How to form an LLC in Washington (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Washington State?

The Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division takes the formation filing, the name reservation and the yearly report, and each step below carries its form and fee where the state lists one.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division. You can reserve a name for $30 for 180 days (not renewable).
2. Name a registered agent in Washington: a person or company with a Washington address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Certificate of Formation ($180) with the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division. The state fee is $180. Filing methods: Online (Corporations and Charities Filing System), by mail, or in person.
4. Wait for approval. Faster options: Expedited: +$100 per entity (generally within three working days); same-day in-person: $150 per entity.
5. File the recurring report (Annual Report): due by the last day of the month in which the LLC was originally formed, each year, fee $70.

The steps leave out one cheap shortcut. Washington pairs the formation filing with an Initial Report, a short form that exists to record the principal office information of the new company. It is free if filed with the Certificate of Formation, while filing it on its own, still within 120 days of formation, costs $10. Filing both together saves a second trip through the system.¹

This page is about Washington State, not Washington, D.C. If you would rather hand the filing to a company, the Washington list of formation services with state totals shows what each one costs here with the $180 fee added.²

How do you check and reserve a Washington LLC name?

Search the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division business records first. To hold a name before you file, a reservation costs $30 and keeps the name for your exclusive use for 180 days.¹

Two limits apply to that hold. It is not renewable, so a founder who misses the window has to hope the name is still free. The second limit is the channel. This filing is not available online. An owner who files everything else through the online system has to reserve the name another way.¹

A reservation is optional. An owner ready to file can send the Certificate of Formation without one.¹

Who can be a registered agent for a Washington LLC?

Every Washington LLC must continuously maintain a registered agent under RCW 25.15.021, and the agent has to agree on record first. The statute (RCW 23.95.415) says an agent shall not be appointed without having given prior consent in a record to the appointment.⁵

A registered agent is the person or company that accepts lawsuits and official state mail for the LLC. Under the same statute, the formation filing names a commercial registered agent or, if there isn't one, a noncommercial registered agent (name and address) or an office or position title.⁵

The consent rule is the part people overlook. Naming a friend or relative as agent without their agreement on record doesn't satisfy the statute, so the agreement has to come before the filing.

A noncommercial agent goes on the filing as a noncommercial registered agent (name and address), so an owner who names themselves lists their own address there. A commercial agent is named instead. Northwest Registered Agent, which lists a contact address in Spokane, WA, charges $125 per year. Bizee (formerly Incfile) gives one year of Registered Agent Service for free with any of its formation packages and then bills $149/year, and ZenBusiness takes 50% off the first year ($99) when you form with it. Northwest's profile, Bizee's pricing and the plans that include an agent give the full terms.^{5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}

How do you file the Certificate of Formation, and how long does it take?

The Certificate of Formation can go in online through the Corporations and Charities Filing System at ccfs.sos.wa.gov, or on paper by mail, or in person. The state's fee table lists one $180 fee and no separate price for online or paper filing.^{1, 2}

Paper filers use the PDF Certificate of Formation.¹

Expedited and same-day review

Washington lists two faster options for an LLC filing.

1. Expedited service at $100 per business entity, generally processed within three working days.²
2. Same-day front-counter service at $150 per business entity.²

The state doesn't publish a standard review time for a regular filing, so the time the expedite fee saves can't be measured.

A service that promises to file within a day is talking about its own preparation. The state's review is a second wait that only the state's fee shortens. Our guide to formation timelines explains both waits, and the fastest stated filing list ranks providers by what they publish.

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

Year one costs the $180 filing fee plus any plan, expedite or agent you choose. Year two costs the $70 Annual Report plus whatever your plan or agent renews at.²

The table puts both years side by side for each provider's compared plan in Washington. Rows follow 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.

Because the $70 Annual Report has a set price, every second-year figure in the table starts from it.²

Here is how far apart the rows sit. Inc Authority Free LLC reaches $180 in the first year and $70 in the second, which is the state's fees alone, but its included agent then bills $249/year, so a real second year with that agent runs higher. Northwest Registered Agent comes to $219 and then $70. Tailor Brands Elite, billed yearly, totals $429 and then $319. The Inc Authority pricing page and the Tailor Brands pricing page break down what renews.¹¹

The LLC cost calculator lets you add an expedite fee or swap plans, and the cost of an LLC across states puts the $180 fee in context.²

What does a Washington LLC file after it is formed?

A Washington LLC files an Annual Report with the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division each year by the last day of the month in which the LLC was originally formed. The fee is $70, and the report can be filed up to 180 days early.^{2, 3, 12}

The report exists to affirm or update business entity information. It asks for the registered agent, the principal office, governors, nature of business, and answers to real estate excise tax controlling-interest questions. Washington calls the people who run an LLC its governors, and the form's instruction reads "List the current individuals/businesses responsible for governing the business." So the report names them each year.^{12, 13}

Lateness has a set price. A report filed once the LLC is marked delinquent carries a $25 delinquency fee, for $95 total. An LLC that is administratively dissolved can come back by paying a $140 penalty plus all missed annual report fees, and only within 5 years of dissolution.^{1, 12}

Taxes run on a separate track. Washington has no franchise tax, and most businesses pay the business and occupation (B&O) gross receipts tax to the Department of Revenue. This page covers the Secretary of State filings only, so ask the Department of Revenue or an accountant how that tax applies to your sales.⁴

Several providers sell annual report filing. Their published terms describe it in general and don't name Washington's report.

• Tailor Brands includes annual report filing on Essential and Elite, not on Lite.¹⁴
• ZenBusiness: Worry-Free Compliance is included in Pro and Premium.¹⁵
• Northwest Registered Agent: its renewal service costs $100 + state fees, charged when it files.¹⁶
• LegalZoom lists Compliance Filings, which covers initial report filing and auto-filing of annual reports and starts at $199/year.¹⁷

LegalZoom's service is the only one in that list that names an initial report. In Washington the Initial Report is free if filed with the Certificate of Formation. The annual report guide separates filing from reminders.¹

How do you change a Washington registered agent later?

You change a Washington agent with a Statement of Change/Designation of Agent filed with the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division, and there is no fee.¹²

The new agent has to give consent in a record before the change, the same as at formation. File the change first, then cancel the old service, since the LLC must keep an agent continuously under RCW 25.15.021.⁵

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed outside Washington files a Foreign Registration Statement to register in Washington. The state describes it as the form for LLCs & PLLCs whose home state is a different state or country, and the fee is $180, the same as forming a new Washington LLC.¹

The agent rules above come from the statute for Washington LLCs, and our record doesn't say how they apply to a foreign LLC, so the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division is the place to confirm that. Whether to register an existing LLC or form a new one in Washington depends on where the work happens and how it is taxed, so put that to an accountant or lawyer. The foreign LLC guide explains the idea, and the state fees table compares Washington with Oregon and Idaho.