How Much Does an LLC Cost in Georgia

Written by: Mary Gerardine

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How Much Does an LLC Cost in Georgia

The minimum Georgia LLC Cost is $100, which covers the processing fee for filing your LLC formation documents (known as the Articles of Organization).

Having said that, the total cost of forming a Georgia LLC will depend on several factors, including your personal preferences and business needs.

In our How Much Does an LLC Cost in Georgia article, we’ve broken down everything you need to know about the different costs associated with launching and maintaining an LLC.

Recommended: More than 72% of our readers form their LLC through a specialized LLC formation service in order to save time and avoid being caught up in procedural rigmarole.

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Georgia LLC Cost

In the table below, you can find a summary of the main requirements of forming a Georgia limited liability company (LLC) and their associated fees.

                                                         
RequirementFee
Articles of Organization$100-$235
Registered Agent$0-$125+
LLC Name$0-$225+
Operating Agreement$0+

Georgia LLC Filing Fee ($100-$235)

In Georgia, all LLCs are required to submit their Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State in order to be registered with the state.

If you choose to submit the Articles of Organization by yourself, you’ll be required to pay one of the following filing fees:

  • Domestic Entities: $100
  • Foreign Entities: $225

An additional $10 is also applied for paper filings.

Having said that, if you choose to use an LLC formation service, the cost will be a little higher as it will include a small service fee in addition to Georgia’s state filing fee.

The fees for an LLC formation service can range significantly, but can start from as low as $29, increasing if you decide to purchase any additional offerings.

Note: For more details on the formation process, you can check out our Georgia LLC Formation guide.

Georgia Registered Agent ($0-$130+)

As part of the process of completing the Articles of Organization, you’ll be required to appoint a registered agent. This is a person or entity that you must assign to receive tax, legal, and governmental correspondence on behalf of your Georgia LLC.

While you can act as your own registered agent at no extra cost, it’s often recommended to hire a professional service so you avoid any potential penalties or legal issues caused by non-compliance with state regulations.

Although the exact cost of these professional registered agent services is unique to each provider, they typically charge around $130+ per year.

Some premium LLC formation services also allow new customers to access their services for free throughout the first year.

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Alternatively, you can find some of the top recommendations for professional RA services in our Best Registered Agent Services of 2024 article.

Naming Your Georgia LLC ($0-$225+)

When forming your Georgia LLC, you’ll be required to pick a suitable name that’s available to use.

While registering a name in itself has no cost, there are two potential costs to be aware of when naming your LLC.

Reserving Name

If you’ve found an available name for your business but aren’t looking to form an LLC right away, you’ll need to submit a Name Reservation Request to the Georgia Secretary of State in order to safeguard it for later use.

On this request, you’ll need to include a ranked list of the top three preferences for your business’s name. Filing costs $35 when done using the paper form above and $25 when filed online through the Georgia Corporations Division website.

If one of the three preferences for your business’s names is available, it will be reserved for up to 30 days. At the end of this period, you’ll need to decide whether to renew this reservation form (and pay another $25 filing fee) or proceed to register your LLC.

Note: Before submitting this request, we recommend checking if your desired business names are available for use by completing a Georgia Business Entity Search.

When choosing a name for your LLC, it’s important to select one that corresponds to an available domain. This is because a matching domain ensures consistency between your LLC’s name and its online presence, which helps to strengthen its brand recognition and credibility.

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Doing Business As (DBA) Name

If you want to operate your Georgia business under a name other than the one it’s legally registered as, you’ll need to obtain a Doing Business As (DBA) name — which is also known as a Trade name in Georgia.

In order to register a DBA for your business, you’ll need to file the relevant DBA application with the Clerk of the Superior Court in your state and pay a registration fee. While the exact fee amount will vary by county, you can generally expect to pay between $150 and $200 in filing fees.

For example, trade name registration costs $168 in Gwinnett County, $172 in Fulton County, and $170 in DeKalb County.

On top of this, you’ll also be required to publish a copy of your trade name’s registration in your local newspaper weekly for two consecutive weeks — which is another cost to bear in mind.

Note: You can find a full list of the contact information for each Georgia county using the Superior Court Clerks of Georgia website.

Georgia LLC Operating Agreement ($0+)

While not mandatory, it’s good practice for LLCs to have an operating agreement (or “company agreement” as it’s known in Georgia).

This document defines the roles and responsibilities of the members or managers in your LLC and will help prevent and solve any business disputes that may arise later on.

While you can opt to hire an online service or business attorney to draft this document for you (which typically costs at least a few hundred dollars), it’s actually quite straightforward to do it yourself at no extra cost.

It’s also important to note that this doesn’t actually need to be filed with the Georgia Secretary of State — it’s purely an internal document.

Additional Georgia LLC Formation Costs

On top of the more common fees outlined above, there are a number of additional formation costs that LLCs in Georgia may encounter depending on their circumstances.

