Maryland Department of Assessments & Taxation Central Business Licensing & Registration Portal (CBL) 1 | P a g e

2015 IACA Merit Award Submission

Maryland Central Business Licensing & Registration Portal

Jurisdiction: Maryland, State Department of Assessments & Taxation

Contact Name: Mike Griffin

Contact Title: Associate Director

Mailing Address: 301 W. Preston Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-2395

Email Address: michael.griffin@maryland.gov

Phone Number: 410-767-1191

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Executive Summary

In December 2012, Maryland launched the state’s first online business registration system, the Central Business

Registration and Licensing Portal (CBL). The Central Business Licensing and Registration Portal is a virtual “one stop

shop” where business owners can register a new business, create legal entities, establish trade names and create

state tax accounts. The CBL Portal creates a more efficient process for entrepreneurs and “un-silos” government

agencies thereby helping Maryland create jobs and expand opportunity. Customers are not required to know which

specific agencies they must interface with to successfully complete the process for starting a new business.

Entrepreneurs are now empowered to more quickly establish new businesses through the CBL system, while

avoiding the hassle of providing redundant applications in-person at multiple agencies. While not the first in the

nation, Maryland’s CBL solution is built on the lessons-learned and the successes of other state governments that

have implemented consolidated, online business licensing systems. Maryland’s CBL System represents a next-

generation, best-of-breed government e-licensing solution. The portal interfaces with two unique back-end systems

to provide a seamless one-stop shop for business owners to establish their business in Maryland.

Through CBL, business owners register their business in a simple 4-step process and receive an electronic notification

when their filing(s) have been approved or denied. To make it as easy as possible for new businesses to get started

quickly, users provide Universal Business Data (UBD), a collection of common business data universally requested

on licensing and registration forms, and that data is used to populate all agency forms that require this information.

Additionally, as prospective new business owners are often on the go during the startup phase of creating their

business, the CBL portal was built using responsive design techniques which allows the service to be accessed from

any device at any time.

Participating Agencies

CBL is a cross-agency application that currently consists of three participating agencies.

Comptroller of Maryland – Through the CBL portal, businesses can register the following tax accounts electronically

with Comptroller of Maryland:

Admissions and amusement tax account

Income tax withholding account

Sales and use tax license (See note above regarding exemption certificates)

Use tax account

Tire recycling fee

Transient vendor license

Unemployment insurance account

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Department of Business and Economic Development – An integral component of the Department of Business and

Economic Development and the Maryland Made Easy initiative is the CBL portal. Business and Economic

Development spearheaded the creation of CBL to consolidate all State permits and licenses and provide businesses

with a one-stop shop to complete and submit various applications regardless of agency or type of business.

Maryland Made Easy is an inter-agency effort to make it easier to do business in Maryland and includes specific

strategies to help improve Maryland’s business environment by streamlining processes, simplifying regulations and

improving communication.

Department of Assessment and Taxation - Through the CBL portal, businesses can file Articles of Organization and

search for availability of and register a Trade Name with the Department of Assessments and Taxation. The

following business entity filings can be electronically filed:

Sole Proprietorship

General Partnership

Limited Liability Company

Stock Corporation

Tax Exempt Non stock Corporation

Close Corporation

Foreign LLC

Foreign Corporation

Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation – After filings are completed and approved, the Comptroller of

Maryland sends information on the filings that are submitted through the portal to the Department of Labor,

Licensing and Regulation.

Statewide Benefits

Maryland receives the following benefits through this application:

Business Owner Benefits

• Easier and faster to register a business, form a legal business entity and establish tax accounts

• Takes the confusion out of state government and reduces redundant points-of-entry into state government

agencies

• Eliminates the time, expense, and risk of managing a conventional paper and postage based registration

• Business filings processed in less than two business days (compared to 10 weeks)

State Agency Benefits

• Improves agency efficiency of administering government licensing and registration programs

• State employees spend less time on data entry and processing the registration

• Eliminates the time, expense, and risk of managing a conventional paper and postage based registration

• Developed at no cost to the state under the Maryland Self-Funded eGovernment Services master contract

(market value of $1.4 million)

• Over $3.9 million agency statutory feeds processed and disbursed to the Department of Assessments & Taxation

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State of Maryland and citizens Benefits

• Creation of new business start-ups and job creation in Maryland

• Bolstered Maryland Made Easy initiative

CBL Enhancements

In July 2014, CBL Release 2 was launched. This release offers customers the ability to submit Foreign LLC and Foreign

Corporation filings. Release 2 further streamlines the online business registration process by reducing new business

registration screens by 50%. The overall time spent on submitting a new business registration is anticipated to be

reduced by 40 to 50% also. In addition, over 3,200 rejection reasons were categorized into different categories and

safeguards were implemented to prevent customers from making these mistakes thereby significantly improving

their chance of success.

