bizfile “Request Pin”: When California Mails a PIN Before You Can File Online

Request Access, Request Pin, Get Access: the steps

The steps come from the Secretary of State’s bizfile Online Account Setup and User Access Guide. The version we read is labeled 8.22.24, which is older than the August 2026 rule, so it describes access in general rather than the Statement of Information change. The last step below comes from the Statements of Information page.

1. 1Log in to bizfile Online and search for your entity.
2. 2Open the entity record and click the Request Access icon.
3. 3If nobody has Full Access to that record, click Request Pin. The guide says “a letter with a PIN will be mailed to the mailing address of the entity.”
4. 4When the letter arrives, enter the PIN and click Get Access. The guide says that once the PIN is entered, “you will have full access to the online entity record.”
5. 5Under the August 2026 rule, the Statement of Information filing option is then visible for that entity.

The guide also says, before you request a PIN: “Confirm the mailing address is correct in the entity details.” The PIN goes to the address the state already has on the record.

Some things the guide does not say. It gives no delivery time for the letter, no expiration date for the PIN, and no email or text option for receiving it. It also does not say where the letter goes if the mailing address field on the record is blank. If any of those matter to your timing, call the Secretary of State before you rely on a date.

Who needs a PIN, and who does not

The PIN is the way in when nobody has access yet. There are two other ways in, and they do not involve the mail.

If someone already has Full Access, your request goes to them. The guide says clicking Request Access “will send the authorized user (user with Full Access) an email notification that you requested access to their online entity record.” That person can grant you Basic Access or Full Access, or deny the request.

If you submitted the entity’s formation filing online, you may already have access. The guide says “once an initial filing is approved, full access is granted to the submitter of the online initial filing.” If an attorney or formation service filed for you, that access sits with their account, so ask them to grant it to you.

The rule covers everyone who files online. The Secretary of State’s page does not set out a separate track for registered agents, attorneys, or accountants. They need access to the entity’s record like anyone else.

If the mailing address on file is old

This is where owners get stuck. The PIN goes to the mailing address on the record. If that address is a former office, a former home, or a formation service you no longer use, the letter goes there.

The guide’s answer is short: “If the address is not current, then you may file a Statement of Information to update the address.” That creates a loop: since August 1, 2026, filing that Statement of Information online also requires access, which is what the PIN was for. That loop is our reading of the two pages together. None of the Secretary of State pages we read describes it.

Paper filing is the route the forms pages still show. As of October 1, 2026, the Secretary of State posts Form LLC-12 for LLCs and Form SI-550 for corporations. The regular filing costs $20 for an LLC and $25 for a corporation. For an LLC, a filing made only to update information between regular filings is free: the LLC-12 instructions list it as a “No Fee Statement,” and Government Code Section 12190(l) lists filing changes as “No fee.” For a corporation, Government Code Section 12186(i) also lists filing changes as “No fee,” but Corporations Code Section 1502(i) adds a separate $5 disclosure fee to the corporate statement, so confirm the amount before you mail one. The LLC-12 instructions say the completed form and fees can be mailed to “Secretary of State, Statement of Information Unit, P.O. Box 944260, Sacramento, CA 94244-2600.” The Secretary of State’s SI-550 PDF lists the same P.O. Box on its cover sheet. The Secretary of State’s processing dates page also lists a mail column for Statements of Information.

The pages we read do not say in so many words that a paper filing avoids the access requirement. The Secretary of State’s August 2026 notice covers online filings. So the order we would follow is: file the paper Statement of Information with the current mailing address, wait for it to be processed, then request a new PIN online. The guide says clicking Request Pin will “have a new PIN sent to the entity’s mailing address on file,” which by then is the corrected one.

What can go in the mailing address field

The mailing address is a different field from the principal office address, and the form treats them differently.

For an LLC, the Form LLC-12 instructions say the principal office must be a physical address. The form says “Do not list a P.O. Box.” For the mailing address, the instructions say: “This address will be used for mailing purposes and may be a P.O. Box address or ‘in care of’ an individual or entity.”

Form SI-550 for corporations has the same split on its face: “Street Address of Principal Executive Office - Do not list a P.O. Box” and a separate mailing address line “if different.” The SI-550 we read has no separate instructions page, so we do not have the Secretary of State’s words on what a corporation’s mailing address may be.

The practical point for the PIN: the mailing address should be a place where someone actually opens the company’s mail. That can be a P.O. Box you check, or a business address where someone receives and handles your mail. An address you left two years ago is not.

Keep the record current so you do not hit this twice

The Statement of Information is the filing that keeps the mailing address current. For an LLC it is due every two years, and Government Code Section 12190(l) says filing changes to a Statement of Information carries “No fee.” Corporations file every year. For a corporation’s change filing, check the current fee first, because the $5 disclosure fee in Corporations Code Section 1502(i) sits on top of the Government Code fee schedule.

Missing the filing has a cost. Revenue and Taxation Code Section 19141 says that upon certification by the Secretary of State under Corporations Code Section 2204(a) or 17713.09(a), the Franchise Tax Board “shall assess a penalty of two hundred fifty dollars ($250).” That certification comes after the Secretary of State sends a delinquency notice and the filing is still missing 60 days later, so the penalty is not automatic on the due date. Our guide to the California $800 franchise tax and Statement of Information covers the schedule and the penalty in more detail. If a missed filing goes further, our guide to “Suspended - FTB” and “Suspended - SOS” explains what those statuses mean.

Once you have Full Access, consider granting Basic or Full Access to a second person you trust, such as a co-owner or your accountant. The guide allows more than one user at each level, and a second user means the next filing does not depend on one login.

If you are choosing a new mailing address for the record, our free address checker shows how an address is classified before you put it on a state form.