Register your business in North Carolina

LLCs, corporations, nonprofits and limited partnerships register with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Business Registration Division. Sole proprietors and general partnerships don’t file there. Any business that uses a name other than its owner’s legal name or its registered name files an assumed business name certificate with a county register of deeds, not the Secretary of State.

What’s different in North Carolina

• Every LLC files an annual report by April 15, starting the year after it’s formed, and pays $200 ($203 online). A corporation’s report is $25, but a corporation also owes franchise tax every year. Stay compliant has the dates.
• Assumed business names are a county filing, good statewide. One assumed business name certificate filed with any one register of deeds can name all 100 counties for the same fee, and it never expires.
• Online is faster, and the state says so. The Business Registration Division’s page listed 5 to 10 business days for entity creation when we checked. Expedited review is available for a fee.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor or general partnership can skip to step 6. Licensed professionals (architects, engineers, CPAs and others) form a professional corporation or PLLC, which needs the licensing board’s approval first; the Secretary of State’s professional entities page lists those boards.
2. Check the name in the Secretary of State’s business search. It must be distinguishable from every entity already on record or reserved. Check the assumed business name search, the web and the federal trademark database too. Not ready to file? Reserve the name for 120 days, once and nonrenewable: $10 for an LLC name, $30 for a corporate name.
3. Choose a registered agent: a North Carolina resident, or a business entity authorized to do business in the state, whose business office is the registered office. You can be your own if you live in North Carolina and your business office is the registered office. The agent’s one legal duty is to forward any notice, process or demand served on it to the business.
4. File with the Business Registration Division. Register your new business online, or download the form for your structure and mail it in. The fee depends on your structure (below). Turnaround moves with volume, and online filings are always faster than paper. Need a date? Ask for expedited service when you file: $100 for a decision within 24 hours, or $200 for the same business day if the filing arrives before 12 noon. Expedited means reviewed by then, and filed if acceptable or rejected with reasons if not.
5. Order a certificate of existence if your bank wants one. Some banks do. It’s $15 on paper or $10 ordered online from your Secretary of State account.
6. File an assumed business name certificate if you use another name. It’s required for sole proprietors, partnerships and any LLC, corporation or other entity using a name other than its registered name. File it with the register of deeds of a county where the business operates; if you work in several counties, any one of them will do, and the certificate can name all 100 counties for the same fee. The recording fee is $26. One certificate can carry up to 5 names, and it stays in effect until it is withdrawn; there is no renewal. Forms and instructions are on the Secretary of State’s assumed business names page, and every filing is indexed in the Secretary of State's statewide assumed business name database.
7. Calendar the first deadlines. An LLC’s first annual report is due April 15 of the year after the calendar year in which the articles of organization took effect. A corporation’s first annual report is due the 15th day of the fourth month after the fiscal year ends (April 15 for a calendar year), and its first franchise tax is paid with its first corporate return, due the same day. Selling taxable goods or services means registering with the Department of Revenue before your first sale: Get your tax IDs. Stay compliant has the rest.

By structure

LLC

File Articles of Organization ($125). The LLC then files an annual report with the Secretary of State every year by April 15, $200 on paper or $203 online, starting the year after it’s formed and for as long as it exists. It owes no franchise tax unless it elects to be taxed as a corporation. Keep your operating agreement with the company’s records; the state doesn’t file it. A professional LLC (PLLC) files no annual report.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation ($125). Every business corporation then files an annual report with the Secretary of State by the 15th day of the fourth month after the fiscal year ends (April 15 for a calendar year), $25 on paper or $21 online, and pays franchise tax of at least $200 to the Department of Revenue every year, S corporations included. S corp and C corp are federal tax choices you make with the IRS afterward, not state filings. Bylaws aren’t filed with the state. A professional corporation files no annual report.

Nonprofit

File Articles of Incorporation for a nonprofit corporation ($60). 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS. A nonprofit that will ask the public for donations also needs a yearly charitable solicitation license from the Secretary of State’s Charitable Solicitation Licensing Division unless it fits one of the exemptions, such as a small organization with no paid staff or fundraisers. New for 2027: starting January 1, 2027, every nonprofit corporation files an annual report with the Secretary of State by November 15 each year after the year it was formed, $25 on paper or $18 online. For a licensed charity, a charitable solicitation license applied for electronically counts as the annual report. Through 2026 there is no nonprofit annual report, so older state pages still list nonprofits as exempt.

Partnership

A general partnership makes no filing with the Secretary of State; partners doing business under a name other than their own file an assumed business name certificate with the register of deeds. A limited partnership files a Certificate of Domestic Limited Partnership ($50) and files no annual report. A registered limited liability partnership files an Application for Registration as Registered Limited Liability Partnership ($125) and then an annual report every year by the 15th day of the fourth month after the fiscal year ends ($200).

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. If you don’t register another entity, you’re a sole proprietor automatically. A business name other than your own legal name means an assumed business name certificate with the register of deeds. Sales tax registration and any license your work needs still apply.

Formed in another state

An LLC or corporation formed elsewhere applies for a certificate of authority from the Secretary of State before doing business in North Carolina, and keeps a North Carolina registered agent. An out-of-state LLC or corporation files an Application for Certificate of Authority: $250 for an LLC, $250 for a corporation, $125 for a nonprofit corporation. Once registered, the business files the same yearly annual report as a North Carolina entity of its type. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

Your filed articles become part of the public record. Your company’s profile in the Secretary of State’s business search shows the creation document and every annual report filed since. You’ll need the filed articles for your EIN and bank account. An assumed business name certificate is recorded and indexed by the county register of deeds and added to the Secretary of State's statewide assumed business name database.