How to Register an LLC in Louisiana

What registering an LLC in Louisiana means

Louisiana keeps the register of companies formed under its law. Your LLC is on it the moment the Louisiana Secretary of State files Articles of Organization. From that day the company can open a bank account, sign contracts and be sued in its own name rather than yours. The registration does not include a federal tax number, a Louisiana tax account or a local business license; those come after and are separate registrations with other offices.

People use "register", "form" and "file" for the same act. In Louisiana the act is one document, Articles of Organization, and one fee, $125. The step-by-step for everything around it, from the operating agreement to the bank account, is in how to start an LLC in Louisiana; this page is about the registration itself.

What it costs to register an LLC in Louisiana

The filing fee is set by Louisiana and is the same whether you file it yourself or a service files it for you. Louisiana charges $125 plus a mandatory $5 state credit card convenience fee for the Articles of Organization. The state credit card convenience fee ($5) is mandatory and is charged at the same time.

State fees verified October 2026 and set by the state, not by us. Online filing prices. Yearly costs, the five-year total and how Louisiana compares are in Louisiana LLC cost.

Step 1: Confirm Louisiana is the state to register in

Register where the company will actually operate. An LLC that does business in Louisiana but registers elsewhere has to register in Louisiana anyway, as a foreign LLC, and pay two states.

Wyoming, Delaware and Nevada come up because of privacy, case law or taxes. They make sense for a holding company or a business with no fixed location. A company that operates in Louisiana and registers somewhere else ends up registered in both. The comparison is in cheapest states to form an LLC.

Step 2: Clear the name with Louisiana

Louisiana requires a name distinguishable from every company on its records, with an LLC designator. Search the state's business records at geauxbiz.sos.la.gov before you file.

Rules on designators, restricted words and the distinguishability test are in LLC name rules. A rejection for a name conflict costs days and, in some states, a second fee.

Step 3: Name a Louisiana registered agent

Louisiana requires a registered agent with a Louisiana street address, available in business hours. On the filing: Agent's Affidavit and Acknowledgement of Acceptance: e-signed by each agent online within 7 days, or signed before a notary on paper. Name someone who has not agreed and the filing is rejected.

Who may serve, whether the agent signs, and what becomes public: Louisiana registered agent requirements.

Step 4: Prepare Articles of Organization

The Louisiana form asks for the company name with its LLC designator, the registered agent and its Louisiana street address, the principal or mailing address, and the organizer who signs. Initial Report must be signed by each person who signed the articles. A filing service can sign as organizer; geauxBIZ account holder files. Everything on it becomes a public record; what Louisiana shows is listed below.

The document itself, and what every state's version asks for, is explained in articles of organization.

Step 5: File Articles of Organization and pay the $125 fee

Filed with the Louisiana Secretary of State (geauxbiz.sos.la.gov). The state fee is $125 plus a mandatory $5 state credit card convenience fee, paid once. Louisiana does not publish a standard processing time for LLC filings that we could verify; the filing portal shows the current turnaround when you file.

Faster review: $35 within 24 hours; $60 while you wait (walk-in options).

Louisiana takes the filing from the public at geauxbiz.sos.la.gov. Ready to file? The Articles of Organization prepared and filed for you, with the state fee on its own line: form your Louisiana LLC at america-llc-filing.com.

Step 6: Complete the Louisiana registrations that follow

2 registrations follow in Louisiana: (1) Annual report; (2) Supplemental Initial Report. Then the federal tax number and the operating agreement.

The order and the deadlines are in what to do after forming an LLC. The recurring state report is the one owners forget.

What becomes public when you register in Louisiana

Everything on Articles of Organization is a public record once Louisiana files it; anyone can pull it from the state's business search. On the Louisiana filing: Initial Report lists names and municipal (non-PO-box) addresses of the first managers or the members; registered agent; signers.

Initial Report must be signed by each person who signed the articles. A filing service can sign as organizer; geauxBIZ account holder files. The operating agreement, the ownership split and the tax election are not filed with Louisiana and stay private. Do you need an operating agreement?

How long Louisiana takes to register an LLC

Louisiana does not publish a standard processing time for LLC filings that we could verify; the filing portal shows the current turnaround when you file. Paid faster review is offered: $35 within 24 hours; $60 while you wait (walk-in options). The figures are the state's own and move with its workload; a rejection for a name conflict or a missing agent consent restarts the clock. Every state's published time is in how long it takes to form an LLC.

After registration in Louisiana

The state registration is the first of several. These are the ones Louisiana owners run into, in the order they usually come up.

• Annual report. Due each year by the anniversary of formation. Cost: $35.
• Supplemental Initial Report. Due when members/managers are first selected, if none listed at formation. Cost: $30.
• Federal tax number (EIN). Issued by the IRS after the state registration, at no charge; the bank asks for it. How to get one: Louisiana EIN number.
• Operating agreement. Not filed with Louisiana, but the document that says who owns the company and who can sign for it.

The recurring report is where most companies lose good standing. When it is due, file the Louisiana report at america-llc-filing.com, or the Louisiana LLC annual report page has the due date, fee, late penalty and portal.

Before you file in Louisiana

From Louisiana's published forms and filing instructions:

• Initial Report requires a municipal (non-PO-box) address for each listed member/manager.
• An agent you appoint yourself must e-sign the acceptance within 7 days.
• Agent must be a Louisiana resident/entity at a Louisiana physical address.

Sources

The Louisiana facts on this page come from the state's own forms, fee schedules and statutes, read for the October 2026 fee audit. Fees change; the state's page is the final word.

• sos.la.gov/business-services/forms-fee-schedule
• static.sos.la.gov/shared/fee_changes_2026.pdf
• sos.la.gov/media/az4hakzc/365-articles-of-organization-louisiana-limited-liability-company.pdf
• sos.la.gov/BusinessServices/HTMLPages/LouisianaLLCFilingInstructions.htm
• sos.la.gov/business-services/frequently-asked-questions