--- title: "Hawaiʻi's 40,000-Filing Business Registration Backlog: What to Do Now, and What It Teaches the Rest of Us" description: About 40,000 Hawaii business filings are stuck at the DCCA. What to do while you wait, and what the backlog teaches every small business and nonprofit. image: https://kukuigrowth.com/hubfs/hawaii-business-registration-backlog-1.png --- Welcome to the new site! PH[808-867-1200](tel:+18088671200) [![Kukui Growth Partners](https://kukuigrowth.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/kgp-theme/images/logo-lockup.png)](https://kukuigrowth.com/) [What We Do](https://kukuigrowth.com/what-we-do) [Our Work](https://kukuigrowth.com/work) [How We Work](https://kukuigrowth.com/how-we-work) [About Us](https://kukuigrowth.com/about) [Blog](https://kukuigrowth.com/blog) [Start a conversation](https://kukuigrowth.com/start) [← All posts](https://kukuigrowth.com/blog) Operations # Hawaiʻi's 40,000-Filing Business Registration Backlog: What to Do Now, and What It Teaches the Rest of Us Gabe Shepherd· Nov 11, 2026, 10:50:14 PM ![Map of the Hawaiian Islands with a stack of pending business filings linked to a grid of business system icons by a broken line](https://kukuigrowth.com/hubfs/hawaii-business-registration-backlog-1.png) If you've filed something with the state lately and heard nothing back, you're not alone. Hawaiʻi Business Express, the new online registration system run by the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), went live July 6 and didn't work the way it was supposed to. About 40,000 filings are now backlogged, including new business registrations, annual reports and certificates of good standing. That last one is the document banks, landlords and grant programs ask for before they'll move forward. The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii told lawmakers some businesses missed recent storm relief grants because of the backlog. **If you're waiting on something:** call the Business Registration Division at [**1-844-808-3222, option 2**](tel:18448083222), and check your status at [**hbe.dcca.hawaii.gov**](https://hbe.dcca.hawaii.gov/). If a grant, loan or lease is coming up, ask now whether you'll need a certificate of good standing. The state says Salesforce is leading a repair at no cost to taxpayers and hopes interim fixes clear the backlog by year-end. Plan as if delays will continue. ## How it got here This is a government accountability story, and the state owes businesses better. A $1.9 million contract grew to about $2.5 million. The work passed between subcontractors more than once. A monitoring report counted around 250 defects at one point. And when it broke, there was no way back: reverting to the old system would have stranded about 20,000 filings already made in the new one. It's also a lesson for the rest of us. Handoffs that lose knowledge. Testing that wasn't enough. No way back. Those aren't only government problems. They're the same three things that hurt small businesses and nonprofits every day, just at a smaller scale and with less press. ## The same failure, closer to home **Handoffs that lose knowledge.** The bookkeeper leaves, and nobody knows how the month gets closed. The person who set up the booking system moves on. The process for a monthly grant report lives in one staff member's head. Situations like these are why, when we built a reporting system for Living Pono Project, a Maui nonprofit we work with, we wrote the documentation alongside it: step-by-step procedures and plain-language guides, so anyone on staff can keep it running, including if the person who built it isn't around. The system and the instructions were built together, not one after the other. **No way back.** Many owners don't control the accounts their business runs on. When [Auntie Snorkel](https://kukuigrowth.com/work/auntie-snorkel)'s web agency stopped responding, the hosting, the domain settings and the system that sent customer confirmations all sat in accounts the business couldn't reach. Before moving anything, we mapped every piece, moved each account into the owners' names, kept multiple backups and left the old site running as a safety net until the new one was proven. Then we wrote down every system the business depends on, who owns it and how to get in. **Testing that wasn't enough.** It's tempting to switch on something new and fix problems as they show up, and that's usually when the real damage happens. A rehearsal is cheaper. Before Auntie Snorkel's booking system was upgraded, it was run first on a copy holding all 48,391 bookings. Living Pono's new report ran side by side with an independent calculation for two months, matching to the digit, before anyone relied on it. ## What to put in place now None of this usually requires new software. It requires a little time and the decision to do it: 1. **Own your accounts.** Domain, email, website, software and payment tools in your organization's name, not a vendor's or a former employee's. 2. **Write down how the important things get done.** The steps, where the logins live, who owns what and why it's set up that way. Kainoa Horcajo's [Think Hawaiian](https://kukuigrowth.com/work/think-hawaiian) runs on written processes for its CRM and publishing rhythm for this reason: nothing lives only in one person's head. 3. **Keep a way back.** Backups, and the old system left in place until the new one has earned trust. 4. **Test before you switch.** Rehearse on a copy. Run old and new side by side. 5. **Know where your paperwork stands before you need it.** Good standing, annual reports, licenses. Check before the deadline, not at it. When the state clears this backlog is up to the state. Whether your own business would survive the same kind of handoff is up to you. *Sources: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Nov. 11, 2026), Hawaii News Now (Nov. 10-11), Office of the Governor / DCCA release (Nov. 10).* Share [mailto:?subject=Hawai%CA%BBi%27s+40%2C000-Filing+Business+Registration+Backlog%3A+What+to+Do+Now%2C+and+What+It+Teaches+the+Rest+of+Us&body=Hawai%CA%BBi%27s+40%2C000-Filing+Business+Registration+Backlog%3A+What+to+Do+Now%2C+and+What+It+Teaches+the+Rest+of+Us%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fkukuigrowth.com%2Fblog%2Fhawaii-business-registration-backlog](mailto:?subject=Hawai%CA%BBi%27s+40%2C000-Filing+Business+Registration+Backlog%3A+What+to+Do+Now%2C+and+What+It+Teaches+the+Rest+of+Us&body=Hawai%CA%BBi%27s+40%2C000-Filing+Business+Registration+Backlog%3A+What+to+Do+Now%2C+and+What+It+Teaches+the+Rest+of+Us%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fkukuigrowth.com%2Fblog%2Fhawaii-business-registration-backlog) Copy link ![Gabe Shepherd](https://kukuigrowth.com/hubfs/1690278365847%20(1).jpeg) Gabe Shepherd I’m a marketing and operations leader with 20 years of experience driving growth, building systems, and helping companies scale with intention. I’ve spent time in the trenches as a hands-on contributor and now lead teams across demand generation, content strategy, brand development, market expansion, and marketing operations. In addition to leading Kukui Growth Partners, I am the Head of Marketing at Codingscape, a mainland software development consultancy. Field Notes ## Occasional notes on growing a Hawaiʻi business. Practical marketing and technology thinking for owner-operators. No spam, no filler, unsubscribe anytime. 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