We’ve summarized some of these additional costs below:

Expedited Georgia LLC Filing

The Office of the Georgia Secretary of State typically processes documents within seven business days of receipt.

If you want your LLC’s Articles of Organization to be processed more quickly than this, you can pay extra for the following expedited filing services:

  • Two business days: $100
  • Same day: $250
  • One hour: $1000 (if delivered between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.)

These additional fees are the same regardless of whether you’re filing for a domestic or foreign entity.

Local Business Licenses

Depending on the exact location and industry of your LLC, there are a number of local-level licenses and permits it may be required to obtain in order to operate legally.

For instance, in Athens, home-based businesses must obtain a home occupation license for $20, while those in Atlanta will need to pay a $75 license fee. By contrast, a food truck license costs $130 in Macon but $145 in Atlanta.

Since these licenses can vary greatly in their cost, you’ll need to get in contact with your local county for a more specific figure.

Note: You can find the contact details for the relevant authority in your county using the Superior Court Clerks Directory website.

Certificate of Existence

A Georgia Certificate of Existence is a document often required to open a business bank account, or by lenders in order to check that your LLC is properly registered and legally authorized to conduct business with the state.

You can submit a request for this certificate online alongside a fee of $10 or by mail or in person alongside a $20 fee.

While it typically takes two business days to process this certificate, you can pay an additional $50 for same-day processing.

Certified Copies of Business Documents

Alongside your Certificate of Existence, it’s not uncommon for financial institutions to request certified copies of your LLC’s business documents when opening a business bank account or obtaining financing.

If you want to obtain certified copies of your Georgia Articles of Organization it will cost $30, and generally takes around seven days to process once it has been received.

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Cost to Maintain an LLC in Georgia

In addition to the cost of forming an LLC in Georgia, there are also several ongoing costs you’ll be responsible for paying each year.

We’ve outlined these recurring costs associated with maintaining a Georgia LLC below.

Annual Registration

By April 1 each year, your Georgia LLC will need to submit an Annual Registration to the Secretary of State’s Georgia Corporations Division — which costs $50 if submitted online and $60 if submitted by mail.

You can file your annual report online using the Georgia Corporation Division website, where more detailed instructions on how to complete the filing process can also be found.

Note: If your LLC misses this April 1 deadline, it will be charged a $25 late fee — failure to pay this may lead to your business suffering a civil lawsuit or administrative dissolution by the Georgia Secretary of State.

Registered Agent Maintenance

If you decide to take advantage of a professional registered agent in order to handle your legal documents, you’ll be required to pay an annual fee in return for their services. This fee commonly ranges between $35 and $300 depending on the provider and features you select.

While you’re not required to use a professional registered agent service, it’s highly recommended.

Taxes

In addition to the federal taxes your LLC is required to pay regardless of the state it’s based in, there are a variety of state-specific taxes in Georgia you need to be aware of, including:

  • Sales tax
  • Employment taxes
  • Business privilege taxes
  • Property taxes

Additionally, there are various local taxes your LLC may need to pay depending on the municipality or county it’s based in, such as:

  • Sales and use taxes
  • Property tax

Georgia vs Other States

When compared to many other popular business-friendly states, the cost of setting up an LLC in Georgia is on the more expensive end. While its initial filing fee of only $100, Georgia’s recurring annual fee of $50 can make it more expensive than other popular states in the long run.

By comparison, if you decided to set up your LLC in California instead, you would only be required to pay a $70 initial startup fee and a recurring biennial fee of $20. However, if your business generates more than $250,000 in total revenue, it will also be required to pay an annual franchise tax of at least $800.

Ultimately, the best state to form your LLC will be one in which you plan to primarily operate your business from. This makes it far easier to stay legally compliant on a number of levels, including taxation, licensing, and filing requirements, as you’ll only need to deal with one state’s set of rules.

LLC Cost in Georgia FAQ

How much does an LLC cost in Georgia?

In order to form an LLC in Georgia, LLC owners must pay a state filing fee of $100 if submitted online and $110 if submitted by mail, payable to the Georgia Secretary of State. For more information on other Georgia LLC fees, you can check out our article on How Much Does it Cost to Start an LLC.

How long does it take to start an LLC in Georgia?

The length of time it takes to start an LLC in Georgia varies depending on the filing method used and whether expedited filing was paid for. However, it typically takes between one and three business days for online filings, while mail submissions can take up to 10 days. If you’re interested in getting started, check out our guide on How to Start an LLC in Georgia.

What is the cheapest way to get an LLC in Georgia?

While the LLC cost Georgia imposes is already fairly minimal, a good way to further minimize these costs is to complete the process independently with the Georgia Secretary of State, bypassing the need for legal counsel or formation services.

How much does it cost to register a business name in Georgia?

While it doesn’t cost anything to actually register a business name, Georgia LLCs will be required to pay if they want to use a DBA name or reserve a name they’re planning to use in future. This name reservation fee is $25 for applications made online, and $35 for those submitted by mail, while filing for a DBA application typically costs between $150 and $200 depending on your county.

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