Register your business in Montana

LLCs and corporations file with the Montana Secretary of State². A sole proprietorship has no formation filing on the fee schedule. A limited liability partnership does. The filing creates the company. Licenses and permits is the step that covers permission to do the work.

What’s different in Montana

• The formation fees are small, and the annual report is on a shared calendar. An LLC’s articles are $35. A profit corporation’s articles are $35¹. The report is due between January 1 and April 15¹⁰, not on the anniversary of the filing.
• An on-time report is free in 2026 and 2027. By rule an LLC or corporation report is $20¹⁷ on or before April 15, and $35 after. A second rule waives the on-time fee for 2026 reports filed between January 1 and April 15, 2026, and for 2027 reports filed between January 1 and April 15, 2027¹⁸. The fee schedule words that line as waived prior to April 15, and the homepage announces the 2026 waiver for all businesses that file between January 1 and April 15, 2026². The waiver rule names only the corporation and LLC fees, so associations and cooperatives on the same fee schedule are still $20¹ before April 15.
• A Secretary of State help article adds later dates. The help article gives the same no-fee window and the late fee after April 15, then says the report must be filed by foreign entities November 1 and domestic entities December 1⁴. The LLC statute and corporation statute set the filing window between January 1 and April 15¹⁰, and the article does not say what the later dates mean.* File in the statutory window.
• A DBA is an assumed business name filed with the state. It is $20¹ and lasts 5 years, and it can be renewed for another 5 years¹⁹. It is not a county filing.
• You can be your own registered agent. A change of agent is no fee¹. Going 60 days without an agent, or 60 days after a change of agent that was not filed¹¹ is a ground for dissolving an LLC.
• Ignore a letter that bills you for the annual report. A letter that says you owe money to file an annual report or buy a certificate is not from this office². Throw it away.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, limited liability partnership, or sole proprietorship. Pick an entity compares them. The Secretary of State will not choose for you.
2. Check the name on the business search. An LLC name must contain "limited liability company" or "limited company," or an abbreviation such as LLC, LC, L.L.C., or L.C. "Limited" may be "ltd." and "company" may be "co.". It may not use wording that says the company is some other kind of business⁸. A corporation name must contain "corporation," "incorporated," "company," or "limited," or an abbreviation such as "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or "ltd."²⁰. Search the web and the federal trademark database too. A state search does not clear a federal trademark.
3. Reserve the name only if you are not ready to file. It is $10¹. For an LLC it lasts a nonrenewable 120 days from the day the application is filed⁹. A transfer does not add days. A corporation reservation lasts a nonrenewable 120 days²¹. File it through the business portal.
4. Choose a registered agent. A commercial agent is an individual, or a domestic or foreign entity, that is on the Secretary of State's commercial list. A noncommercial agent is an individual, or a domestic or foreign entity, that is not on that commercial list and that serves in Montana¹². The address is an actual street address or rural route box number in Montana²², plus a Montana mailing address if it is different. A later change is no fee¹.
5. File the formation document in the portal. The fee schedule also lists a 24-hour processing fee of $20 and a 1-hour processing fee of $100¹.
6. Calendar next year’s annual report. The first annual report is due between January 1 and April 15¹⁰ of the calendar year after formation, not just weeks after filing. Details are below and on Stay compliant.

By structure

LLC

File Articles of Organization for $35. A series LLC adds $50¹ for each series member named in the articles. The statute says the articles set out the name, whether the company has an end date, the principal office mailing address, the registered agent, and whether members or managers run it.

The annual report is due between January 1 and April 15¹⁰. The first one is due in the year after the company is organized. By rule, a report filed on or before April 15 is $20¹⁷, and one filed after April 15 is $35¹. The on-time fee, April 15 included, is waived for 2026 reports filed between January 1 and April 15, 2026, and for 2027 reports filed between January 1 and April 15, 2027¹⁸.

The secretary of state may dissolve the company for a failure to file the annual report that has lasted 140 days, or after it goes 60 days without an agent, or 60 days after a change of agent that was not filed¹¹. Reinstatement is $35, plus $35 for each year of delinquent annual reports. Articles of termination are no fee. A certificate of existence is $5¹.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation for $35. The name must contain "corporation," "incorporated," "company," or "limited," or an abbreviation such as "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or "ltd."²⁰. The annual report is due between January 1 and April 15¹³. By rule the report is $20 on or before April 15 and $35²³ after, and the same waiver rule covers the on-time fee. Articles of dissolution are no fee. Reinstatement of a profit corporation is $30, plus $35 for each year of delinquent annual reports¹.

S corporation status is a federal election on Form 2553²⁴. Montana’s treatment of that election is on Get your tax IDs. This page does not pick the election.

Nonprofit

File articles for $20¹. Past formation, the rest of this series is written for for-profit businesses.

Limited liability partnership

The fee schedule lists registration of a limited liability partnership at $20. Use that filing only if a limited liability partnership is the structure you chose. The registration lasts 5 years, and it can be renewed for another 5 years. Renewal is $20¹. The Secretary of State cancels the registration if the renewal is not filed in the 90 days before it expires, and the partnership is then no longer a limited liability partnership¹⁵.

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. You still register for the taxes that apply on Get your tax IDs, and you still check local licenses. A name other than your own is the assumed business name below.

Business names

Anyone transacting business in Montana under a name that is not their own must register¹⁴. The filing is $20. It lasts 5 years, and it can be renewed for another 5 years. Renewal is $20¹. The Secretary of State cancels it if the renewal is not filed in the 90 days before it expires. The office sends a renewal notice at least 90 days before the registration expires, to the last address it has for you¹⁹. That registration is not a substitute for the federal trademark search.

Formed in another state

A foreign LLC files a Certificate of Authority for $70, plus $50 for each series member named. A foreign profit corporation files a Foreign Registration Statement for $70¹. You still need a Montana registered agent, and you still file the annual report between January 1 and April 15¹⁰. If you are not sure the work counts as transacting business, check with a legal professional. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

A filed company you can use for your EIN and your bank, and a certificate of existence if you order one for $5¹. The annual report is a separate filing next year. State tax accounts are a separate step on Get your tax IDs.