You've decided to close the company and now you're wondering if the platform that formed your company might be able to help you wind it down. Dissolving a company formed with Stripe Atlas, Clerky or doola takes more than closing your platform account. The company still needs the applicable state filings, final tax returns and account closures, and each formation platform offers a different level of help.
This guide explains what those platforms handle, where Carta fits if it holds your cap table, and which tasks you must arrange separately. Use it to decide whether the platform's support covers your needs or whether you'd rather hand the closure to a service.
If you have registrations in several states, investors or contracts still running, a managed service can help organize the work. Starcycle prepares and tracks the administrative paperwork, coordinates final returns with a CPA and gives complex cases a dedicated team member and an upfront quote.
Current as of
October 19, 2026
. Starcycle provides operational support for shutdowns. We're not a substitute for legal, tax or financial advice.
Key takeaways
Stripe's help center says closing your Stripe account doesn't close or dissolve your Atlas company with Delaware.
For a corporation, Delaware's certificate of dissolution can be filed only after the taxes due through its effective date are paid and the annual franchise tax reports are filed.
Confirm your company's filing list with your CPA (certified public accountant).
What each formation platform does when you close the company
Dissolution is the filing with the state that ends a company's legal existence, and closing a platform account is a separate step. Of the three, doola lists dissolution on its pricing page, Stripe Atlas points you to outside services, and Clerky says it has no dissolution products.
Carta isn't a formation platform, but it has a role if you manage your cap table there. The table below draws on each platform's own pages, checked on October 19, 2026; the note on Carta Conclusions comes from TechCrunch.
Platform
What its pages say about closing the account
Dissolution help it offers
Stripe Atlas
Closing it "doesn't close or dissolve" the company
None of its own; "you can use any service you'd like"
Clerky
Not addressed
"We don't have any products for dissolution"
doola
Not addressed
"Free Dissolution" on some plans, for existing customers
Partner services for the dissolution itself, plus Stripe's note that "you can use any service you'd like."
Closing your Stripe account cancels your registered agent subscription on your behalf, and you can also cancel it from the Dashboard without closing the account. Stripe's page on closing your Atlas account adds that "all Delaware companies are required to maintain a registered agent," and your lawyer can confirm when yours can be cancelled.
You choose the route: Stripe's partners offer legal help, dissolution through its registered agent and a managed shutdown, and any other service is open to you.
Limitations
Stripe notes you may still have to file taxes every year until the company is dissolved, plus a final filing for the year it dissolves, and suggests an accountant to confirm your obligations.
Pricing
Stripe's dissolution page lists prices for two of its partners and a 10% discount on the third for Atlas founders.
Clerky's help center says it doesn't have any products for dissolution (last updated March 6, 2024), and it invites founders who formed their company on Clerky to get in touch.
Key features
Detailed information about the process, on request, for companies formed on Clerky.
A clear recommendation: once a company stops doing business, "the safest way to close it down is to dissolve it with the Delaware Secretary of State."
A note on what dissolving ends: the company no longer pays Delaware franchise tax, the state's annual tax on corporations, or files an annual report.
Strengths
Explains why the process varies: the right process "depends on what the corporation has done, so it varies from company to company."
Limitations
Clerky names no outside service. The other routes are on this page, and your lawyer can advise on what your company's history requires.
Pricing
Not applicable, since Clerky sells no dissolution product.
How Starcycle helps founders navigate closures with more clarity
Obligation tracking, document organization, and stakeholder coordination — in one platform, in the right order.
If doola formed your LLC, its pricing page is the first place to look: it lists "Free Dissolution" with a one-line promise: "If you ever decide to close your company, we'll handle the official dissolution process for free."
Key features
doola handles the official dissolution filing on the plans that include it.
A guide to closing an LLC permanently (last updated March 20, 2024) walks through checking for pending state filings, such as an annual report or franchise tax, and reviewing what you owe the IRS.
Strengths
The company that formed the LLC handles the official dissolution filing, on the plans that include it.
Limitations
The guide says the service "is currently only available to existing doola customers."
On October 19, 2026, the comparison table showed it in the column for its Tax and Compliance and Business-in-a-Box plans and not in Starter; doola can confirm your plan.
doola says, "we can't cancel the Employer Identification Number (EIN) with the IRS."
Pricing
Free on the plans that include it; plan prices are on the pricing page.
Your EIN is the company's federal tax ID, and the IRS closes the account behind it after a letter, once every return is filed and every tax is paid. Our guide to canceling an EIN with the IRS covers that letter.
