Formation object

The formation object records when, where, and as what type of legal entity a business was established. Middesk sources formation data from Secretary of State registrations, so it reflects the authoritative jurisdictional record rather than self-reported information.

Formation data drives several common workflows:

• Time in business. Use formation_date to filter or score businesses by age — a frequent input to credit and risk decisions.
• Jurisdiction-specific compliance. Use formation_state to apply state-level rules during onboarding (for example, additional licensing checks).
• Entity type policies. Use entity_type to gate products that only apply to specific structures (for example, KYC requirements for sole proprietorships vs. corporations).

When Middesk can’t tie a business to an authoritative formation record, entity_type returns UNKNOWN and formation_date and formation_state may be null. This is common for very new businesses, businesses operating only as DBAs, or out-of-state operations without a domestic filing.

This page describes the formation object.

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{
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  "object": "formation",
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  "entity_type": "CORPORATION",
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  "formation_date": "2018-12-21",
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  "formation_state": "CA",
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  "created_at": "2020-04-30T23:50:51.222Z",
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  "updated_at": "2020-04-30T23:50:51.222Z"
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}

Formation attributes