How to form an LLC in Florida (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Florida?

The steps below take a Florida LLC from a name idea to a filed company that stays active, and every filing in them goes to the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations. Each line shows the form and the fee at that stage.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations. You can reserve a name for $25.
2. Name a registered agent in Florida: a person or company with a Florida address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization ($100 filing fee + $25 registered agent designation = $125) with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations. The state fee is $125 ($100 filing fee + $25 registered agent designation). Filing methods: Online or by mail; walk-in service in Tallahassee.
4. Wait for approval: No fixed standard; Division posts current processing dates (on 10/13/26, new online filings received 10/05-06/26 and mail filings received 10/05/26 were being processed). Faster options: Not offered.
5. File the recurring report (Annual Report ($138.75 if filed January 1 to May 1)): due January 1 to May 1 each year, fee $138.75.

The fee line looks odd at first. Florida splits it into a $100 filing fee and a $25 registered agent designation, and the state counts both as required, so there is no way to file for less. That second charge is for naming the registered agent inside the Articles, not for any agent service.¹

After the Articles, the next state filing is the yearly annual report, which the section on annual filings below covers in full. If you would rather have a service prepare the Articles, the ranked list of Florida LLC services adds the state fee to each plan.

How do you check and reserve a Florida LLC name?

Search the Division's records on Sunbiz before you file, and reserve the name for $25 if you need time first. The state's fee schedule doesn't say how long a reservation lasts, so ask the Division before you count on a hold.¹

A reservation is optional. It can help when partners still need to sign or the agent isn't settled yet, and it costs the same as the registered agent part of the formation fee.

Who can be the registered agent for a Florida LLC?

Florida accepts an individual who resides in this state and whose business address is identical to the address of the registered office as registered agent. It also accepts another domestic entity, or a foreign entity authorized to transact business in Florida. The rule sits in Fla. Stat. § 605.0113.³

The identical-address rule is the part to read closely. An individual agent must live in Florida and have a business address that is the same as the registered office. Under the same section, the LLC's registered office may be the same as its place of business in this state, so an owner who lives in Florida and runs the business from home could use the home for both. The annual report asks for the registered agent and office every year, so that address keeps appearing on the company's filings.³

A registered agent service puts its own Florida office in that field instead. Bizee (formerly Incfile) includes its agent free for the first year with any formation package and then charges $149/year. Northwest Registered Agent's included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. Inc Authority includes the agent for the first year and renews it at $249/year. The list of plans that include a registered agent shows how long each one lasts.^{4, 5, 6}

How do you file the Articles of Organization, and how long does it take?

The Division takes the Articles of Organization online or by mail, and it also offers walk-in service in Tallahassee. The Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations doesn't promise a set processing time.⁷

The Division accepts the Articles in three ways.

• online through Sunbiz
• by mail
• in person at 2415 N. Monroe Street, Suite 810, Tallahassee, where the Division says "We can complete most walk-in services while you wait."⁷

Rather than a standard time, the Division posts current processing dates, and our record holds one reading: on 10/13/26, new online filings received 10/05-06/26 and mail filings received 10/05/26 were being processed. Our source calls it a snapshot, and the page changes as the queue moves, so check it on the day you file.⁸

Is there a way to speed up a Florida filing?

No. The Division's answer is plain: "We do not offer expedited services."⁹

So a service's own speed claim only covers the time before your filing reaches the state. A plan that promises fast processing may submit the Articles within a day, but the Division's review that follows can't be bought down by anyone. Our LLC timeline guide separates the two clocks, and the fastest stated filing list compares the providers' own times.

You can also order a certified copy $30 or a certificate of status $5 with the Articles. Both are optional extras on the Division's fee list, and neither is needed to form the LLC.⁷

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

The first year costs $125 ($100 filing fee + $25 registered agent designation) in state fees plus any plan price. The second year adds the $138.75 annual report fee, which every Florida LLC pays, plus whatever the plan or agent renews at.¹

Unlike states where a recurring fee can't be added up, Florida publishes a flat report fee, so the table can show a second-year total for every provider. Rows follow 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.

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 include the plan's renewal and the report fee, and nothing else. Some agent renewals and trial items are left out because they depend on what you keep.

A few cases show the gap that leaves. Inc Authority Free LLC totals $125 in the first year and $138.75 in the second, but its included agent then renews at $249/year unless cancelled. Northwest Registered Agent totals $164 up front, and its included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. Managed Service, the LegalZoom plan we compare, shows $138.75 in the second year, though LegalZoom lists that its Business Advisor Plan auto-renews at $49/mo after 30 days. Read the Inc Authority profile and the LegalZoom pricing page for what each plan leaves out.^{5, 6, 10}

The LLC cost calculator works out your own mix of plan and agent. For the same comparison across states, see the lowest first-year totals, the list ranked by cost across both years and the national guide to LLC costs.

What does a Florida LLC file each year?

Every Florida LLC files an annual report with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, due January 1 to May 1 each year, and the fee is $138.75. The window uses the same calendar dates each year.^{1, 2}

The report asks for the company's core details. Principal and mailing addresses go on it, along with the FEI number, the registered agent and office, and the name, address and title of each manager or managing member. So each year the LLC restates who runs it and where they can be reached. A registered agent service fills in only the agent line; the manager entries are still the owners' own names and addresses.²

May is the date to watch, because Florida adds a $400 late fee after May 1 and the total then comes to $538.75. An LLC that falls far enough behind to need reinstatement pays $100 plus the annual report fee for each year owed, so a long gap grows more expensive each year it runs.^{1, 2}

Some services file this report for you. Tailor Brands lists mandatory report filing on its Essential and Elite plans, and ZenBusiness lists filing of state-required annual reports on Pro and Premium. Northwest Registered Agent sells its report service at $100 + state fees, charged at filing, and its registered agent customers are enrolled in it by default. Northwest prices its service plus state fees, and neither Tailor Brands nor ZenBusiness publishes whether the Florida fee is covered by the plan price. The package contents guide explains which plan items are filings and which are only reminders.^{11, 12, 13}

How do you change a Florida registered agent?

You change a Florida registered agent by filing a Change of Registered Agent with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations for $25, the same amount the state charges to name an agent at formation.¹

File the change before you cancel the old service. Florida law is direct about the risk of a gap. Failure to appoint and maintain a registered agent is a ground for administrative dissolution (s. 605.0714(1)(c)).¹⁴

An agent can also quit on its own by filing a statement of resignation. The agent must promptly mail a copy to the LLC, and the Division's fee page lists $85.00 for an active agent's resignation. The agency then ends on the earlier of the 31st day after the Department files the statement of resignation or a filing designating a new agent. That window is the time you have to name a replacement before the LLC is left without one.¹⁵

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers to do business in Florida for $125 total ($100 filing fee + $25 registered agent designation), the same total a new Florida LLC pays. The fee page lists the same two parts for both, including the $25 registered agent designation.¹

Because the state fees match, the choice between registering an existing company and forming a new Florida one turns on taxes and where the business operates, which is a question for an accountant. The state fees table compares Florida with its neighbors Georgia and Alabama, and the Florida LLC services page lists each provider's total here.