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The Washington Secretary of State keeps business entity records through its Corporations and Charities Division. The lookup tool is CCFS, the Corporations and Charities Filing System. The standard Corporation Search finds a single business by name or by UBI number, the Unified Business Identifier. A separate Advanced Corporation Search builds lists and can search by registered agent or governor. Filing online needs a CCFS account.
Two ways to run a Washington LLC and corporation search
For one company, use the Corporation Search. Scroll to that section on the CCFS home page, type the business name or the UBI number and press the green Search button. Pick the business from the results to open its public record.
The Secretary of State gives one specific tip: avoid plurals. Keep the business name singular and the results are more consistent. If you see a "null" error or a "no value found" message, the search was probably too broad, so narrow it and try again.
For many companies at once, open the Advanced Corporation Search. It lets you:
- choose how the name is matched, including a "contains" option for names that share a word
- filter by business type and business status
- set a start or end date for incorporation, formation or registration
- find every business with the same registered agent or governor on record
When the list appears, click the green Excel icon to download it as a CSV file. The Advanced Corporation Search FAQ walks through each field. The governor search is useful when you want to see what else a person runs. Our business owner lookup guide explains what governor and officer listings can and cannot tell you.
One limit to know: entities inactive for more than 10 years drop out of CCFS. For older records the Secretary of State refers you to the Washington State Archives Digital Archives.
Status words on a Washington record
A business in good order shows as active. If it stops filing, the record can move to "administratively dissolved" for a Washington entity or "terminated" for a foreign one. A Washington LLC has 5 years from its administrative dissolution date to reinstate. It pays the annual report fee for each missed year plus a $140 penalty. A foreign entity has no time limit to requalify. Our guide to business entity status covers how these labels compare across states.
Trade names are a separate register. In Washington they are handled by the Department of Revenue's Business Licensing Service, not the Secretary of State, so a trade name will not show in CCFS. See our DBA search guide.
LLC name rules and reservations
Under RCW 23.95.305, a Washington LLC name must contain "limited liability company", the words "limited liability" with the abbreviation "Co.", or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or "LLC". It may not contain words such as "cooperative", "partnership", "corporation" or "incorporated", or abbreviations such as "Corp.", "Inc." or "LP". The statute text lists them all.
A name reservation costs $30 for an LLC and holds the name for 180 days. After that it expires and cannot be renewed. Reservations are filed by mail or in person only. Check the name in CCFS first, then read our guide to checking LLC name availability.
Annual report, fees and certificates
Each Washington LLC and corporation files an annual report for $70. It is due by the business's expiration date, which is the last day of the month the business was first formed or registered. You can file up to 180 days before that date, and filing early does not move next year's date. A late report costs $95 with the delinquency fee included. New domestic entities also file an initial report within the first 120 days. Fees are on the SOS fee schedule.
Washington's proof of standing is the Certificate of Existence/Good Standing, which costs $20. The long form costs the same. For how other states name this document, see our certificate of good standing guide.
Formation fees for comparison: $180 for a Washington LLC, $180 for a profit corporation, $40 to $80 for a nonprofit corporation and $180 for a foreign LLC registration. Online filings carry a $20 online processing fee. Standard online review usually takes about five business days. Expedited service costs $100 and is generally done within three working days, and same-day service costs $150.
Bulk data
Washington no longer offers its Corporations Data Extract. The Secretary of State says the Advanced Corporation Search has replaced it, so the way to get bulk records is to run filtered searches and export each result list to CSV.
Starting a company here? Read our guide on how to start an LLC in Washington and the Washington registered agent rules.
Also see our guides to the Washington DBA and Washington business license.