Ohio LLC Cost

Before you form your Ohio LLC, let’s walk you through the most common filing fees you’ll encounter. Nervous about getting started? Don’t worry. We’ve done this for more than 500,000 businesses.

If you want our help, we can form your Ohio LLC for only $0 plus state fees. Just click the “Start my LLC”.

We’ll break down the LLC cost in Ohio and then show you how to start your LLC.

Here’s what it costs to start an LLC in Ohio:

Ohio LLC Filing Fee

$99: The Ohio LLC filing fee is $99. You’ll pay this fee when you file your Articles of Organization.

Annual Report Fee

$0: Many states require LLCs to file an annual or biennial report and pay an associated filing fee, but not Ohio. This is one expense you can avoid.

Statutory Agent Fee

Free (if you serve as your own): Every Ohio LLC is required to have a statutory agent, which is known in most states as a “registered agent.” You can act as your own statutory agent for free, or you can appoint someone else to serve as your statutory agent (with their permission). You can also use a commercial registered agent service like ours for a fee.

Our registered agent services make it easy for you. We’ll serve as your statutory agent and handle any requirements without any effort from you.

You paid your Ohio LLC filing fee requirement. What other fees could you be responsible for? Let’s take a look:

Ohio Certificate of Good Standing

You get this document from the Ohio Secretary of State. It shows that your Ohio business is in compliance with state law. It costs $5 for a standard Certificate of Good Standing and $25 for the long-form version.

You don’t need to get an Ohio Certificate of Good Standing as part of the LLC formation process, but you might need one if you want to expand your LLC to another state. Some banks also require one to open a business bank account or to get a loan.

DBA Name in Ohio

Want to go by a different name than your legal LLC name? To do so, you’re required to secure a “Doing Business As” (DBA) name, known in Ohio as a “trade name” or “fictitious name.”

LLCs sometimes use a DBA when they want to open a new store or launch a new product line but don’t want to create another business for it.

In Ohio, “trade name” and “fictitious name” are both used, but they mean different things. A fictitious name is most closely associated with a DBA name, but it does not guarantee that someone else won’t use the same name. However, registering a trade name is meant to ensure that no one else uses the name and infringes on your branding.

Submit a ​​Name Registration application with the required fee to the Secretary of State. You can do this in-person, online, or by mail. The filing fee is $39 for regular service, and your application will be processed in three to seven business days, varying by volume to be processed.

If you need your application processed more quickly, an additional $100 fee will secure expedited service within two business days after it is received, $200 will expedite your application within one business day for walk-ins, and $300 will expedite your application within four hours for walk-ins as long as it is received by 1 p.m.

Foreign LLC

If you already have an LLC in another state but want to expand your business to Ohio, then you need to file as a foreign LLC. You’ll do this by completing a Registration of a Foreign Limited Liability Company.

The fee is the same as a domestic LLC filing, $99. The options and prices for expediting the service or using a preclearance filing are the same as for a domestic (in-state) LLC filing.

Business Licenses and Permits

Your type of business may need federal, state, or local licenses and permits to legally open your doors in Ohio. Although Ohio doesn’t require a general business license to operate, you may need other licenses and/or permits depending on factors like your location and industry.

The fees for these licenses and permits will vary, as will the costs for renewing them. Our business license report can help you determine what licensing is required for your particular business.

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This will depend on what ongoing paperwork is required for your particular business. Licenses and permits usually need to be renewed at some point, and some of those could incur a late fee or worse, such as losing your ability to conduct business or having the state dissolve your LLC.

If you can’t pay your filing fee for the Articles of Organization, the Ohio Secretary of State won’t file your documents.

You’ll pay the LLC formation fees to the Ohio Secretary of State.

The Ohio filing fees you pay will depend on things like your industry and location. At a bare minimum, you’ll have to pay the $99 filing fee to form the LLC.

f you’re filing online, you can pay with any major credit card. If you’re filing by postal mail, you’ll need to include a check or money order payable to “Ohio Secretary of State.”

The main benefit of LLCs over business entity options like sole proprietorships and general partnerships is that LLCs offer liability protection. Your personal assets are separate from your business assets, so they usually can’t be touched if someone sues the business or the business goes into debt.

Corporations also offer personal liability protection for the owners, but they have a more rigid structure, more paperwork, and “double taxation.” Profits for a C corporation (the default form of corporation) are taxed both at the business level and again when they’re distributed to the individual shareholders. By default, LLC profits are usually only taxed at the individual level.