As the new functionality consolidated existing screens with enhanced validations, it was critical to ensure that the

existing data remained intact and that customers who started filing but had not submitted were not impacted by

this change. In order to do this, 81 data scripts were created to migrate the existing data. Business and web logic

were also update to handle these scenarios seamlessly for customers.

In January 2015, the ability for businesses to file their personal property return with the Maryland State

Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) was added to the CBL portal. Business owners and tax preparers

can submit their business personal property return filings electronically to SDAT in three easy steps. Filers register

for an account, enter the required information and upload documents, and then submit payment. Registering for

an account allows users to save their filing information to reference year after year. Tax preparers can also file

multiple returns for different customers under one login.

"WE ARE EXCITED TO OFFER THIS NEW BUSINESS-FRIENDLY SERVICE AS ANOTHER STEP TOWARD EFFICIENT

GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS. BY ENHANCING THIS ALREADY POPULAR SERVICE, WE ARE PROVIDING BUSINESSES

WITH THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO FILE THEIR PERSONAL PROPERTY RETURNS QUICKLY AND MORE EFFICIENTLY."

Michael Griffin Associate Director State Department of Assessments and Taxation

"WE ARE CREATING AND PROMOTING A MORE BUSINESS-FRIENDLY CLIMATE. THE ADDITION OF THIS SERVICE IS THE

LATEST STEP TO MAKE IT EASIER TO CONDUCT BUSINESS IN MARYLAND, WHICH ULTIMATELY ATTRACTS MORE

COMPANIES TO THE STATE. WE ARE COMMITTED TO DELIVERING EGOVERNMENT SERVICES THAT MAKE IT EASIER

FOR THE CITIZENS AND BUSINESSES IN MARYLAND TO ENGAGE WITH THEIR GOVERNMENT."

Greg Urban Maryland's Chief Technology Officer

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CBL Functionality

Current capabilities: Online Demo Available

Release 1 – December 2012

1. Business owners create a secure username and password; Login immediately after account creation – no

approval required

2. Select business entity type and enter Universal Business Data (populated across all forms)

3. File Articles of Organization

4. Obtain Federal Employer Identification Number (if needed)

5. Establish tax accounts

6. Search for availability of and register a Trade Name (if needed)

7. Completed forms submitted to agencies for review and approval

8. Business owner notified by email when filing status changes or user can check status in CBL

9. Multiple business entities managed under one account

10. Ability to save information and return later to complete process

11. Shopping cart functionality to allow customer to pay for multiple registrations with a single transaction

12. Online payment through Maryland’s secure GovPay payment processing service

13. Utilizes responsive design techniques to view on any device (browser, tablet and mobile devices)

Filings offered through CBL:

1. Sole Proprietorship

2. General Partnership

3. Limited Liability Company

4. Stock Corporation

5. Tax Exempt Non stock Corporation

6. Close Corporation

7. Trade Name

8. Establish Tax Accounts

Release 2 - July 2014:

1. New Foreign filings – Foreign LLC and Foreign Corporation

2. Order Certified Copies

3. Streamlined and Consolidated Business Registration Workflow

4. SDAT and Comptroller Reports

5. Resident Agent and Signature Page Updates

6. Streamlined Rejection Workflow

7. Enterprise Forget Password Link

8. Miscellaneous Updates

Release 3 –January 2015:

1. Annual Business Personal Property Return Filing

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Future Releases

From the beginning, the overall vision of the CBL Portal was to continue to expand the service to make it easier to

conduct business in Maryland. In order to do this, the framework was designed to continually add new

functionality and expand the capabilities of the service for the state.

Metrics for Measuring CBL Success:

Successful business filings (through January 2015) 40,541

Average number of days for approval 1

Number of unique visitors 285,596

Number of sessions 467,733

Number of page views 3,239,367

Average session duration 7:32

New visitors 61.20%

Returning users 38.80%

Usage Metrics

Adoption Rates

The 2014 adoption rate for all filings processed through CBL is 31.33% with filing types experiencing adoption rates

as high as 62.82%.

