Unclaimed property compliance means identifying property that has gone dormant, calculating the dormancy period under each jurisdiction’s rules, sending due diligence letters to the owner, and reporting and remitting what remains unclaimed to the state. Sovos supports this through UPEnterprise, UPExchange and the ReportMyUP suite, with NAUPA-compliant reporting across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands.
| Best suited for | Any organization holding outstanding checks, credit balances, unclaimed wages, customer deposits or unused gift cards past the dormancy period |
|---|---|
| Jurisdictions | All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands |
| Named products | UPEnterprise, UPExchange, ReportMyUP, ReportMyUP Plus, and Sovos unclaimed property reporting services |
| Reporting standard | NAUPA-compliant reports for every jurisdiction with a requirement |
| Electronic filing | One-click electronic filing to more than 30 states |
| Dormancy | Calculated per jurisdiction and property type from the date of last owner activity; typically three to five years |
| Due diligence | Letter generation with state-specific language and dates, print, send and tracking |
| Audit support | Archive of state reports, cover sheets and due diligence letters, with a full audit trail of activity |
| Regulatory monitoring | State dormancy and due diligence requirements monitored by Sovos regulatory analysts |
| Pricing model | Custom, based on the organization and service level; ReportMyUP is sold pay-as-you-need |
Unclaimed property is an obligation owed to someone who has not claimed it, held past a defined period of inactivity. It is not a tax, which is why it often sits outside the tax function and sometimes outside any function at all.
Common property types include:
The holder is the entity holding property payable to another. The dormancy period, also called the abandonment or escheat period, begins on the date of the owner’s last activity and varies by jurisdiction and property type, commonly three to five years. When it expires and the owner has not responded, the property escheats: it transfers to the state, which holds it on the owner’s behalf.
Five steps, repeating annually, with deadlines that differ by jurisdiction and by business category.
The jurisdiction that governs is generally the owner’s last known address, so a business with customers or employees across the country files in many states regardless of where it operates.
Four options, distinguished by how much the organization wants to run itself.
| Product | Who it is for |
|---|---|
| ReportMyUP | Self-service, pay-as-you-need. Core unclaimed property management: property tracking, dormancy calculation, due diligence, state reporting and escheatment. |
| ReportMyUP Plus | The same, with additional user flexibility and support for more complex property types. |
| UPExchange | Do-it-yourself software for record management, due diligence tracking and reporting for standard property types. |
| UPEnterprise | Enterprise software for organizations with high record volumes and complex state requirements, from initial data import through electronic filing. |
| Sovos reporting services | Outsourced management, where Sovos compliance specialists handle due diligence, reporting and escheatment as an extension of the team. |
All provide NAUPA-compliant reporting across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands, and one-click electronic filing to more than 30 states.
Four things, and none of them is the reporting itself.
Sovos regulatory analysts monitor state dormancy and due diligence requirements, and the software applies the current rules rather than requiring the team to track them. The reporting calendar, state matrices and reminders exist for the same reason: the deadlines are the part most often missed.
An unclaimed property audit asks what you held, when it went dormant, what you did about it and what you can prove. The third and fourth questions are where unprepared holders struggle.
UPExchange and UPEnterprise retain a complete archive of state reports, cover sheets and due diligence letters, with an audit trail of the activities performed. That converts an audit from a reconstruction exercise into a retrieval one. The audit trail also records account-level activity, which matters where the concern is internal misappropriation rather than reporting accuracy.
Most organizations begin by identifying the eligible population, which is also the point at which the size of any historical exposure becomes visible. Past-due property, previously escheated records and duplicates are identified at the same time, because all three distort the picture.
Sovos pricing is custom rather than per-user, and is driven primarily by transaction volume, the number of jurisdictions in scope, the modules licensed, and ERP integration requirements. Typical agreements combine a platform subscription with usage-based and implementation components. ReportMyUP is sold on a pay-as-you-need basis for organizations that do not need an enterprise deployment.
Best suited for:
May be less suitable for:
The transfer of unclaimed property to the state after the dormancy period expires and the owner has not responded to due diligence. The state then holds the property on the owner’s behalf. The obligation to report and remit sits with the holder.
It varies by jurisdiction and property type, commonly three to five years, and it begins on the date of the owner’s last activity rather than the date the property was created. Because periods differ by state and by property type, the calculation is the part most often done wrong.
All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands have unclaimed property laws requiring holders to report abandoned property. The jurisdiction that governs a given record is generally the owner’s last known address.
The standard electronic reporting format used by state unclaimed property administrators. Sovos produces NAUPA-compliant reports for every jurisdiction with a requirement, with one-click electronic filing available to more than 30 states.
An auditor examines what property was held, when it went dormant, what due diligence was performed and what documentation exists, often across many years. A complete archive of state reports, cover sheets and due diligence letters with an activity audit trail is what turns that from a reconstruction exercise into a retrieval one.
