Checklist: What You Need to Cancel When Closing Your Small Business

Katie Fleming

Katie Fleming

Co-founder and COO of Owner Actions

A rubber stamp with the work cancelled that can be used as you cancel services and subscriptions for your small business

Depending on your business, you may have licenses, permits, subscriptions, and services to cancel when closing. This checklist will help you work through some of the cancelations you’ll need to take on.

 

Completion date

What to cancel

Who to contact

Business licensesThe federal, state, or local licensing authority that issued them
State, county, and local permits (including seller permits)The state, county, or local zoning or commerce board that issued them
Business registrationsEach state’s Secretary of State office in which you’ve registered your business and your county clerk or city hall (if applicable)
Business namesEach state’s Secretary of State office in which you’ve registered your business
Building leases
Equipment leases
Insurance policies
Company health insurance
Retirement plans
Benefits plans
Mobile phone service
Landline phone service
Internet service
Cable and streaming services
Electric service
Gas service
Water service
Sewer service
Cleaning services
Maintenance services
Landscaping services
Reserved parking services
Subscription services (which may include Amazon Prime, food delivery, or other services)
Web services
Payment processing services
Payroll services
Bookkeeping and professional services (which may include outsourced IT, accounting, HR, or other pro services)
Tech subscriptions (which may include Microsoft, QuickBooks, Zoho, Adobe, and others)
Web hosting services
Business email accounts
Social media accounts
Business bank accounts
Business credit cards

 

This list may not cover everything. With this in mind, you can take two important steps to make sure you cancel every license, permit, subscription, or service you’ve signed up for:

  1. Review all of your payables over the last 24 months and find the recurring outlays of cash.
  2. Work with your attorney to build the list of the accounts, registrations, permits, and licenses to close that are relevant to your business.

 

For more articles and advice on closing your business, log into your owner’s portal.

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