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Kansas processes online formation filings within minutes. File Articles of Organization online and the Kansas Secretary of State lets you print a certified copy at once. The online fee is $85. Mail it and the fee is $90, with the copy sent back to you by post. You file through the state's register a business page. The form is numbered DL and is governed by K.S.A. 17-7673. For searches and certificates, see our Kansas business guide.
What name can a Kansas LLC use?
The name needs one of these words, in English or in any other language written in Roman characters: L.L.C., L.C., LLC, LC, Limited Liability Company or Limited Company. The rule is K.S.A. 17-7920.
Before you file, check whether the name is in use. The state has its own name availability tool. If a similar name is registered, the other business can sign a Consent to Use of Similar Business Name, form CN, and you send that with the articles.
To hold a name first, the state offers a reservation for $35. It lasts 120 days and there is no renewal, so file the articles inside that window. See name reservation for the general rules.
Who can be the resident agent?
Kansas uses the term resident agent. It must be an individual, a business registered in Kansas, or the business itself. The registered office has to be a Kansas address with a building number, street, city, state and zip code. It cannot be a PO box. Details are on our Kansas registered agent page.
How do I fill in the Kansas articles?
The form has four parts. Give the LLC's name. Name the resident agent. Give the registered office for that agent. Then an authorized person signs on behalf of the business.
That is all the instructions ask for. They say nothing about members or managers, so settle those terms in your operating agreement instead.
Filing online is the cleaner path: pay by card, and the certified copy is ready to print without delay. By mail, send the form and payment to the Secretary of State at the Docking State Office Building in Topeka. Checks and cards are accepted.
What should I do after Kansas files the LLC?
Sign the operating agreement. Apply for a free EIN with our EIN guide. Then open the account.
The resident agent needs a Kansas address. If you live elsewhere, read LLC for non-residents before you pick one.
What will Kansas cost over the first cycle?
The state charge to form is $85 online or $90 on paper. A name reservation adds $35. Then the information report is $90 online or $110 on paper each time it comes due. A foreign LLC that wants to do business here pays $115 for the paper application, which is more than a Kansas LLC pays to form.
Online filing saves $5 at formation and $20 on each report. That is the practical reason to use the portal, and the state also lets you print the certified copy at once, which a bank may ask to see.
What does a Kansas LLC file every two years?
An information report. Kansas has no yearly report for LLCs. The report is biennial and the fee for an LLC is $90 online or $110 on paper. That is more than the formation fee, so budget for it. The due date is April 15 of the odd or even year, and nonprofits file by June 15.
Missing it has a clock. The business is delinquent for three months and then forfeits. Our annual report deadlines guide shows how to track dates across states.
Ready to begin? Use our start-an-LLC form.
After approval, check the rules in our Kansas business license guide.