How to form an LLC in Kansas (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Kansas?

Kansas keeps formation short: one document, one agency, and an online system that answers the same day. The list below shows each step with its form and fee.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Kansas Secretary of State (Business Services Division).
2. Name a resident agent in Kansas: a person or company with a Kansas address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization (Form DL) with the Kansas Secretary of State (Business Services Division). The state fee is $85 online, $90 by paper. Filing methods: Online or by mail (paper form).
4. Wait for approval: Online: within minutes (certified copy printable immediately); paper turnaround not published.
5. Recurring filing: Information Report (filed biennially, due April 15).

The resident agent step has a Kansas twist. State law lets the LLC itself act as its own agent, as long as it keeps a Kansas office (details below). The last step, the Information Report, doesn't come every year, so it is easy to lose track of. If you would rather hand the filing to a formation service, the Kansas list of LLC services with first-year totals compares them on cost in this state.⁴

How do you check a Kansas LLC name?

Search the Kansas Secretary of State (Business Services Division) business records for your name before you file. Our Kansas record doesn't cover name reservation, so we can't say whether or at what price the state will hold a name for you.

The gap between a clear search and a filed LLC can be short in Kansas. Online filings clear within minutes, so an owner who files right after the search leaves little time for someone else to claim the same name.³

Who can be a resident agent for a Kansas LLC?

Kansas law (K.S.A. 17-7925) lets the agent be the covered entity itself, an individual resident in this state, or a business entity. The statute counts an LLC as a covered entity, so a Kansas LLC can name itself as its own agent.⁵

Kansas calls this role a resident agent. It is the person or business that accepts lawsuits and official notices for the LLC, and every agent needs a registered office. The state's form says the office must be an address in Kansas where the resident agent may be regularly present. The law adds that it is one that may, but need not be, the same as its place of business, so a shop or home office can do double duty. A mailbox where nobody is ever present is hard to square with that wording.^{2, 5}

Naming the LLC as its own agent only works if the LLC has a Kansas location and someone there to receive papers. An owner who lives in another state, or who would rather not receive legal papers at home, can hire a service instead. A service changes only the agent's address; the LLC's principal office address still goes on the Information Report. Inc Authority includes its agent free for the first year with LLC formation and then charges $249/year; Northwest Registered Agent lists its agent at $125 per year. The list of plans that include a registered agent and the registered agent guide cover the rest.^{4, 6, 7, 8, 9}

How do you file the Kansas Articles of Organization?

You file Form DL online through the Kansas Secretary of State (Business Services Division) or mail the paper form, and the online route costs less. The form also warns against doing both. If filed online, do not complete and mail the paper form.^{1, 3}

The state lists these terms for an online filing.

• The lower fee, $85 instead of $90²
• Processing within minutes³
• A certified copy printable immediately³

The state doesn't publish a turnaround for paper filings. Because online review is already this fast, a formation service can't shorten the state's side of the process much in Kansas. What a service's stated speed measures here is mostly its own preparation time. The LLC timeline guide separates those two clocks, and the list of services by stated speed compares the published times.

Kansas fee rules changed effective February 27, 2026. The fee above comes from the current form, but other state fees moved at the same time, so check the form before you pay.²

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

In year one a Kansas LLC costs $85 to file online, plus whatever plan you buy from a service. Year two depends on the plan and agent renewals, and in some years on the Information Report fee, which our record doesn't hold yet.^{2, 4}

The table lists each provider's first-year total in Kansas with the plan we compare. Rows follow our rating, highest first, 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.

Every second-year cell reads "Can't total" for a reason. Kansas revised its fee regulations effective February 27, 2026, and the Form ILC report form we found predates the February 27, 2026 fee rule changes, so we have no confirmed report fee to add. We would rather leave the total open than print an old figure.^{2, 6}

The spread in year one is wide. Inc Authority prices its Free LLC plan at $0, so its Kansas total is $85, the online fee and nothing more; its agent then renews at $249/year. Northwest Registered Agent comes to $124, and its included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. At the other end, Bizee (formerly Incfile) Premium and ZenBusiness Premium each total $384. See Inc Authority's profile and Northwest's pricing for what each plan leaves out.^{7, 8, 10}

To test your own mix of plan and agent, use the LLC cost calculator. The lowest first-year totals list and the guide to what an LLC costs cover the same ground nationally.

What does a Kansas LLC file after it is formed?

A Kansas LLC files an Information Report with the Kansas Secretary of State (Business Services Division) every other year, due April 15. Which years depends on when the LLC was formed.⁴

The state's rule ties the report to the formation year. Businesses forming in even years file reports in each succeeding even year. Businesses forming in odd years file reports in each succeeding odd year. So an LLC formed this year files in alternate Aprils from then on, never in back-to-back years.⁴

The report, filed on Form ILC, asks for the business ID, the LLC's name, its principal office address, and the name/address of each member owning 5% or more of capital. The form doesn't ask about members with a smaller share. Our record doesn't say how the state shows these reports to the public.⁶

Kansas allows a delinquency period. There is no late fee published for the 3-month delinquency period, but once the three-month delinquency interval has passed, a business will forfeit. Getting back into good standing then takes Form RL, filed with the missed reports, at a $35 filing fee plus an $85 penalty fee and $110 per past-due information report. A business forfeited only for lacking an agent may ignore the $85 penalty fee.^{4, 11}

Services price report filing in different ways, and none of the pages we cite names the Kansas report. Tailor Brands Elite lists mandatory report filing in a plan that renews at $249/yr. ZenBusiness sells annual report filing at $100 per report, and Northwest Registered Agent charges $100 + state fees at each filing. Because the Kansas report comes due only every other year, a yearly plan bills in years with no report, while a per-report price doesn't. The annual report guide and the package contents guide explain which plan items are filings and which are reminders.^{12, 13, 14}

How do you change a Kansas resident agent?

You change agents by filing the Certificate of Amendment to Change of Resident Agent and/or Registered Office (Form ROA) with the Kansas Secretary of State (Business Services Division). Kansas revised this form's fee in its new rules, and our record notes the current total fee is not confirmed, so confirm the price on the state's site.¹⁵

File the change first, then cancel the old service. Kansas lists forfeiture as the result when the business fails to maintain an active Kansas resident agent and registered office.¹⁶

An agent can also step down on its own with Form RAN. The agent must give the LLC at least 30 days' notice before filing, and the resignation takes effect 30 days after the certificate is filed. That leaves time to file Form ROA with a new agent before the old one drops off the record.^{15, 17}

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers in Kansas on Form FA, and the fee is $115. The state takes this one by paper filing only, so the same-day online system doesn't apply.¹⁸

Our record of Form FA covers its fee and filing method, not its fields, so read the form before you mail it. Whether to register an out-of-state LLC or form a new Kansas one depends on where the business operates and is a question for an accountant or lawyer. The foreign LLC guide explains the choice, and the state fees table compares costs with Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado.¹⁸