2014

Filing Type CBL Filings CBL Adoption Highest Adoption

Sole Proprietorship and General Partnership 4,514 43.84% 62.82% (Nov)

Trade Name 4,837 29.32% 39.90% (Feb)

Limited Liability Company 8,838 23.67% 29.57% (Nov)

Corporation 1,341 14.07% 18.12% (Oct)

Non Maryland Corporation* 249 16.64% 23.88% (Aug)

Non Maryland LLC* 308 14.65% 21.28% (Aug)

Total SDAT Filing 20,087 28.16% 31.33% (Nov)

Total COM Tax Account Filing 3,077

Total CBL Filings 23,164

*Added in July 2014

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2013

Filing Type CBL Filings CBL Adoption Highest Adoption

Sole Proprietorship and General Partnership 2,476 26.1% 38.3% (Nov)

Trade Name 3,977 22.9% 31.0% (Nov)

Limited Liability Company 4,858 14.3% 19.0% (Aug)

Corporation 849 8.8% 13.0% (Nov)

Total SDAT Filing 12,160 17.3% 22.0% (Aug)

Total COM Tax Account Filing 2,534

Total CBL Filings 14,694

Application Access

Nearly 40% of CBL filings occur outside normal business hours of 4:30 P.M. and 8:30 A.M. This statistic further

underscores the importance of having a business registration system that is available anytime of the day or night.

2014

Filing Type Business

Hours

Non-Business

Hours

Total Filings % Filed Outside

Business Hours

Sole Proprietorship and General Partnership 2,632 1,882 4,514 41.69%

Trade Name 2,867 1,970 4,837 40.73%

Limited Liability Company 5,480 3,358 8,838 38.00%

Corporation 846 495 1,341 36.91%

Non Maryland Corporation* 194 55 249 22.09%

Non Maryland LLC* 228 80 308 25.97%

Total SDAT Filing 12,247 7,840 20,087 39.03%

Total COM Tax Account Filing 1,817 1,270 3,077 41.27%

Total CBL Filings 26,311 9,110 23,164 39.33%

*Added in July 2014

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Mobile Visits

In 2014, 21.67% of CBL visitors came from mobile devices which increased from 14.1% in 2013.

2014

Device Category Sessions % New Sessions New Users

Desktop 193,261 (61.57%) 61.57% 118,989 (79.32%)

Mobile 34,750 (14.09%) 62.01% 21,547 (14.36%)

Tablet 18,705 (7.58%) 50.62% 9,468 (6.31%)

Total 246,716 60.8% 150,004

2013

Device Category Sessions % New Sessions New Users

Desktop 134,558 (85.9%) 62.4% 85,300 (87.5%)

Mobile 11,851 (7.6%) 59.4% 7,036 (7.2%)

Tablet 10,175 (6.5%) 50.6% 5,153 (5.3%)

Total 156,584 62.3% 97,489

Mobile Filings In 2014, an average of 12.37% of all CBL application filings were made using mobile (smart-phone and tablet)

devices.

Mobile Filing %

Dec 2012 - June 2013 7.6%

July 2013 - Sept 2013 8.0%

Oct 2013 - Dec 2013 8.6%

Jan 2014 - Mar 2014 11.8%

Apr 2014 - Jun 2014 9.5%

Jul 2014 – Sept 2014 14.81%

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014 13.37%

Total 10.53%

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2013 Customer Survey

In November 2013, customer feedback was solicited from the businesses created using the CBL Portal. Customer

feedback has been enthusiastic, with over 91% of the respondents saying they would recommend CBL to other

Maryland business owners.

Survey highlights:

78.6% of customers found the process of registering their business either Very Easy or Easy

91.3% of customers would recommend CBL to other Maryland business owners

92.5% of customers are still operating the business they created using CBL

12.4% of customers have expanded their operations since registering their business

53.3% learned about CBL from Maryland.gov, 24.6% found it through an online search and 24.3% heard

about it from the State Department of Assessments and Taxation

14.5% have utilized other State of Maryland resources or programs

Survey Sent: November 12, 2013

Total Responses (Closed survey on 12/18/13): 337 total responses (5.49% response rate)

Testimonials

“It was self-explanatory. Good tool for new business owners.” – Kathy Mancini, Kathy’s Bella Scarpa

“It was very easy, very well laid out, and the results were extremely quick. This site has taken the headache out of

the registration process.” – Kyung Endres, True Pancea

“Using the Central Business Licensing Portal was very easy. It gives you step by step information on how to register

your business in Maryland. I would recommend anyone who has a busy schedule to use the portal to register their

business. It's fast and easy, so your business can be up and running in no time.” – Saul Williams, Soldier

