Going Retro

Not holding Annual Meetings is definitely a common theme for small businesses, but it is critically important to keeping the corporate sheild in tact.  Once a small business owner understands the risks involved in NOT holding (and documenting) Annual Meetings, they start to panic a bit, "Okay, so now I understand why we “Should” hold an Annual Meeting, but I haven’t done it since we opened!  What now?".   This is a case where going Retro can work in your favor . . .

·        It’s been 5 years since  . . .isn’t it too late?

Start today and move forward.  Because it’s overwhelming, most businesses in this situation are likely to turn to an advisor. Regardless, it is never too late to get started.

·        Can I retroactively hold meetings for the last 5 years of not having meetings?

Yes, provided that you sign and date all documents currently so that you are not acting in an unethical manner.  You are simply stating that while these decisions were made in the past, you simply got around to documenting them recently. It's not as ideal as having Annual Meeting documents from each year, but it's much better than being audited without any documentation in place. So, you CAN go Retro (minus the liesure suit) as long as you aren't falsifying documents.