Register your business in Iowa

LLCs and corporations file with the Office of the Iowa Secretary of State¹. A sole proprietorship does not. A name you trade under, other than your own, is a county filing. Reserving an entity name is optional.

What’s different in Iowa

• An LLC costs $50 and a profit corporation costs $50 to form. A nonprofit is $20. A limited partnership is $100. An LLP’s statement of qualification is $50¹.
• The report that comes back is biennial, not yearly. An LLC files in odd-numbered years. A profit corporation files in even-numbered years. The statute sets the window from January 1 to April 1, and the forms page says due by April 1¹, but the Secretary’s FAQ says by March 31².* Check the Secretary’s instructions, and file by the earlier date to satisfy both.
• The first LLC report is not due in the year you form. It is due in the next odd-numbered year after that calendar year.
• There is no statewide business license in this filing. A sole proprietor’s trade name goes to the county recorder. Ask the recorder for the fee.
• Faster service is a separate, nonrefundable surcharge. Preclearance reviews the paper. It does not give you a filing date.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, limited partnership, LLP, or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor has no formation filing and can skip to the trade name if the legal name is not the name you will use. Pick an entity compares them. The Secretary of State will not tell you which chapter to pick.
2. Search the name. On the Secretary of State site, use the business search. An LLC name must contain the phrase limited liability company or limited company, or the abbreviation L. L. C., LLC, L. C., or LC. Limited may be abbreviated Ltd., and company may be abbreviated Co. It must be distinguishable on the secretary of state's records from other filed names, reserved names, and fictitious names, with the exceptions in the statute⁷. A corporation name must contain corporation, incorporated, company, or limited, or the abbreviation corp., inc., co., or ltd., or words or abbreviations of like import in another language, and it must be distinguishable, except where the statute allows otherwise¹⁶. The LLC walkthrough cites section 489.108 for names. The name rules moved to section 489.112, so read that one. Search the federal trademark database too. A reservation is optional: $10¹ for 120 days⁸.
3. Name a registered agent in Iowa. For an LLC, section 489.115 says the agent must have a place of business in Iowa. The company must keep a registered agent. Naming one affirms that the agent consented.⁹ The walkthrough says the agent is an individual or an entity, so you can be the agent yourself if you have a place of business in Iowa. The statute does not ask where the agent lives. For a corporation, section 490.501 says the agent may be an individual who lives in Iowa, or an entity formed or registered to do business in Iowa, whose business office is the registered office¹⁰. Changing the agent later is no fee for an LLC or a corporation¹.
4. File in Fast Track Filing. Fast Track requires an account for every filing except a biennial report. A double asterisk on the fee table means that filing can be done online¹. The fee depends on the structure, below. The office reviews the submission and emails you when the filing is complete.⁴ If you need it faster, expedited service is $15 for five business days, $50 for two, $125 for the same business day, or $200 for one hour. The expedite surcharge is per document, on top of the filing fee, and it is not refunded if the document is rejected. Preclearance is a review before you file. It does not issue a filing date. Same-day preclearance is $250 and must arrive by 10:00 a.m. After that, same-day preclearance is available the next business day. Two-day preclearance is twice the filing fee. Three-day is equal to the filing fee. The preclearance surcharge is not credited when you later file, and it is not refunded³.
5. File a trade name only if you will use one. An entity’s fictitious name is $5¹. A sole proprietor’s trade name is the county filing below. They are not the same form.
6. Calendar the biennial report. The year depends on the structure, below. Your agent gets a notice in January of the filing year. Get your tax IDs is the next filing that is not this office.

By structure

LLC

File a Certificate of Organization for $50¹. Section 489.201 says it must state the name, the street and mailing addresses of the principal office, and the name and street and mailing addresses in Iowa of the registered agent⁶. You upload a signed certificate as a PDF. The walkthrough tells you to read section 489.201 for what it must include. On the screen, choose a domestic LLC or a domestic professional LLC. Section 489.108 says an LLC has perpetual duration¹¹. The filing screen still asks for an expiration date. Check Perpetual if you do not want one. If the certificate states an end date, the secretary may start administrative dissolution when that period ends¹³. The screen also asks whether the LLC holds an interest in agricultural land in Iowa⁴. Answer it. The operating agreement is the members’ own document. The certificate does not require you to file it. An LLC is member-managed unless the operating agreement says it is manager-managed, managed by managers, or that management is vested in managers¹⁴.

The first biennial report is between January 1 and April 1 of the first odd-numbered year after the calendar year of formation, and then each following odd-numbered year¹². An LLC formed in 2026 files in 2027. An LLC formed in 2027 files in 2029. The forms page says the odd-year report is due by April 1, for $30 online or $45 on paper. The Secretary’s FAQ instead says by March 31.* Check the official filing instructions and file by the earlier date if you want to meet both. The registered agent begins to receive notice in January of the filing year². After a missed report, the secretary may start an administrative dissolution. It is not automatic. One ground is a report more than 60¹³ days late. Reinstatement is $5¹.

A company formed in another state files a foreign registration statement for $100¹. That line is marked for online filing. You still need an Iowa registered agent. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation for $50¹. The articles must state the number of shares the corporation is authorized to issue. The fee table does not add a per-share amount on top of the filing fee.¹⁵ The name must contain corporation, incorporated, company, or limited, or the abbreviation corp., inc., co., or ltd., or words or abbreviations of like import in another language¹⁶.

Section 490.1621 puts the biennial report between January 1 and April 1 of the first even-numbered year after the calendar year of incorporation, and then each following even-numbered year¹⁷. The forms page puts the fee at $60¹. The registered agent begins to receive notice in January of the filing year².

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

A corporation formed elsewhere files a foreign registration statement for $100¹. The fee table does not mark that line as available online.* Check whether Fast Track offers it before you mail it.

Nonprofit

File articles for $20. There is no filing fee for the biennial report¹. The forms page puts nonprofits on the odd-year schedule with LLCs. 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS. If the nonprofit has unrelated business income, that return is due the 15th day of the fifth month after the tax year ends²². Past formation, the rest of this series is written for for-profit businesses.

Partnership

A limited partnership files a certificate for $100. An LLP files a Statement of Qualification for $50¹.

Section 488.210 puts a limited partnership’s biennial report between January 1 and April 1 of the first odd-numbered year after the calendar year of formation, and then each following odd-numbered year¹⁸. The forms page puts LLPs on the same odd-year schedule. A general partnership files nothing with the state to form. Under section 486A.202, a partnership forms when two or more persons carry on a business for profit as co-owners, whether or not they intend to form a partnership¹⁹. Section 486A.303 says it may file a statement of partnership authority²⁰. That filing is optional. Owners and members stay on the company's own records. The Secretary of State does not file that list.²

Sole proprietorship

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

Trade names

An entity that wants a name other than its legal name can file a fictitious-name resolution for $5¹. That form applies to the chapters printed on it: limited partnerships, LLCs, the cooperatives it names, business corporations, and nonprofits. It is not a sole proprietor form.

File a trade name application with the county recorder in the county where you will do business.² Contact that recorder for the form and the fee.*

Formed in another state

Use the foreign fee for your entity type, above. You still need an Iowa registered agent. The Secretary of State files the registration. It does not decide whether your activity requires it. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

A filed certificate or articles, and a receipt. In Fast Track, the completed LLC filing shows under Approved Filings, where you can print the certificate and the acknowledgement. A certificate of existence is $5 from the business search. Keep the filing for the EIN and the bank. Owners and members stay on the company's own records. The Secretary of State does not file that list.² The biennial report, not a yearly report, is the date to put on the calendar.