How to form an LLC in Arizona (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Arizona?

Forming an Arizona LLC takes a name search, a statutory agent, the Articles of Organization, an approval wait and, in some counties, a published notice. Each step and its state fee is listed below.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Arizona Corporation Commission. You can reserve a name for $10 for 120 days (non-renewable).
2. Name a statutory agent in Arizona: a person or company with an Arizona address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization (Form L010) with the Arizona Corporation Commission. The state fee is $50.00. Filing methods: Online (ABC system), by mail, by fax (requires a Money-on-Deposit account) or in person (Phoenix or Tucson office).
4. Wait for approval: Regular: typically 14 to 16 days (no extra fee). Faster options: Expedite +$35 (typically 3 to 5 days); Next Day +$100; Same Day +$200; 2-Hour +$400.
5. Meet the publication rule: Required within 60 days of filing: 3 consecutive newspaper publications in the statutory agent's county, unless the agent's street address is in Maricopa or Pima County, where the ACC posts the notice online.
6. There is no recurring annual report for Arizona LLCs.

Arizona uses the term "statutory agent" for what most states call a registered agent. The job is the same: the agent is the person or company that accepts lawsuits and state notices for the LLC.

Two steps on that list are easy to misread. Publication comes after approval and has its own deadline, so an owner who files and then forgets about the LLC for a few months can fall behind before doing any business. And the last step is short because there is little to it: once formed, an Arizona LLC has no yearly report to send the ACC. Comparing paid services instead of filing alone? The Arizona LLC services ranked by first-year total cover that choice.

How do you search and hold an Arizona LLC name?

Look the name up in the ACC's business records first, then file Form L001 if you need to hold it before the Articles are ready. Holding a name costs $10 and lasts 120 days, and Arizona won't extend it.⁴

Plan the filing date so the hold doesn't run out while you are still sorting out members or an agent.

A name can also be lost later. If the ACC dissolves the LLC, the name is released when no reinstatement application is filed within six months of the dissolution.³

Who can be the statutory agent for an Arizona LLC?

An Arizona statutory agent can be a resident individual or a business entity allowed to work in the state, and it needs an Arizona address. Under A.R.S. § 29-3115, the agent can be an individual resident of this state, a domestic corporation, a limited liability company, a foreign corporation or a foreign limited liability company authorized to transact business in this state. Whoever it is must have a place of business or residence in this state.⁵

So an owner who lives in Arizona can act as the agent, and so can a friend or an accountant who lives there, or a company that sells the service. An owner who lives in another state can't serve as an individual, because the statute asks for an Arizona resident.

The agent's Arizona street address goes into the Articles. When an owner names themselves from home, that home address is the one on the filing; a paid agent puts its own address there instead. As examples, Northwest Registered Agent sells its agent service for $125 per year, and ZenBusiness offers 50% off the first year ($99) to customers who form with it. Northwest's pricing and ZenBusiness's pricing show the rest of their fees, and the plans with an agent included list compares the others.^{6, 7}

The agent's county also decides the publication step covered further down, which is a reason to pick the agent before filing rather than after.

How do you file the Articles of Organization, and how fast is approval?

You file the Articles online, by mail, by fax or at an ACC counter, and regular review is typically 14-16 days with no extra charge. The ACC asks filers to use its online ABC system where they can.³

Arizona accepts four ways in.

• Online (ABC system)³
• by mail, paid by check if you like
• by fax (requires a Money-on-Deposit account)³
• in person (Phoenix or Tucson office)³

ACC rush options

Faster review is sold on top of the $50.00 filing fee, and the price climbs with speed.²

1. Expedite, $35 extra, typically 3-5 days.³
2. Next Day +$100.³
3. Same Day +$200.³
4. 2-Hour +$400.³

The quicker tiers come with a catch for paper filers: the ACC will not accept same day/next day filings that are delivered via mail. A mailed filing can't use those two tiers.³

A formation company's stated turnaround is a separate clock. It measures how fast the company sends your Articles in, not how long the ACC takes to approve them. The LLC timeline guide explains both clocks, and the list of services by stated speed compares the providers' own figures.

Does an Arizona LLC have to publish its formation?

