Register your business in Indiana

LLCs and corporations file with the Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division⁶. A limited partnership and a limited liability partnership file there too. A sole proprietorship does not. A general partnership does not, unless it registers as a limited liability partnership.

What’s different in Indiana

• Filing online adds an enhanced access fee. An LLC is $75 in the statute for an electronic filing and $100¹ any other way, which is what the paper form prints. Online, the Secretary of State also collects $20⁹ for the articles. Check the INBiz total before you pay.
• The recurring filing is a business entity report every other year, in the anniversary month. The fee is flat. Stay compliant has the late path.
• A sole proprietor’s assumed name goes to the county recorder. An LLC or corporation files an assumed name with the Secretary of State.
• A name search does not hold the name. A reservation is an electronic application only. It lasts 120² days and can be renewed.

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. Pick an entity compares them.
2. Check the name on INBiz. INBiz is the one-stop place to register the business and keep it compliant¹³. The name must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records from other entity names, reserved names, and assumed names. Words that only show the type of entity, such as LLC or Inc., are ignored when the Secretary of State decides whether two names are distinguishable. An LLC name must contain the phrase limited liability company, or the abbreviation L.L.C. or LLC. A corporation name must contain corporation, incorporated, company, or limited, or Corp., Inc., Co., or Ltd., or the same idea in another language. Search the web and the federal trademark database too. Not ready to file? Reserve the name. The reservation is an electronic application only, costs $10, and lasts 120² days. Renewing it is another $10¹. The statute does not say a search, by itself, holds the name.
3. Name a registered agent. A domestic filing entity and a registered foreign entity must designate and maintain a registered agent in Indiana. The agent must be an individual, a general partnership, a domestic filing entity, or a registered foreign entity. The address must be a street address in Indiana. The filing must state the agent's consent, or that the agent has consented³. Changing the agent later has no fee¹ in the statute. The online fee analysis lists $1⁹ for a change of registered agent address.
4. File on INBiz or mail the form. The fee is below. Paper goes to 302 West Washington Street, Room E-018, Indianapolis, IN 46204, payable to the Secretary of State. The office phone is 317-234-9768⁶. The articles form does not print how many days a filing takes.* Ask INBiz or the office before you promise a date to a bank or a landlord. A card payment can add a processing fee, capped at the highest charge the card vendor billed the Secretary of State in the most recent collection period. A filing fee is not refunded if the record is withdrawn or corrected¹.
5. Put the business entity report on the calendar. INBiz shows when your report is due⁸. The Secretary of State sends a reminder to the address on record, in the month the report is due¹⁴. Selling taxable goods means a sales tax certificate before you collect tax: Get your tax IDs.
6. File an assumed name if you use another name. Who files where depends on the structure. Details are below.

By structure

LLC

File Articles of Organization (State Form 49459) under the Indiana Business Flexibility Act. The statute is $75 electronic and $100¹ any other way. The form prints $100⁶. The Secretary of State’s fee analysis lists an enhanced access fee of $20 for LLC articles, collected on online filings, in addition to the statutory filing fee⁹. Check the INBiz total before you pay. The name must contain the phrase limited liability company, or the abbreviation L.L.C. or LLC².

If all business is conducted remotely from a governing person's residence, the principal office can be a contact address, and State Form 9900382 goes with the filing⁶. The form does not print a separate fee for that extra form.* Check the screen if you use the checkbox.

The business entity report is due every other year, in the anniversary month of formation. The Department of Revenue’s small-business handbook says the report is due every other year, at the end of the month of formation¹⁴. The Secretary of State may accept the report during the 90 days before the month it is due⁴. Use the date INBiz shows for your business. The statute’s electronic fee for a for-profit report is $20¹, and the fee analysis adds $11⁹ online. The Secretary of State’s business entity reports page prints the totals: $31¹⁰ online and $50⁸ by mail.

Indiana also lets you form a master LLC. That filing is $225 electronic and $250¹ any other way. A series does not file a business entity report⁸. Whether a series or a master LLC fits the business is a question for a legal professional.

Professional service

A professional corporation must also use Professional Service Corporation or Professional Corporation, or an abbreviation. Only a corporation whose shareholders are all physicians licensed under Indiana law may use medical in the name². The LLC name rule does not add a “professional” ending of its own. The business entity report says professional corporations must complete the license lines. It does not list which occupations count.* If your work needs a state license, check that board before you pick the name.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation (State Form 4159). The statute is $75¹ electronic. The paper form prints $100⁷. The fee analysis lists $20⁹ for articles of incorporation. Check the screen. The name must contain corporation, incorporated, company, or limited, or Corp., Inc., Co., or Ltd., or the same idea in another language. It also must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records from other entity names, reserved names, and assumed names².

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

Nonprofit

Nonprofit articles of incorporation are $20 electronic and $50¹ any other way. A nonprofit’s report is $21 online and $20⁸ by mail. The statute treats a nonprofit like any other entity: the report is due every two calendar years, on a schedule the Secretary of State sets⁴. The Secretary of State’s business entity reports page says nonprofits file every year, in the anniversary month¹⁰, but the statute and the report form say every two years. INBiz shows your due date. 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 that is not an LLP, and that uses a name other than the partners' real names, files that name with the county recorder². The fee statute lists a certificate for a limited partnership and a registration for an LLP. It does not list a formation filing for a general partnership.*

A limited partnership files a certificate of limited partnership. The name must contain limited partnership or L.P.² The statute is $75 electronic and $100¹ any other way.

A limited liability partnership files a registration. The name must contain limited liability partnership, or L.L.P. or LLP². The statute is $75 electronic and $100¹ any other way.

Both file the business entity report. The fee analysis also lists enhanced access amounts for those registrations. The payment screen is the total.

Sole proprietorship

An individual who uses a business name other than their real name files that name with the county recorder². A sole proprietor files no articles. A domestic filing entity and a registered foreign entity must designate and maintain a registered agent in Indiana³, and a sole proprietorship is neither. Sales tax registration is separate if you sell taxable goods.

Assumed names

A filing entity that uses a name other than the name in its formation record files the assumed name with the Secretary of State. Online, a for-profit entity pays $20 for each name. On paper, it is $30¹ for each name. The assumed name cannot use an entity ending, such as LLC or Inc., that does not match the entity, unless a conversion, domestication, or merger changed the type within the last 12 months².

An individual or a general partnership that is not an LLP files in the recorder's office of each county where it has a place of business. An individual whose business name includes their true surname is outside this filing. If you are not sure the name includes the surname in the way the statute means, ask the recorder. The assumed-name section tells the recorder to charge the fee set in the recorder fee statute for each certificate. That statute sets $25¹¹ for recording an instrument other than a mortgage, and it lets some counties add another fee by ordinance. The pages do not print one total for every county.* Ask the recorder before you pay. Skipping the assumed-name filing is a Class B infraction².

Formed in another state

A for-profit business formed elsewhere files a foreign registration statement. The statute is $75 electronic and $125 any other way. Online, the fee analysis adds $30 for a foreign for-profit registration and $15⁹ for a foreign LLC. Check the INBiz total. A nonprofit formed elsewhere is $20 electronic and $75¹ any other way. You need an Indiana registered agent before you apply. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

A filed articles or certificate, which you will need for your EIN and your bank. INBiz is also where the business entity report is due. If the reminder never arrives, the report is still due. The Secretary of State may start a dissolution proceeding if the biennial report is not delivered within 60 days after it is due⁵.