Compliance Advisory
Ongoing regulatory and corporate compliance guidance for New York businesses, covering licensing, employment, and records, for a flat fee quoted up front.
- Focus Ongoing compliance, not one filing
- Best for Businesses already up and running
- Covers Filings, licensing, employment, records
- Pricing Flat fee, quoted up front
What's included
Everything your flat fee covers
- A review of the entity's state filings, registered agent, and good standing
- Tracking which licenses and permits need renewal and when
- A review of employment postings, policies, and worker classification
- Guidance on data practices for customer and employee information
- A check of contract obligations and business records against how the business actually operates
- Direct access to the attorney handling your review
Forming a business, obtaining its first licenses, and signing its early contracts settles the entity’s legal footing at one point in time. What follows is different: a recurring set of obligations to New York State, New York City, and the business’s own employees that has to be met year after year, not once at the outset. Compliance advisory is the ongoing review that keeps those obligations current.
Fisher Stone reviews a business’s standing across these areas and advises on what needs attention, for a flat fee agreed before any work begins. The attorney who conducts that review is a licensed New York lawyer who stays on the matter throughout, reachable directly by call, email, or text.
What compliance advisory covers
A New York business carries obligations that do not end once the entity is formed. Some run on a recurring filing cycle with the state. Others depend on keeping a license current rather than something obtained once and filed away. Still others sit inside the business itself, from how it treats employees to whether its records are ready for a lender, an investor, or a buyer to review.
Compliance advisory looks across all of that at once, rather than at a single filing or license in isolation. Our business formation service sets an entity up correctly on day one. Compliance advisory keeps it that way afterward, advising on what applies without performing audits, acting as the company’s compliance officer, or monitoring operations continuously.
| What it involves | How it stays current | |
|---|---|---|
| Entity status | The state filing and registered agent that keep the entity in good standing | Reviewed on the state’s recurring filing cycle, confirmed at the consultation |
| Licenses and permits | Registrations tied to your industry, activity, or location | Reviewed on a renewal schedule, matched against how the business actually operates |
| Employment | Required postings, written policies, and how workers are classified | Reviewed as staffing, roles, and the workplace itself change |
| Data and contracts | How customer and employee information is handled, and obligations inside signed agreements | Revisited as vendors, tools, and contracts change, not treated as fixed at signing |
| Business records | Minutes, consents, ownership records, and organized contract files | Kept current so they are ready when a lender, investor, or buyer asks to see them |
Keeping the entity in good standing
New York requires business entities to file a biennial statement with the New York Department of State to remain in good standing. Letting that filing lapse, or letting the registered agent information go stale, can leave the state unable to reach the business with legal notices. The current schedule and any fee are confirmed at the consultation.
Registered agent
Every New York entity needs a registered agent on file: a party authorized to accept legal papers and official correspondence on its behalf. That designation needs to stay accurate as an office relocates or whoever served in that role stops being reliable. An outdated registered agent is a common reason a filing gets missed.
Qualifying to do business in another state
A New York entity that begins operating in another state, by opening an office or hiring employees there, generally needs to qualify to do business in that state as a foreign entity. Skipping that step can limit the company’s ability to enforce a contract there until the gap is fixed.
Licenses and permits that need to stay current
Obtaining the right licenses and permits to open is its own body of work, covered on our licenses and permits page. Compliance advisory picks up from there: a license typically has to be renewed on its own schedule, and the activity has to keep matching what it covers, whether that is a restaurant changing its layout or a contractor taking on new types of work.
The agencies involved vary by industry and location: New York State licensing boards for regulated occupations, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection for consumer facing trades, and ongoing state tax registrations. Reviewing licensing alongside everything else the business carries is what tends to catch a lapse early.
Employment compliance
A business that brings on staff takes on obligations that continue rather than closing out after the first hire. Required workplace postings change over time, and personnel records need to stay in usable form as the business grows. The New York State Department of Labor is the primary state regulator here, alongside applicable federal requirements.
Worker classification
Whether someone is an employee or an independent contractor is a legal determination, not a label chosen for convenience, and it affects tax withholding, benefits, and other obligations. A relationship that started as a contractor arrangement can shift in practice as the business directs more of that person’s work.
Policies and recordkeeping
Written policies, an employee handbook, wage notices, and personnel files need to stay aligned with how the business actually operates. Our employment agreements service prepares the underlying documents. Compliance advisory reviews whether they still match the business.
Industry-specific regulators
Beyond the general layers of state and city government, some businesses answer to a regulator specific to their field: a professional licensing board, a financial regulator, a healthcare body, or an agency tied to a particular trade. Reporting obligations, continuing education, and periodic renewals are common features, confirmed for each business individually. Compliance advisory identifies which apply and tracks what each currently requires, alongside our broader running a business support.
