these documents online. Some counties also maintain an index of business names that are fictitious, where the top partners or officers of a partnership could be listed, along with their addresses. Some states have a online business records master index of all fictitious business names and some counties, as well as the secretary of state or corporation departments have put these online.