Register your business in Arkansas

LLCs and corporations file with the Arkansas Secretary of State, Business and Commercial Services⁶. A limited partnership and a limited liability partnership file there too. A sole proprietorship does not. A general partnership does not have to, unless it registers as a limited liability partnership.

What’s different in Arkansas

• Online costs less than paper. An LLC certificate is $45 online and $50¹ on paper. Some filings cost less online than on paper⁶.
• The yearly franchise tax for LLCs and corporations is due May 1, not a date that follows your formation month. An LLC pays a flat $150¹⁰ if the report is on time. Stay compliant has the penalty.
• A sole proprietor’s trade name goes to the county clerk, not the Secretary of State.
• A name search does not hold the name. A reservation lasts 120⁹ days. An LLC can renew it once. A corporation cannot.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, partnership or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor or general partnership has no formation filing and can skip to step 6. A professional service has an extra name rule, below. Pick an entity compares them.
2. Check the name on the Secretary of State’s business services page. A name search is preliminary and does not reserve the name. An LLC name must contain Limited Liability Company or Limited Company, or L.L.C., L.C., LLC or LC⁷. A corporation name must contain Corporation, Incorporated, Company or Limited, or Corp., Inc., Co. or Ltd., or the same idea in another language⁸, and it must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records from other reserved, registered, domestic and admitted names⁶. Search the web and the federal trademark database too. Not ready to file? Reserve the name for 120 days. The LLC reservation is $22.50 online and $25¹ on paper, and it has one renewal, under the LLC act. A corporation name reservation cannot be renewed⁹.
3. Name a registered agent. The agent needs a street address in Arkansas where the agent is located. A post office box or mail drop cannot be the registered agent address. Many companies use an attorney or a professional service company¹⁰. Changing the agent later has no fee¹.
4. File online from the forms and fees page for an LLC, or the matching page for your structure. The fee is below. Online, normally updated within 48 hours, with the documents emailed back. By mail, normally filed and returned within 72 hours after the office receives them, if approved. In person at the Little Rock office, the handbook says filings are processed while you wait, if approved. A document received after 3:00 p.m. should be ready for pickup the next business day. The business services FAQ says there is currently a 48-hour turnaround for all drop-offs, because of heavy filing volume¹⁵.* The two pages disagree, so call before you count on a same-day filing. The office is Victory Building, 1401 W. Capitol Avenue, Suite 250, Little Rock, AR 72201, phone 888-233-0325 or 501-682-3409⁶. There is also an office at Today's Bank Building, 300 North College, Suite 201F, Fayetteville, AR 72701¹. The handbook does not say the Fayetteville office accepts every filing the Little Rock office does.* Ask that office before you make the trip.
5. File the franchise tax contact form with the certificate. It is the second page of the LLC certificate packet, and it has no fee. It is how the office knows where to send the yearly report. Skipping it is how a company misses May 1¹⁰ and goes revoked.
6. File a fictitious name if you use another name. Who files where depends on the structure. Details are below.
7. Calendar May 1 of the year following formation⁷. That is the first franchise tax for a new LLC. Selling taxable goods means a sales tax permit before you collect tax: Get your tax IDs.

By structure

LLC

File a Certificate of Organization (form LL-01) under the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, Act 1041 of 2021. Online is $45. Paper is $50¹. The name must contain Limited Liability Company or Limited Company, or L.L.C., L.C., LLC or LC⁷.

The first franchise tax is due May 1 of the year following formation⁷. After that it is due May 1 every year. If the report is filed on time, that flat amount is all the LLC owes. No extension. Every report is due on or before May 1. A late report adds $25, then interest of 0.000274 times the tax and penalty, for each day late. A United States Postal Service postmark by midnight on May 1 counts. A postage meter date does not¹⁰. Paying the franchise tax online adds a card fee of $5. A mailed or delivered report has no processing fee⁵.

The current formation form is a certificate of organization. The 2026 franchise tax instructions still call the formation document articles of organization¹⁰. Use the form number on the fee table, LL-01¹, when the two names do not match.