Carta: your cap table and investor records, not the filing
If you manage your cap table on Carta, it holds the records of the investors and SAFE holders you'll want to tell. Carta's guide on how to close a business (published May 10, 2024) covers that conversation and sends the filing work to a partner. Carta once ran its own wind-down offering: TechCrunch reported on May 7, 2025, that Carta launched Carta Conclusions in February 2024 and decided by December to retire it.
Key features
A partner for the filing work, with a free consultation and a 10% discount for Carta customers.
The C-corp steps: a plan of dissolution, board and stockholder consent, the dissolution paperwork, final tax returns, and the final Delaware franchise tax and annual report.
Guidance on telling investors, employees, customers and vendors, plus a free "Dissolutions eBook" checklist.
Strengths
The guide covers planning before filing, including runway, liabilities and wind-down costs.
Limitations
The guide sends the filing work to a partner.
The steps are written for Delaware C-corporations, and the guide says every shutdown is different. If the company has debts, or money left for investors, talk to your lawyer before you file.
Pricing
No Carta dissolution price; its partner quotes its own services, discounted for Carta customers.
What every one of these companies still has to file
The platform you used doesn't change the underlying filing requirements. For a corporation, Delaware's certificate of dissolution instructions say "all taxes due to the State through the effective date of the dissolution must be paid and all applicable Annual Franchise Tax Reports must be filed." An LLC's certificate of cancellation is on the same forms page. These are the filings and requirements Delaware, the IRS and the platforms list:
A registered agent: Stripe's help center says "all Delaware companies are required to maintain a registered agent." The agent is the company's official contact for legal papers and state notices. Ask your lawyer when yours can be cancelled.
Final federal return: the IRS asks you to check the "final return" box on the last return. It can't close your business account until every return is filed and every tax is paid.
Other states: the Small Business Administration says that failing to legally dissolve an LLC or corporation in any state you're registered in exposes you to continued taxes and filing requirements. Each of those states has its own withdrawal or dissolution filing.
Confirm the filing list with your CPA, who can tell you which federal and state returns apply to your company.
Sign up to make your closure process easier
We prepare and file the paperwork, track key dates and cancellation timelines, and keep your documents together.
Whichever platform formed the company, someone needs to prepare the filings above and track their deadlines, in a week that's already heavy. Starcycle does that work. You answer a short intake, we turn it into a plan with dates on it, and for a complex case a dedicated team member works through it with you.
Starcycle
Key features
A tailored action plan, built from a short intake of mostly yes-or-no questions.
Prepares and files the paperwork, and keeps every filing and closure document together in one place.
Tracks key dates and cancellation timelines, with final returns coordinated with a CPA.
Strengths
Contract and subscription cancellation sits alongside the state filings, so the SaaS renewal that charges in March is on the same list as the Delaware certificate.
An automatic good-standing check across all 50 states.
For a complex case, such as a Delaware C-corp with investors, several states or a lease still running, you get a dashboard and a dedicated team member to help carry out the plan.
Every letter and filing is drafted, then reviewed and approved by a person on the team before anything gets sent.
Limitations
Operational support for shutdowns, not a substitute for legal, tax or financial advice.
Legal questions go to your lawyer, and we can introduce you to lawyers and accountants.
Pricing
A quote online for a simple case; an upfront quote for a complex one. Current pricing is on starcycle.ai.
Closing the company the platform helped you open
Before you pick a route, write down every state where the company is registered or has a tax account (the payroll account you opened for one remote hire counts), every subscription still billing you, and the lease if there is one. That list is where any route starts, and it's the first thing to hand over.
If you'd like the paperwork handled for you, get a quote from Starcycle: we prepare and file it, track the key dates and cancellation timelines, and can also introduce you to lawyers and accountants.
FAQ
Does closing my Stripe account dissolve my company?
No, Stripe's help center says closing your Stripe payments account doesn't close or dissolve your Stripe Atlas company with Delaware.
My Delaware C-corp never made money. Does it still owe franchise tax?
Delaware's franchise tax page says all corporations incorporated in Delaware must file an annual report and pay a franchise tax, and its franchise tax calculator works through the two calculation methods. Ask your CPA to confirm what your company owes before you file.
We're founders outside the US. Is dissolving our Delaware company any different?
Delaware's dissolution forms and franchise tax pages list no separate filings for companies whose founders live outside the US. The federal side can differ for foreign-owned companies, so confirm federal filings with a CPA who works with non-US founders.
What happens to my registered agent when I close the account?
Stripe cancels the registered agent subscription when you close the Stripe account, and also says all Delaware companies are required to maintain one; your lawyer can confirm the timing for your company.
Starcycle
