Free state business filing fee calculator. Estimate LLC or corporation state filing fees, expedited processing, and name reservation costs.
This worksheet estimates the formation and early maintenance costs tied to a state filing. It starts with a base filing fee and then adds common extras from the live calculator such as expedited processing, name reservation, certified copies, publication cost, a registered-agent year-one charge, and any built-in annual report or franchise-tax amount for the selected state.
The built-in state presets are planning defaults, not a promise that a secretary of state currently charges those exact figures. The useful part is comparing scenarios quickly and then replacing any preset number with the current amount from the filing office or your service provider.
Base filing fees rarely tell the full story. This page is most useful when you want to compare a bare-minimum filing with a more realistic first-year budget that also includes publication, copies, expedited service, and recurring compliance costs.
Setup Cost = Base Filing Fee + Expedited Processing + Name Reservation + (Certified Copies x Copy Fee) + Publication + Registered Agent (Year 1) Year 1 Total = Setup Cost + Annual Report or Franchise Tax 5-Year Total = Setup Cost + (Annual Report or Franchise Tax x 5) + (Registered Agent x 4)
Result: $660 estimated first-year cost
Setup cost is $90 + $100 + $25 + (2 x $10) + $0 + $125 = $360. Adding a $300 annual report or franchise-tax amount brings the first-year total to $660. On the same assumptions, the 5-year total would be $2,360.
The useful comparison is not just one state filing fee against another. It is one complete setup path against another: base filing, rush service, name reservation, copies, publication, registered-agent spend, and the annual state charge that follows formation. That is why the year-one and five-year outputs are often more useful than the one-time subtotal.
The built-in state table helps users start quickly, but filing schedules, publication rules, and recurring fees change. If you are making a real filing decision, confirm the current state schedule and replace the preset values with the current amounts before relying on the result.
This page does not try to price operating agreements, bylaws, tax elections, licensing, foreign qualification, or industry-specific permits. Once those become part of the decision, treat this calculator as only the state-filing slice of the larger formation budget.
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This worksheet starts with a base filing fee and then adds common first-year formation costs shown in the live calculator: expedited processing, name reservation, certified copies, publication, a year-one registered-agent charge, and any recurring annual state charge the user wants to budget alongside formation. The five-year output keeps the one-time setup costs separate from the recurring annual charge and renewal-style agent spend.
State presets and example amounts are only starting assumptions. They are not a promise that a secretary of state currently charges those figures, and they do not determine what an entity must file in a particular state.
The filing fee is the amount charged by the state secretary of state to process your business formation documents (Articles of Organization for LLCs, Articles of Incorporation for corporations). It is a one-time cost paid at formation.
Kentucky has one of the lowest LLC filing fees at $40. Other low-cost states include Colorado ($50), Idaho ($100), and Iowa ($50). For corporations, several states charge under $100. Remember that low filing fees don't always mean low total costs.
Standard filing may take 1–4 weeks. Expedited processing ($25–$200+) reduces this to 1–5 business days. Same-day or 24-hour processing is available in some states for premium fees ($100–$500).
A certificate of good standing confirms your business is in compliance with state requirements. Banks often require it to open accounts. It is also needed for foreign entity registration in other states. Cost is typically $5–$50.
Arizona, Georgia (corporations only), Nebraska, New York, and Pennsylvania have some form of publication requirement for LLCs and/or corporations. New York publication costs are the highest, often $1,000–$2,000+ in the New York City area.
Most states allow online filing through the secretary of state's website. Online filing is often faster and may include expedited processing at reduced cost. Some states offer same-day online processing.