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In Arizona the Secretary of State does not keep the company register. That job belongs to the Arizona Corporation Commission and its Corporations Division. The search runs on the ACC's online filing portal, ABC, at arizonabusinesscenter.azcc.gov, which replaced eCorp. You look a business up by its name. Plenty of people still type "Arizona secretary of state business search" into Google first. For company records, the ACC is the office to use.
Arizona business search on the ACC portal
Open the portal and choose Search Corporations and LLCs. Type the business name and open the matching record. The ACC's Corporations Division notices list the portal address as the official website, so check the address bar before you file or pay. The ACC has flagged one look-alike by name: Arizona Business Filings is not affiliated with the Commission.
A tip for older businesses: the ACC digitized its microfiche collection, and you can view those records for free through the online system. Search for the business name and, if digitized records exist, they sit under the document history tab.
When a company does not appear, keep in mind that its name may be written differently on the record. Our LLC name search guide has general tips for trying variants.
Reading an Arizona record
Arizona uses a short set of status words. Active is the normal state. When a corporation misses its annual report due date, the ACC sends a delinquency notice and the status changes to Pending Inactive. A final notice follows about 60 days later. If the report still has not come in, about 60 days after that the entity is administratively dissolved.
Administrative dissolution can also follow other failures. One is failing to keep a statutory agent, since every corporation and LLC must appoint and keep one at all times. A dissolved business can apply for reinstatement if the dissolution happened within the last 6 years. The fee is $100 plus anything past due. See our business entity status guide for how these words compare with other states.
Arizona calls a registered agent a statutory agent. Our registered agent lookup guide explains how to find and use agent details.
LLC names and reservations
Under A.R.S. 29-3112, an Arizona LLC name must contain "limited liability company" or "limited company", or the abbreviation "L.L.C.", "LLC", "L.C." or "LC", in upper or lower case. It may not contain "association", "corporation" or "incorporated", or an abbreviation of those words. Words like "bank" or "trust" are only allowed for a company really in that business.
The name must be distinguishable on the records of the Commission or the Secretary of State from existing, registered and reserved names. When the ACC compares names, it ignores words that only show the entity type, such as "corporation" or "Inc.".
A name reservation costs $10, or $45 expedited. It holds the name for 120 days and cannot be renewed. A reservation is not a trade name. Trade names go through the Arizona Secretary of State, and the ACC does not register DBAs at all. Our DBA search guide covers where those records live.
Annual reports and good standing
Arizona LLCs do not file annual reports. Only corporations do. A for-profit corporation pays $45 and a nonprofit pays $10, per the ACC Business Services FAQ. There is no single statewide due date. Each corporation's due date is shown on its record, and you can file up to 90 days early. An extension, if granted, lasts 6 months, but the fee is still due when you apply.
A for-profit corporation that files late builds up a $9 penalty for each month. Nonprofit corporations are not charged penalties.
The ACC issues a Certificate of Good Standing for $10 at regular speed or $45 expedited. The expedited version is produced instantly, and the regular one usually takes 7 to 10 business days. Fees are on the LLC fee schedule. For how this works elsewhere, see our certificate of good standing guide.
Starting fees, for comparison: Articles of Organization for an LLC cost $50, or $85 expedited. Articles of Incorporation cost $60 for a for-profit corporation and $40 for a nonprofit. A foreign LLC registration costs $150. Regular processing typically takes 14 to 16 days. Faster options are 2-hour service for $400, same day for $200 and next day for $100. By law some filings must also be published in a newspaper or posted to the ACC's database, depending on the county. The ACC tells you by letter after approval if yours must be.
Bulk data
Arizona sells database extracts through a public records request. A partial extract costs $75 and the entire database costs $1,000, paid by check only. Available fields include business name and address, incorporation and approval dates, statutory agent, officers and directors, and status. You must state whether the data is for commercial or noncommercial use. The database extraction form has the details.
Starting a company here? Read our guide on how to start an LLC in Arizona, the Arizona registered agent rules and the Arizona LLC cost breakdown.
Also see our guides to the Arizona DBA and Arizona business license.