Register your business in Alabama

LLCs and corporations file a certificate with the Alabama Secretary of State¹. The name is reserved first. A sole proprietorship has no formation filing. A name you trade under, other than the legal name, can be registered as a trade name. It is not the same filing as the entity name.

What’s different in Alabama

• Reserve the name before you form the company. The LLC page requires a Certificate of Name Reservation before the formation documents¹.
• $100⁶ of the $200¹ formation fee goes to a county. The Secretary of State sends it to the county where the registered agent’s office is.
• There is no annual report at the Secretary of State. Corporations no longer file an annual report with the Secretary of State³. The yearly filing is the business privilege tax: Stay compliant.
• Two official prices for an online name reservation. The fee schedule says $28¹⁰. The domestic form says $27.75⁹.
• The corporation form has two titles for one filing. The web page says Domestic Business Corporation Certificate of Formation². The PDF says Certificate of Incorporation⁷. The corporation law treats the two names as the same document.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, partnership, or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor has no formation filing and can skip to the trade name step if the legal name is not the name you will use. Pick an entity compares them.
2. Search the name, then reserve it. On the Secretary of State site, open Business Entity Search, as the reservation form describes. An LLC name must contain Limited Liability Company, or L.L.C. or LLC. A corporation name must include Corporation or Incorporated, or Inc. or Corp.² The name must be distinguishable on the index from existing names, ignoring entity designations such as LLC or Inc. Then file a Certificate of Name Reservation before the formation documents¹. Mail is $25. Online, the fee schedule says $28¹⁰ and the domestic form says $27.75⁹.* Check the total on the payment screen. Section 10A-1-5.14 says the Secretary of State holds the name until the earlier of one year after the application is accepted, or the day you file a written withdrawal. Section 10A-1-5.15 says you may renew it for successive one-year periods by filing and paying during the 90 days before it expires. The reservation form does not print those terms. Use the date on the certificate. Search the web and the federal trademark database too.
3. Name one registered agent with an Alabama street address. The certificate asks for only one registered agent, at an Alabama street address, not a post office box⁶. Section 10A-1-5.31 says the agent may be an individual who lives in Alabama, or a domestic entity, or a foreign entity registered to do business in Alabama. The agent must keep a business office at the same address. The agent may not work only through a virtual office, a mail-forwarding service, or both. The office must be a street address where process can be handed to the agent. It is not required to be the company’s place of business. It may not be only a mailbox service or a telephone answering service. Changing the agent later is $100. A resignation is no fee¹⁰.
4. File the certificate. The fee depends on the structure, below. The name reservation certificate has to be attached. You can file online, in the time it takes to type the request, according to the form. Online fees are the statutory fee plus a portal fee for the vendor¹⁰, and the fee schedule does not print the online total for a formation.* Check the total on the payment screen. The form does not state a separate review time for a paper filing.* A card payment on a paper filing adds 3 percent of the charge plus 2 dollars, and the stamped filing does not show it. A dishonored check is $30, and the filing is removed from the index. You may delay the effective time up to the 90⁶th day after you sign.
5. If the name sounds like a licensed profession, a bank, or an insurer, bring the extra letter. For a professional designation, bring a copy of one member's or officer's Alabama license, or a letter from the licensing agency, when the name uses a professional designation such as engineer, architect, attorney, or doctor. For a bank or an insurer, bring a letter from the Alabama Banking Department for a banking name, and from the Insurance Commissioner for an insurance name⁹.
6. Register a trade name only if you want the state record. Details are below. It does not replace the entity name reservation.
7. Calendar the privilege tax. There is no Secretary of State annual report. The business privilege tax can be due within months of formation: Get your tax IDs and Stay compliant.

By structure

LLC

File a Certificate of Formation for $200. The certificate says the company has at least one member. You can mark it as series, professional, or nonprofit, by checking the box on the same certificate. The same $200 covers those boxes. The fee schedule does not list a separate professional-LLC price. Of the $200¹, the state sends $100⁶ to the county of the registered agent. That county is why the address matters before you pay.

Corporation

The corporations page says to file a Domestic Business Corporation Certificate of Formation for $200. The PDF is titled a Certificate of Incorporation⁷ and says the processing fee is $200. Both titles name the same filing: Section 10A-2A-1.40 of the Business Corporation Law, as amended by a 2024 act, says the term certificate of incorporation is synonymous with the term certificate of formation¹⁶. Use the form the site gives you when you file. The name must include Corporation or Incorporated, or Inc. or Corp. The certificate asks for the stock the corporation is authorized to issue. The fee schedule does not add a per-share amount on top of the $200².

A benefit corporation name must contain benefit corporation, B.C., or BC, and may not contain incorporated⁹.

S corporation status is a federal election. Alabama’s income return for an S corporation is on Get your tax IDs.

Nonprofit

File for $200. The name does not have to include Corporation, Incorporated, Inc., or Corp.² You still reserve the name first. 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS. If the nonprofit has business income, a calendar-year return is due June 15¹⁸. Past formation, the rest of this series is written for for-profit businesses.

Partnership

A limited liability partnership registers for $200. The name must contain Limited Liability Partnership, or L.L.P. or LLP⁵.

A general partnership is not formed by a certificate of formation. If you file a statement the Secretary of State permits under the partnership chapter, the fee schedule lists it at $100¹⁰. A limited partnership uses the domestic certificate-of-formation line on that schedule, which is $200¹ for every domestic entity type. The schedule does not print a separate limited-partnership price.

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. Sales tax registration and any license your work needs still apply. A trade name is optional.

Trade names

The Secretary of State registers trademarks, service marks, and trade names. A trade name is used to identify the business, vocation, occupation, or profession. You file an application, three specimens, and the registration fee. The fee is $30¹² and the term is five years. Rights come from adoption and use in Alabama, not from the registration. A denial does not stop you from using the name¹¹. The Secretary of State pages read for this guide do not describe a separate county assumed-name filing.* If a bank or a county license office asks for one, use the instructions that office gives you.

Formed in another state

An LLC formed elsewhere files an application for $150 and needs a name reservation before the application¹. A corporation needs a certificate of authority before transacting business in Alabama. The filing fee is $150. A foreign name reservation is $25 by mail, or $28⁴ online. The application asks for a certification that the corporation exists as a valid entity under the law of the state where it was formed⁸. Neither it nor the foreign corporation page asks for a good-standing certificate from the home state. You still need an Alabama registered agent. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

A reserved name, then a filed certificate. Keep both for the EIN and the bank. The stamped filing shows the fee and does not show the card convenience fee. A professional association is the narrow exception that still renews at the Secretary of State, for $100¹⁰ a year. Everyone else watches the business privilege tax instead of an annual report.