LLC STATES

A state filing ledger · 50 states + DC

record 5 of 51 · /llc/california/

California LLC

oldest record on this page verified 2026-07-17

sources: linked on each field, listed in full below

Two agencies collect from a California LLC

California takes LLC filings at the Secretary of State, which publishes the queue date it is currently working through and sells expedited formation above that queue. Its periodic report runs biennially, due at the close of the anniversary month. The fictitious business name belongs to the county clerk, and each county prices its own filing.

the rest of this note

The Franchise Tax Board collects a separate annual tax whose floor is a published figure, and because the tax follows more than one measure, that floor is not the bill. A reader who stops at the biennial report misses this second collector entirely. County name filings also demand a newspaper run, with an affidavit filed after the notice completes.

every claim above is a line below

Should you form your LLC in California?

If the answer is yes, the home-state rule points to California.

Office or storefront in California?

Yes, it will

A business with a real footprint in California files in California. Forming anywhere else adds a foreign registration back home: two filings, two annual bills, two registered agents. The out-of-state discount does not survive that arithmetic.

No, it will not

This one answer cannot choose a state. Use the full four-question wizard with the place where the business will actually operate. Open the full wizard .

Annual report

$20

Due Last day of anniversary month (Biennial), printed as the state writes it.

last verified 2026-08-22

sos.ca.gov

Franchise tax

from $800

California calls it the Annual Tax, collected by Franchise Tax Board. It follows more than one measure, so $800 is the floor rather than the bill.

last verified 2026-08-08

ftb.ca.gov

Processing time

filings from 2026-08-06

The office publishes the date it is working through rather than a duration, and on that reading it was at 2026-08-06. Expedited formation starts at $350.

as observed on 2026-08-08

sos.ca.gov

Name designators

Must contain "limited liability company," or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or "LLC" ("limited" may be abbreviated as "Ltd." and "company" as "Co.").

Statute: Cal. Corp. Code § 17701.08(a).

last verified 2026-07-17

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

Name reservation

$10

Optional filing that holds the name for 60 days before you form.

last verified 2026-07-17

sos.ca.gov

DBA

fictitious business name

Filed with the county clerk, and each county prices its own filing.

last verified 2026-08-09

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

Late filing penalty

$250

California charges this as a flat penalty on a late report. What follows a missed filing is in section 09.

last verified 2026-08-11

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

field 05 carries the date it was observed, not a promise: of the two halves beside it, only the expedited tiers are prices the state commits to

What are the California DBA rules?

California calls it the fictitious business name, and handles it at the county level, so the price and the paperwork are set locally rather than by the state.

Where an LLC files

County clerk of the county of the principal place of business

How long it lasts

5 years from filing

Renewable for further 5-year periods. No republication is needed when nothing has changed and the renewal is filed within 40 days of expiry. A statement also expires 40 days after any change in its facts.

Newspaper publication

required

Within 45 days of filing, the statement runs in a newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week for four successive weeks, and an affidavit of publication is filed with the clerk within 45 days of the last run. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17917; Gov. Code § 6064.

What the filing protects

a presumption in the filing county

California sits between the no-rights states and Ohio: filing first, while actually doing business under the name, creates a rebuttable presumption of the exclusive right to use it as a trade name in that county only (Bus. & Prof. Code § 14411). That is evidence for a dispute, not a statewide grant.

Where to search existing names

none published

There is no statewide fictitious business name search. Each county clerk keeps its own index, many of them online. The Secretary of State's bizfile search does not include FBN statements.

one record, verified 2026-08-09 · Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17900-17930

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

What does it take to register a foreign LLC in California?

Registering an LLC formed elsewhere is its own filing in California. The registration costs $70. That price belongs to a separate filing event, so it enters no cost total on this site.

Registration fee

$70

Online-only application; the fee table lists $70.00 for the foreign LLC's Application to Register.

sos.ca.gov

The official form

Application to Register

sos.ca.gov

Filed with

California Secretary of State

sos.ca.gov

After registration

File a Statement of Information within 90 days of initial registration and every two years thereafter, and keep an agent for service of process designated.

sos.ca.gov

one record, verified 2026-08-08

The same fee for every other jurisdiction sits on one page: foreign qualification fees for every jurisdiction.

Who can be the registered agent in California?

Who may serve as an LLC's registered agent is its own rule in California. California lets a natural person serve, so no commercial agent is required. The LLC itself may not hold the seat, which is a separate question.

An individual as the agent

Allowed

in the state's words An agent for service of process of a limited liability company or foreign limited liability company shall be an individual who is a resident of this state

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

The LLC as its own agent

Not allowed

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

A mailbox service as the address

not read at this pin

Address rule

The name and street address of the initial agent for service of process of the limited liability company who meets the qualifications specified in subdivision (c) of Section 17701.13.

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

one record, verified 2026-08-09

The same four answers for every other jurisdiction sit on one page: registered agent rules for every jurisdiction.

What happens if you don't file the California annual report?

A missed report has its own record in California: the penalty, the dissolution clock, and the way back. The penalty is a single flat figure.

  1. Late filing penalty

    $250

    leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

  2. Administrative dissolution

    after 60 days of delinquency

    The first stage the state publishes, in its own unit: after this interval the state may dissolve the LLC by administrative action.

    sos.ca.gov

  3. Reinstatement

    no single figure

    as the record reads There is no separate SOS reinstatement filing: an entity suspended by the Secretary of State for a missed Statement of Information is revived by filing the current one online; a Franchise Tax Board suspension additionally needs an Application for Certificate of Revivor.

    sos.ca.gov

one record, verified 2026-08-11

The same three answers for every other jurisdiction sit on one page: late fees and reinstatement for every jurisdiction.

Where do these figures come from?

Every figure on this sheet renders from the pinned dataset snapshot, and each card links the page its own figure came from. This list collects those pages in one place, with the duplicates removed and the agency named.

The rule behind every figure here, and what a card does when one cannot be verified, sits on how a figure gets verified.

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