It depends on the county where the statutory agent's street address is. The rule is that a new Arizona LLC publishes within 60 days of filing: 3 consecutive newspaper publications in the statutory agent's county, unless the agent's street address is in Maricopa or Pima County, where the ACC posts the notice online.⁸

So an LLC whose statutory agent has a street address in either of those two counties skips the newspaper. The ACC's own notice covers it. Everywhere else in the state, the owner arranges and pays for the newspaper notices. The state doesn't publish a price for them.

Timing has one firm rule. The ACC's instructions say, in capitals, DO NOT PUBLISH UNTIL THE COMMISSION APPROVES THE ARTICLES FOR FILING. After the notices run, an affidavit of publication may be filed as proof.⁸

The provider facts we track don't say whether any plan arranges Arizona newspaper notices, or in which county a provider's Arizona agent address sits. Ask before you buy if the agent's address will be outside the two large counties.

What does an Arizona LLC cost in the first and second year?

The state's part of year one is the $50.00 filing fee, plus any rush fee and newspaper notices. Year two adds nothing from the state, because Arizona LLCs file no annual report and pay $0 for one.^{2, 3}

That lets a full second-year total be worked out for Arizona. The table below shows both years with each provider's compared plan, rows in order of our rating; how we rate explains the method and the tie order.

First year: state filing fee plus the provider's compared plan. Second year: the recurring state fee plus the plan's renewal, if it renews.

Totals are our arithmetic on the published figures. Registered agent renewals are extra unless a plan includes the agent. Try other plans in the calculator.

The second-year figures are plan renewals only. Some providers renew nothing, so their second year shows as zero, but an agent included free for a year then bills separately. Inc Authority Free LLC costs $50 in year one, the filing fee alone, and $0 in year two on its plan, yet its agent renews at $249/year. Northwest Registered Agent works the same way at $89 first, after which its included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. At the other end, Tailor Brands Elite totals $299 and then $249, and ZenBusiness Premium totals $349 and then $299, because those plans renew yearly.^{9, 10}

Newspaper notices are not in any of these numbers. The cost calculator lets you try other plans, and the national LLC cost guide compares Arizona's fee with other states.

What does an Arizona LLC have to file after it is formed?

Nothing on a yearly schedule. The ACC says only corporations file annual reports, so an LLC's report fee is $0.³

What stays is the duty to keep a statutory agent on record, and Form L020 is the filing for a new agent or a new Arizona address.¹¹

This affects which plan is worth paying for. Several formation plans list annual report filing as a feature. Tailor Brands lists mandatory report filing on Essential and Elite, and ZenBusiness includes filing of state-required annual reports on Pro and Premium. For an Arizona LLC there is no annual report for them to file. The package contents guide separates the items that are filings from those that are reminders.^{12, 13}

Losing the agent can cost an Arizona LLC its good standing. Arizona law treats it as grounds for administrative dissolution if the LLC lacks a statutory agent for 60 consecutive days, and the LLC has 60 days after notice to cure. A dissolved LLC can come back for $100 plus all past-due fees and penalties; reinstatement is available within 6 years of administrative dissolution.^{3, 14}

How do you change the statutory agent?

File Form L020, the Statement of Change, with the ACC for $5.00. When the change names a new agent, the Statutory Agent Acceptance form M002 goes in with it.^{2, 11}

Put the new agent on record before you cancel the old service. A gap is the risk described above.

An agent may also quit. It files a Statutory Agent Resignation (L032), and it takes effect on the earlier of the 31st day after the ACC files it or the designation of a new agent. The agent must promptly notify the LLC of the filing date. The LLC can file Form L020 naming a replacement before the resignation takes effect.^{11, 15}

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC from another state files a Foreign Registration Statement with the ACC for $150, and it needs an Arizona statutory agent under the same A.R.S. § 29-3115 rules. For Expedited processing, add $35.00.^{5, 16}

The foreign fee is several times the $50.00 cost of a new Arizona LLC. Whether a business should register its existing company or form a new one here depends on where it operates and is taxed, so put that question to an accountant or lawyer. The state fees table lines Arizona up against its neighbors, including New Mexico, Nevada and Utah.²