Entertainment

“The process was surprisingly simple! I think many people may have some reservations with the process for

establishing a business in Maryland. I would absolutely recommend this to another entrepreneur.” – Craig Powell,

Lion Heart Marketing

“The process is streamlined and easy to accomplish without needing additional assistance from a consultant.” –

Lucia Fedkenheuer, Mendes & Company

“One of the most streamlined and efficient processes I have encountered. We have rapidly gained new customers

and clients, thanks to the time we saved from the business registration process.” – Thierry Peters, IMEX Trade, LLC

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“I am very pleased with the simplicity, ease, and streamlined process of the online business registration site. Being

able to complete all steps in one session with various departments was outstanding and highly efficient. –

Monique Lindsay, It Takes A Village Enterprises LLC

“It can be done without leaving your house.” – Ellis Noel, E&S Construction Services

“The site walks you through the process and makes it much easier to understand...very useful for first-time business

owners like me.” – Emily Jelassi, Emily’s Truffles & Confections

“I was glad that everything that I needed was in one location. The check list helped me too.” – Rebecca Stewart,

The Author’s Garden

“I would recommend it because it made the process very simple and efficient without me having to physically go in

person to complete.” – Chidiebere Muomaife, Lagos Stop Café

“The fact that I could use your system speaks volumes. I turned my eBay hobby and turned into a way to help in the

community. Thank you for helping me do just that.” – Kimberly Bray-Klacik, Potential Me

“As a new business owner in the State of MD, I found this process to be very efficient and seamless. Extremely

Happy with this resource! The Central Licensing registration portal demystified the Business Start-up process. –

Kenneth Parker, Change Agentz, LLC

Media Coverage and Marketing

• MDBizNews – “Governor O’Malley Launches State’s First Online Business Registration

Systemhttp://mdbiznews.choosemaryland.org/2013/01/14/governor-omalley-launches-states-first-

online-business-registration-system/

• Government Technology – “Maryland Made Easy Streamlines Business Permitting”

http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Maryland-Made-Easy-Streamlines-Business-

Permitting.html?utm_source=related&utm_medium=direct&utm_campaign=Maryland-Made-Easy-

Streamlines-Business-Permitting

• Registering a Business in Maryland is Easier than Ever: http://www.maryland.gov/Pages/Registering-a-

Business-in-Maryland-is-Easier-than-Ever.aspx

• Maryland Launches Online Business Personal Property Return Service:

http://www.maryland.gov/Pages/Maryland-Launches-Online-Business-Personal-Property-Return-

Service.aspx

• Promoted through social media channels

• Distributed brochures at 50+ trade shows/marketing events

• Display CBL-branded pull-up banner and table top posters at press conference and trade shows

• Distributed brochures to all 20 state-wide Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) who assisted

12,000 entrepreneurs in 2013

• Implemented Search Engine Optimization with a Google AdWords campaign

• Promotional web buttons and banners posted on agency websites and the Maryland.gov portal

• Published ads in local business journals

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IACA Merit Award Evaluation Criteria

Effectiveness Does it respond to needs of clients? Yes, the CBL portal definitely responds to the needs of business

owners in Maryland. Prior the system, Maryland’s paper-based process required entrepreneurs to complete several forms for different agencies and wait for the forms to be processed and a response. The processing time for submitted applications was averaging 10 weeks. When entrepreneurs use the system they realize time savings both at the beginning and the end of the business registration process.

Does it improve productivity? Yes, the CBL portal has improved state agency operations by eliminating the need the manual data entry and the collecting and processing payments from customers. Since its launch, CBL has successfully processed over 40,000 business filings, an average of 43 per day. The average time from submission to approval is less than 2 days. By comparison, the average time from submission to approval for the same paper-filed forms takes 10 weeks.

Does it improve compliance? The CBL portal creates efficiencies for state government and allows entrepreneurs to do everything they need to establish a business in Maryland in one place without having to visit different agencies. The use of the system is not mandatory and business owners can still use the paper-based process; however, we have seen increasing adoption rates up to 60% since the launch of the system in 2012.

Does it improve the integrity of public records?

Yes, the CBL Portal improves the integrity of the public records by eliminating the paper forms and using the online submission of data and email notifications to the customers.

Does it demonstrate its effectiveness quantitatively and qualitatively?

Since the launch of the system in 2012, the adoption rates for filings have steadily increased each month and mobile filings are also consistently increasing. Business owners can use the system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week which allows them to use it when they have time instead of traveling to multiple state agencies during normal office hours.

Originality Does it represent a fundamental change in legislation, regulation or policy?

