How to form an LLC in Montana (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Montana?

The steps run from the name search to the first annual report, and every filing among them goes to the Montana Secretary of State. The list gives each one's fee and form.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Montana Secretary of State. You can reserve a name for $10.
2. Name a registered agent in Montana: a person or company with a Montana address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization with the Montana Secretary of State. The state fee is $35. Filing methods: Online only.
4. Wait for approval. Faster options: 24-hour processing $20; 1-hour processing $100.
5. File the recurring report (Annual Report): due each year between January 1 and April 15, fee $0 if filed January 1 to April 15 (fee waived); $35 after April 15.

Filing the Articles is the main task. Montana's office has moved to an online-only filing system, so filings aren't taken on paper. Everything, including the Articles, the yearly report and any later agent change, goes through the state's online system.²

A series LLC costs more. The state fee is $35 plus $50.00 for each series member named in the series LLC, so a plain LLC with no series pays the base fee only. If you plan to hand the filing to a service instead, the Montana LLC services ranked with totals page compares what each one costs here.¹

How do you check and reserve a Montana LLC name?

Search the Montana Secretary of State business records before you file, and if you want to hold a name while you prepare, a reservation costs $10. The state's fee sheet lists the price but our record doesn't include how long a reservation lasts.¹

Reserving is optional. You can skip it and file Articles of Organization straight away.¹

Who can be a registered agent for a Montana LLC?

A Montana registered agent is either a commercial registered agent or a noncommercial registered agent, under the Model Registered Agents Act that applies to Montana LLCs. The agent's address has to be an actual street address or rural route box number in this state, so a P.O. box is not one of the listed address types.⁵

That address rule (Mont. Code Ann. § 35-7-104) names a rural route box number as an accepted address alongside a street address. So a rural route box meets the address rule.⁵

A registered agent is the person or company that receives lawsuits and official notices for the LLC. Each annual report renews the business mailing address, registered agent, shares (if applicable) and principals of record, so the agent's details are confirmed every year. An owner acting as agent from home lists that home address in those filings, year after year, alongside the principals.⁴

A registered agent service lists its own Montana address instead. Northwest Registered Agent sells its agent at $125 per year, and Bizee (formerly Incfile) gives a free first year with any Bizee formation package, then charges $149/year. The registered agent guide explains what the role involves, and the list of plans that include an agent compares who bundles one.^{6, 7, 8}

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

You file Articles of Organization online, because the Montana Secretary of State has moved to an online-only filing system. The state doesn't publish a standard processing time, but it sells rush options.^{1, 2}

The fee sheet lists them among its miscellaneous business charges.

• 24-hour processing $20¹
• 1-hour processing $100¹

Each is a separate charge from the $35 filing fee, and the $100 option costs more than the filing itself.¹

A formation service's stated speed is a separate clock. Its figure covers how fast it prepares and submits your Articles; the state's review starts after that. Our LLC timeline guide shows how the two add up, and the fastest stated filing list compares providers on their own published times.

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

In year one, a Montana LLC costs the $35 filing fee plus any plan or rush fee. In year two the annual report costs $0 if filed January 1 to April 15 (fee waived); $35 after April 15, so with an on-time report the cost is any plan or agent renewal.^{1, 4}

The table shows each provider's first- and second-year totals in Montana with the plan we compare. Rows follow our rating, and ties follow the editorial order explained 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 column assumes the report goes in on time, which is why it adds no state fee. Miss the window and the state charges $35. Our source notes that the waiver is an SOS policy and could change.⁴

That column also leaves out agent renewals. Inc Authority Free LLC comes to $35 in the first year, the state fee alone, and shows $0 for the second; its agent, though, renews at $249/year. Northwest Registered Agent totals $74 in the first year, and its included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. doola works the other way: Starter lists Registered Agent Service, so its second-year figure of $297 includes the agent. That figure repeats the current price, though. doola doesn't publish a renewal price, and its recurring fees renew at rates then in effect. See Inc Authority's profile and Northwest's pricing for the details.^{9, 10, 11, 12}

For your own mix, the LLC cost calculator adds the pieces. The cheapest services list and the guide to LLC costs compare Montana's figures with the rest of the country.

What does a Montana LLC file after it is formed?

A Montana LLC files an Annual Report with the Montana Secretary of State every year between January 1 and April 15. Filed in that window, the state fee is waived; filed later, it costs $35.^{3, 4}

The report renews the LLC's registration details. It confirms the business mailing address, registered agent, shares (if applicable) and principals of record. Principals of record are the people listed as running the company, and each report names them again.⁴

The statute sets a limit on missed reports. The statute lists failing for 140 days to file the annual report as a ground for involuntary dissolution. An LLC dissolved that way can be reinstated for $35 plus $35 for each year of delinquent annual reports, so a company that lets several years lapse pays for each missed report on top of the base fee.^{1, 13}

Before it comes to that, a late report simply costs more, and the fee sheet lists it at $35 after April 15. Services handle this report differently. Northwest Registered Agent sells an annual report service for $100 + state fees, charged at filing, and ZenBusiness charges $100 per report on its own, while its Premium plan lists filing of state-required annual reports. Since an on-time report costs nothing in state fees, a reminder may do the job a paid filing would. The annual report guide and the package contents guide explain which plan items file for you and which only remind you.^{1, 14, 15, 16}

How do you change a Montana registered agent later?

You change a Montana registered agent online with the Statement of Change for the registered office or agent, listed by the state as Registered Agent/Office Change by Entity. There is no fee for it.¹⁷

File the change before you cancel the old service. The state can dissolve an LLC for failing for 60 days to appoint and maintain a registered agent, so a long gap between agents can lead to dissolution.¹³

An agent can also step down on its own, by filing a statement of resignation with the state. A resignation takes effect on the earlier of the 31st day after the day on which it is filed, or earlier when a new agent is appointed, and the agent must promptly notify the entity of the filing date. Appointing a new agent with the Statement of Change ends that wait early.^{17, 18}

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed outside Montana registers to do business here with a Certificate of Authority, and the fee is $70.¹

Our records of the agent rules cover Montana LLCs, not foreign ones, so confirm the agent requirement for a Certificate of Authority with the Montana Secretary of State.

That fee is higher than the $35 cost of forming a new Montana LLC. Whether to register an existing company or form a new one depends on where the business operates and how it is taxed, which is a question for an accountant or lawyer. The guide to foreign LLCs covers the choice, and the state fees table compares Montana with neighbors such as Idaho, Wyoming and North Dakota.¹