How to form an LLC in California (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in California?

California splits the work between two offices. The California Secretary of State takes the formation filing and the Statement of Information, and the Franchise Tax Board collects the yearly tax.

The steps below cover the first office, with forms and fees where the state lists them.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the California Secretary of State. You can reserve a name for $10 for 60 days (online).
2. Name an agent for service of process in California: a person or company with a California address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1) with the California Secretary of State. The state fee is $70. Filing methods: Online through bizfile Online, or by PDF form (mail or Sacramento drop-off).
4. Wait for approval: Online: 5 days or less; PDF forms: 10+ days. Faster options: 24-hour $350 and same-day $750 (online or Sacramento drop-off); 4-hour $500 (drop-off only, precleared documents).
5. Recurring filing: Statement of Information (Form LLC-12), due within 90 days of registration and every two years after, fee $20.

The list stops at the first Statement of Information, but the tax bill belongs on the same calendar. The Franchise Tax Board sets a first-year annual tax due by the 15th day of the 4th month after filing with the SOS, so an LLC formed in spring owes its first payment by summer.²

Choosing a service rather than filing alone? The California LLC services ranked by total cost compares each provider's first-year figure here, with the state fee added.

How do you check and reserve a California LLC name?

Check the name with the California Secretary of State before filing. If you need time, a reservation costs $10 and holds the name for 60 days, filed online.³

That hold is short. It gives you time to line up a co-owner or an agent, but not much more, so it fits best when the Articles are close to ready. A name reservation is also not a trademark registration.

Who can be the agent for service of process for a California LLC?

California calls the registered agent an "agent for service of process." Under Cal. Corp. Code § 17701.13 it must be an individual who is a resident of this state or a corporation that has complied with Section 1505. A company can serve only in that second form, which the Articles call a registered agent corporation.⁴

The Articles ask for one of two agent types, and the form's instruction reads "Must provide either Individual OR Corporation." An individual agent gives a California street address. For a corporate agent, the form asks for its name only.⁵

The LLC's own California office is separate from the agent. The statute describes that office as one "which need not be a place of its activity in this state," so it doesn't have to be where you do business.⁴

An owner can take the role if they meet the residency rule, but their name and address then appear on the Articles and on every Statement of Information. A service puts its own name in that field. Bizee (formerly Incfile) includes an agent for the first year with its formation plans and then charges $149/year; Northwest Registered Agent does the same, and its included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. See Bizee's prices, Northwest's prices and the list of plans that include an agent.^{6, 7}

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

Online filing through bizfile Online is the faster route: the state lists 5 days or less online against 10+ days for PDF forms sent by mail or dropped off. The $70 fee is the same either way.¹

The paper option is by PDF form (mail or Sacramento drop-off). Mailed filings sit in the slower queue. The counter is needed for one tier, the fastest listed below (drop-off only, precleared documents).^{1, 8}

Paid expedite in California

The state sells three faster tiers on top of the filing fee.

• 24-hour $350, online or at the Sacramento counter⁸
• same-day $750, also online or at the counter⁸
• 4-hour $500 (drop-off only, precleared documents)⁸

Preclearance is a separate review of a document before it is filed, and 24-hour preclearance is $500, drop-off only.⁸

Keep the two clocks apart. A formation service's stated speed is how quickly it prepares and submits your Articles, while the state's review follows its own queue unless someone pays for expedite. The LLC timeline guide explains the gap, and the list of services by stated speed compares providers on their published times.

What does a California LLC cost in the first and second year?

The state charges $70 to file and $20 for each Statement of Information. On top of that, the Franchise Tax Board's $800 annual LLC tax applies every year, which makes the tax the largest fixed state cost on this page by a wide margin.^{1, 2}

The table lists each provider's plan with the California fees added, ordered by our rating, with ties in the editorial order set out in how we rate.

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. In California that includes the $800 yearly LLC tax.

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.

Read the columns with two limits in mind. First, the first-year column leaves out the annual tax, though a California LLC owes it from year one. The second-year column includes the $800 annual LLC tax but not an LLC fee from $900 when total California income is $250,000 or more. The LLC fee tops out at $11,790 for $5 million or more. Second, the Statement of Information fee lands differently from how the table spreads it. The table adds $20 to the second year, while the state's schedule puts the first statement within 90 days of formation, then every two years (biennial), so in practice it falls in year one.^{1, 2}

California once offered a first-year break from the tax, and it has lapsed. The first-year exemption applied only to LLCs formed in tax years beginning 2021 through 2023, so plan for the tax from the first year.²

Plan choice moves the rest. Inc Authority's Free LLC plan brings year one to $70, the filing fee alone, and Northwest Registered Agent comes to $109. Both include an agent for a first year that then renews for a fee. A plan billed yearly, such as ZenBusiness Premium, shows $1,119 in year two. Inc Authority's profile and ZenBusiness's profile list what each leaves out, and the cost calculator lets you add expedite or a different plan.

What does a California LLC file after it is formed?

Every California LLC files a Statement of Information (Form LLC-12) within 90 days of formation, then every two years (biennial), for $20. It also pays the annual tax to the Franchise Tax Board, starting in the first year.¹

The Statement of Information (Form LLC-12) asks for the principal office, mailing and California office addresses, the managers or members, the agent for service of process, the type of business, and the Chief Executive Officer, if elected or appointed. Using a service as your agent changes only the agent field; the managers or members are still named.^{1, 9}

Missing the statement has a cost. If the LLC doesn't file within 60 days of a delinquency notice from the state, a $250 penalty assessed by the Franchise Tax Board follows.¹⁰

California handles two kinds of suspension separately. The Secretary of State doesn't publish a separate reinstatement fee, and an SOS suspension is lifted by filing a current Statement of Information. A Franchise Tax Board suspension needs an Application for Certificate of Revivor (FTB 3557), and the business stays suspended until both the Secretary of State and Franchise Tax Board revivor requirements have been met.¹¹

Some services file reports for you and some only send reminders. LegalZoom lists a separate subscription with initial report filing and auto-filing of annual reports, though that page doesn't name California's statement; its formation plans are on LegalZoom's pricing page. Our guide to what formation packages contain separates filings done for you from alerts.¹²

How do you change the agent for a California LLC?

You change the agent by filing a new Statement of Information, and the state's fee chart shows No fee for a statement filed between the required ones to update the agent.⁹

Have the new agent agreed before you cancel the old one, so the record never shows an agent who won't accept papers. The update is filed online in bizfile Online.¹

An agent can also step down. When it files a resignation, the agent's authority ends on filing, and the SOS gives written notice to the LLC's principal office. The statute adds that the LLC must then file a new or amended Statement of Information, and its word for the timing is "promptly"; the state doesn't publish a set number of days.¹³

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers to do business in California with Form LLC-5, the Application to Register, for $70. Foreign LLCs registered in California also owe the $800 annual tax.¹⁴

That rules out one shortcut. Forming in another state to avoid California's tax doesn't help if the business operates here, because the registered LLC owes the same tax. Ask an accountant how the rule applies to your business. The state fees table compares costs across states, including Nevada, Oregon and Arizona.