The CBL portal was built as part of former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s Maryland Made Easy initiative to make conducting business in Maryland easier. The system provides an alternative to business owners but is not supported by specific legislation or policy. However, the various participating agencies have embraced the system and the usage statistics of the online portal show how popular it is among new businesses.

Does it represent a significant improvement in service delivery?

The CBL portal creates and promotes a more business-friendly climate in the state of Maryland which breaks down barriers to job creation and ultimately attracts more business enterprise to the state. CBL is a tool for easing the administrative burden on

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businesses and therefore helping entrepreneurial Marylanders create jobs and expand opportunity. That means more jobs, more revenue and a strengthening economy.

Does it introduce a substantially new technology or service concept?

Prospective new business owners are often on the go during the startup phase of creating their business. The CBL portal is built using responsive design techniques which allows the service to be accessed from any smart phone device. The portal is also available for use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so business owners can use the system when they have available time. To make it as easy as possible for new businesses to get started quickly, CBL collects Universal Business Data (UBD), business data fields commonly requested by all state agencies on licensing and registration forms. Each registration form in CBL is then pre-populated with UBD, which eliminates duplicative processes by the customer. Business owners can save information and return later to complete the filing process, submit additional filings at a later time and can even manage multiple business entities under the same account.

Significance & Transferability Does it make substantial progress in diminishing this problem/issue?

Maryland customers expect their government to be open for business 24/7 and CBL provides entrepreneurs with the ability to conduct their business more quickly online, rather than wait in line. Entrepreneurs want to be able to apply for business permits and licenses over the Internet. State agencies need to be able to offer electronic licensing because it is a faster, more efficient and a more customer-friendly method of transacting business. E-licensing saves constituents both time and money, which enhances the perception of Maryland’s business-friendliness both throughout the state, and within competing economies.

Does it offer a one-time solution or will the benefits be more significant over time?

The initial release of this portal was to create efficiencies and remove the barriers to creating a new business in Maryland. However, the portal allows business owners to manage multiple businesses under one account and now allows them to file their annual Personal Property Return. The vision of the portal is to continue to add functionality for businesses to use on a regular basis.

Does this change address a problem/issue that is likely to exist in other jurisdictions?

Prior to the CBL portal, business owners had to know what forms were needed to create a business in Maryland and often had to visit multiple agencies. This scenario is likely to be the same in many other jurisdictions.

Can the solution be replicated? The CBL portal was developed under Maryland’s Self-Funded eGovernment Services contract with NICUSA. While not the first in the nation, Maryland’s CBL solution is built on the lessons-learned and the successes of other state governments that have implemented online business licensing systems. Other states could certainly utilize this funding model to implement this type of system in their jurisdiction.

Will this change serve as a model for others?

Yes, this service certainly serves as a model for other jurisdictions. It creates efficiencies across multiple agencies and makes it easier to conduct business in Maryland.

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To what extent are components, concepts, principles, or insights of this initiative transferable to other areas?

The system environment for the CBL portal consists of three environmental segments. These segments allow it to be easily integrated with each agency’s backend system while still providing a seamless front-end customer experience.

User Segment – Disparate networks and client devices used to access the CBL portal services that includes access points for both customers and internal administrators of the system.

Service Segment – The portion of the system hosted at the NIC datacenter which includes service endpoints and supporting application components. Service endpoints include web applications and API services accessed by system users.

Business Segment – Backend Maryland systems that support the functionality of the CBL Portal services hosted in the Service Segment that includes agency legacy back-end systems.

Lessons Learned What unexpected issues arose on your journey to implementation?

After the first iteration of the CBL portal, we learned that the user interface could benefit from a more streamlined workflow and less data collection from the users. The second release reduced the new business registration screens by 50% which also reduced the overall time required to submit a new business registration approximately 40 to 50%. In addition, over 3,200 rejection reasons were analyzed and categorized into different categories and safeguards were implemented to prevent customers from making these mistakes thereby significantly improving their chance of success.

If you had the opportunity to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

The data and documents are sent to agency legacy mainframe systems from the online application. We would recommend spending a significant amount of time testing the file transfer process between the systems using various scenarios.

What other valuable advice could you offer to another jurisdiction considering a similar change?

As the new functionality consolidated existing screens with enhanced validations, it was critical to ensure that the existing data remained intact and that customers who started filing but had not submitted were not impacted by this change. In order to do this, 81 data scripts were created to migrate the existing data. Business and web logic were also update to handle these scenarios seamlessly for customers.