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Articles in This Section

  • What is revenue verification?
  • What are the ways revenue can be verified for the Inc. 5000 and what is required for each option?
  • What kind of financial statements are acceptable?
  • When is the deadline for submitting revenue verification materials?
  • What are forms of Revenue Verification?
  • What is Inc.’s preferred method of revenue verification?
  • May I submit revenue figures based on cash accounting?
  • If my fiscal year doesn’t end in December, what sales numbers should I fill in for each year?
  • My company is a franchiser. Should I submit the total sales of all of our franchisees?
  • What if I don't have my 2022 revenue number until later in the spring? Can I still apply early?

Related articles

  • What are the ways revenue can be verified for the Inc. 5000 and what is required for each option?
  • What kind of financial statements are acceptable?
  • How does Inc. define revenue?
  • What is Inc.’s preferred method of revenue verification?
  • What is revenue verification?

What is revenue verification?

To ensure the integrity and credibility of the list, we carefully verify the 2019 and 2022 revenue numbers for every Inc. 5000 applicant. This is the second step in the application process.

There are four ways in which revenue verification can be completed for the Inc. 5000:

Digital Signature Verification

Revenue Verification Form PDF

Redacted Tax Returns for 2019 and 2022(Line 1C of Form 1120/1065 or Part 1, Line 3, of a Schedule C)

Audited Financial Statements (Must include accounting opinion letter, and income statement from financial statements that have been audited, reviewed or compiled by an independent accounting firm.)

Please note: Inc.’s editorial team reserves the right to request additional documentation in addition to digital signatures or the signed revenue verification form to verify reported revenue numbers (redacted tax returns or audited financial statements) at their discretion. Any company that fails to provide additional material if requested risk disqualification.

A few things to keep in mind for revenue verification:

  • Submitting your revenue verification early will ensure accurate coverage in Inc.com or Inc. magazine.
  • After you submit revenue verification to support your revenue numbers in your application, you may not withdraw from consideration for the 2023 Inc. 5000.
  • If you are concerned that your final 2022 revenue figures will not be available in time, please email us at inc5000@inc.com.
  • The revenue figures in the verification documents must be precise down to the dollar, or rounded to the nearest thousand dollars at most. Since the ranking of our list is determined by the two-year revenue growth rate, this level of accuracy is very important.

Please Note: If you do not complete Step 2: Revenue Verification, your application will be considered incomplete and will be disqualified. *

The early-rate fee to apply is $245 until March 24, 2023.
The regular-rate fee to apply is $345 from March 25 until the final deadline date of April 21, 2023.
The final deadline to submit your  Revenue Verification Materials  is  May 5, 2023.

All submission dates are until 11:59 pm Pacific Time.


Apply  here  for the 2023 Inc. 5000!
Have any questions or concerns? Email us at Inc5000@inc.com

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