Professional service

A professional service must also use Professional Limited Liability Company, Professional Limited Company, or P.L.L.C., P.L.C., PLLC or PLC, and cannot use the name of a person who is not a member, except a deceased member⁷. The certificate does not list which occupations count as a professional service.* If your work needs a state license, check that board and a legal professional before you pick the name.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation (form DN-01). Online is $45. Paper is $50³. The name must contain Corporation, Incorporated, Company or Limited, or Corp., Inc., Co. or Ltd., or the same idea in another language⁸. It also must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records from other reserved, registered, domestic and admitted names⁶.

The yearly franchise tax is the Arkansas share of capital stock multiplied by .003. The minimum is $150. No-par shares are counted at 25 dollars each¹¹. A corporation with no authorized stock pays $300⁵. The same May 1 deadline, the same $25¹⁰ late penalty, and the same card fee apply. The corporation form’s tax math is on the 2026 corporation franchise tax report.

S corporation status is a federal election. The income tax return that follows is on Get your tax IDs.

Nonprofit

Nonprofit articles of incorporation are $50¹⁴ on the nonprofit fee schedule. That schedule does not show a separate online price.* Check the total when you file. A nonprofit that is exempt from federal income tax is exempt from the franchise tax report¹². The franchise tax table still lists $300⁵ for a corporation without stock. A nonprofit that is not exempt from federal income tax is not in the exemption sentence.* Check which row applies before you pay. 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS. Past formation, the rest of this series is written for for-profit businesses.

Partnership

A general partnership has no formation filing beyond what a sole proprietor files⁶. If it does business under a name other than the partners’ own, it files the same county clerk certificate a sole proprietor does.

A limited partnership files a Certificate of Limited Partnership, form LP-01 for $50. That certificate is paper only. The annual report has no fee⁴.

A limited liability partnership files a Statement of Qualification of LLP for $50, on paper. The 2026 annual report is $15⁴. Organizations formed under the Uniform Partnership Act or the Uniform Limited Partnership Act are listed as exempt from the franchise tax report¹². The limited partnership annual report is a different form from the franchise tax. Use the partnership fee table, not the corporation franchise tax table.

Sole proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is not formed by a Secretary of State filing. Some of the paperwork is filed at the county. Record the business name with the local county clerk. Under Ark. Code § 4-70-203, a person doing business under a name other than their own files a certificate with the county clerk of each county where the business operates or will operate¹⁶. The Secretary of State’s business services FAQ says a business not required to file with the state may file with the circuit clerk¹⁵. The statute names the county clerk. The handbook does not print the county clerk’s fee.* Ask the clerk in the county where you will work. Obtain the state and local licenses and permits the work needs⁶. Sales tax registration is separate.

Fictitious names

An LLC that does business under a name other than its legal name files an Application for Fictitious Name, form DN-18. Online is $22.50. Paper is $25¹. A domestic corporation uses the same form number and the same two fees.

A corporation also has a county step. A domestic corporation also files the fictitious name with the county clerk of the county where its registered office is, unless that office is in Pulaski County⁶. The handbook states that county filing for a corporation. It does not say an LLC must file the same certificate with the county clerk.* If you are an LLC, ask the county clerk whether they want a copy.

A sole proprietor does not use form DN-18. The county clerk recording is the filing the handbook names. The fee is not on the state page.

Formed in another state

An LLC formed elsewhere files an Application for Certificate of Registration of Foreign Limited Liability Company, form FL-01. Online is $270. Paper is $300². Bring a certificate of good standing from the home state, dated within 30 days⁶. You need an Arkansas registered agent before you apply.

A corporation formed elsewhere files an application for a certificate of authority. The corporation fee schedule lists $300¹³ for that application. The business services FAQ gives the same fee and says the application can be filed online. Neither page prints a separate online price.* Check the total on the filing screen. The same 30-day good standing certificate applies. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

An online filing is normally updated within 48 hours, with the documents emailed back. A mailed filing is normally filed and returned within 72 hours after the office receives them, if approved⁶. You will need the filed certificate or articles for your EIN and your bank. The franchise tax contact form is what puts the May 1 notice in the right hands. If that notice never arrives, the tax is still due. No extension. Every report is due on or before May 1¹⁰.