Data, contracts, and business records
Customer and employee data
Most businesses collect more personal information than they realize: names, contact details, payment information, and employment records belonging to customers and employees alike. How that information is collected, stored, and shared is a growing area of legal exposure, depending on the kind of data involved. Compliance advisory reviews a business’s general data practices and flags where they create risk. It does not include cybersecurity work, a separate technical discipline.
Contract compliance
A signed contract is not the end of the legal work behind it. Many agreements carry ongoing obligations: insurance to maintain, notices to send before a renewal date, or restrictions on how the business can operate. Losing track of an old obligation is a common way a business ends up in breach of an agreement it intended to honor. Our contracts service covers both negotiating new agreements and tracking what existing ones require.
Records a lender, investor, or buyer will want to see
Minutes, consents, an accurate ownership ledger, and organized contract files matter most when someone outside the business asks to see them: a lender, an investor, or a buyer in a future sale. Rebuilding years of ownership and governance records under deadline is far harder than keeping them current. The underlying bookkeeping matters just as much, an area our accounting and bookkeeping practice supports directly, and our buying or selling a business service sees the difference in every transaction.
Where this fits with the rest of your legal support
Compliance advisory can be engaged on its own, as a periodic review of where a business stands across these areas, or it can run inside a broader relationship with the firm. Our general corporate counsel service is that wider ongoing relationship, covering contracts, hiring, leases, and disputes as they come up. Compliance advisory is the specific workstream inside it, focused on keeping the business’s standing, licensing, and records current.
What compliance advisory does not replace
Reviewing a business’s compliance picture reduces the risk of a missed filing, a lapsed license, or an outdated policy, and helps catch a problem while it is still easy to fix. It is not a guarantee that an inspection will pass or that a penalty will never apply, and it does not substitute for the business’s own recordkeeping. Fisher Stone advises on what applies. Carrying out the business’s internal processes remains the client’s responsibility.
Most businesses do not need every part of this reviewed at once. A consultation identifies which areas apply to your business now, so the review, and the flat fee that follows, are scoped to what you actually need.
How it works
How Fisher Stone handles your compliance review
-
Free consultation and review
Tell us about your business, its industry, and how it operates, so we can identify which ongoing compliance areas apply before any work begins.
-
Get your flat-fee quote up front
Once we know what your business needs reviewed, we quote one flat fee for the work, so the cost is clear before anything begins.
-
Ongoing review and guidance
Your attorney reviews the areas that apply to your business and flags what needs attention, on a schedule that fits how the business operates.
Why Fisher Stone
What you can expect on every matter
- 01Direct access to your attorneyWork with the attorney on your matter, not a call center. Reach them by call, email, or text.
- 02Flat-fee pricing, quoted up frontOne flat fee before any work begins, so you know the full cost of your matter in advance.
- 03No handoffsThe attorney you meet drafts your documents and sees your matter through to the end.
Questions
FAQs on Compliance Advisory
What does compliance advisory cover?
Compliance advisory covers the obligations a New York business carries after it is formed and licensed, including staying in good standing with the state, keeping licenses and permits current, employment related requirements, data practices, contract obligations, and business records. Fisher Stone reviews which of these apply to your business and advises on what needs attention.
How is this different from your licenses and permits service?
Our licenses and permits service covers obtaining the specific licenses and permits a business needs to open. Compliance advisory covers what comes after: keeping those licenses current, along with everything else the business is responsible for as it continues operating, from good standing with the state to employment and recordkeeping.
How is this different from general corporate counsel?
General corporate counsel is the broader ongoing relationship with the firm, covering contracts, hiring, leases, and disputes as they arise. Compliance advisory is the specific workstream focused on keeping the business's standing, licensing, employment practices, and records current. It can run inside a general corporate counsel relationship or be engaged on its own.
What does it mean for a business to stay in good standing with New York State?
Staying in good standing generally means filing the state's biennial statement and keeping accurate registered agent information on file with the New York Department of State. A business operating in another state may also need to qualify to do business there. Fisher Stone confirms what applies to your entity and the current filing schedule at the consultation.
Does compliance advisory include reviewing how we handle customer and employee data?
Yes, in general terms. Compliance advisory reviews a business's data practices, meaning how customer and employee information is collected, stored, and shared, and flags where those practices create risk. It does not include technical cybersecurity work, which is a separate discipline outside the scope of legal advice.
Does this guarantee my business will pass an inspection or avoid penalties?
No. Reviewing a business's compliance picture reduces the risk of a missed filing, a lapsed license, or an outdated policy, and helps catch problems while they are still easy to fix. It is not a guarantee that an inspection will pass or that a penalty will never apply, and the business's own internal processes remain its responsibility.
How do I get started?
Start with a free consultation of about fifteen minutes to describe your business and what you want reviewed. Fisher Stone quotes a flat fee for the work before anything begins, and a licensed New York attorney handles the review from there. Call (212) 256-1877 to schedule a time that works for you.