How to form an LLC in Georgia (2026)

File a domestic Georgia LLC on eCorp when you live in Georgia and will do the work from Georgia. Articles of Organization cost $110 ($100 fee + $10 service charge on the Corporations Division schedule). Five steps: confirm Georgia facts, gather name and Georgia street agent, file on eCorp, pay $110, then get a free EIN after acceptance. Compare structures on LLC vs sole proprietorship.

Short version for 2026: form on ecorp.sos.ga.gov, expect $110 at checkout (a 27 August 2026 eCorp receipt matched the schedule), keep a Georgia street registered agent, skip any newspaper “publication fee” pitched for an LLC, then calendar the January 1–April 1 annual registration ($60) for the year after formation.

How much does it cost to form an LLC in Georgia?

$110. The Corporations Division fee schedule (effective 6 September 2025) lists Articles of Organization at $100 plus a $10 service charge, online or on paper. Georgia.gov’s walkthrough still shows the $100 base for online filing; a 27 August 2026 eCorp checkout charged $110. Expedite is optional. Pay what eCorp shows and keep the receipt.

How do I file Georgia Articles of Organization on eCorp?

Create an eCorp user account at ecorp.sos.ga.gov, choose create or register a business → new domestic business → domestic limited liability company, then enter the name, filer email, principal-office mailing address, Georgia registered agent, and each organizer. Pay by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover. Mail filings add Transmittal Form 231.

1. Confirm you live and work in Georgia. Use the domestic Georgia path if you live in Georgia and will do the work from Georgia. A company already formed in another state files for a certificate of authority instead.
2. Gather name, addresses, organizer, and Georgia street agent. Have a distinguishable LLC name or a name-reservation number, filer name and email, principal-office mailing address, a Georgia street registered agent, and the name and address of each organizer.
3. File Articles of Organization on eCorp. Create an eCorp user account at ecorp.sos.ga.gov, choose create or register a business, then new domestic business and domestic limited liability company, and enter the filing information.
4. Pay $110. Pay $110 by an accepted credit card: the $100 Articles of Organization fee plus the $10 service charge on the Corporations Division fee schedule. Expedite is optional. Pay what eCorp shows and keep the receipt.
5. Get an EIN after articles are accepted. After the state articles are accepted, obtain an Employer Identification Number free on IRS.gov. Form the state entity first.

Do I need a Georgia registered agent with a street address?

Yes. Georgia.gov says the registered agent must be located in Georgia, and its renewal page requires a physical Georgia street address where an individual can be found in person. A P.O. box or drop box alone does not qualify. The address is a public record. A member with a Georgia street address can serve. DIY versus commercial: Registered agent basics.

When is the Georgia LLC annual registration due, and what does it cost?

File between 1 January and 1 April of the calendar year after formation — not in the formation year, not on the anniversary. The Corporations Division lists $60 ($50 statutory fee + $10 service charge) online or on paper, with a $25 late penalty. You can prepay up to three years. Missing it can lead to administrative dissolution.

Do I get an EIN before or after the Georgia LLC?

After the articles are accepted. The IRS tells applicants to form the state entity first; the EIN application on IRS.gov is free. Save the filed articles with the control number, then follow Get an EIN after the state entity exists. An EIN is not a local occupational-tax certificate or sales-tax account.

Georgia LLC fee table (re-checked 7 October 2026)

Georgia.gov’s June 2026 register-an-LLC page lists the online fee as $100 (the base before the $10 service charge), mail or in person as $110, and expedite at $100 / $250 / $1,000. The Corporations Division’s own schedule — the one eCorp bills against — shows $110 for articles and $120 / $275 / $1,200 for expedite. Where the two differ, pay what eCorp shows at checkout and keep the receipt. Local occupational-tax certificates, sales-tax permits, and commercial registered-agent invoices sit outside this table.

File in Georgia if the work is in Georgia

Georgia.gov distinguishes a domestic entity (created for the first time in Georgia) from a foreign entity (already formed somewhere else). A foreign entity that transacts business in Georgia follows a different procedure. For a first-time operator who lives and works in Georgia, the domestic filing is the one that matches the facts.

Filing in Wyoming or Delaware does not move the work out of Georgia. A Wyoming or Delaware LLC that transacts business in Georgia is still a foreign entity here: Georgia registered agent, a Georgia certificate of authority ($235 with service charge on the Corporations Division schedule), Georgia annual registration, plus the formation state’s agent and annual report. Wyoming’s own fee schedule (effective 1 July 2026) lists $100 to form a domestic LLC — before Georgia’s fees are added. For most one-state operators, home-state filing is cheaper and simpler. That is the honest default. It is not a rule that no holding company should ever sit in Delaware. When a second state really is in play, see Foreign LLC and certificate of authority.

What to have on the desk before opening eCorp

Georgia.gov’s register-an-LLC page (last updated June 2026) lists what the filing needs:

Optional provisions for the articles (for example 501(c)(3) language) are not required by law; most first-time filings have none. The registered agent can be a member who has a Georgia street address, or a commercial agent that maintains one. The point of the agent is service of process, not branding. How to change the agent later: Registered agent basics for a new LLC.

Five steps to form on eCorp

1. Confirm you live and work in Georgia. The domestic path fits a person who lives in Georgia and does the work from Georgia. A company already formed in another state files for a certificate of authority instead — see Foreign LLC and certificate of authority.
2. Gather name, addresses, organizer, and Georgia street agent. Distinguishable LLC name (or reservation number), filer name and email, principal-office mailing address, Georgia street registered agent, and each organizer’s name and address.
3. File Articles of Organization on eCorp. Create an account at ecorp.sos.ga.gov, then create or register a business → new domestic business → domestic limited liability company.
4. Pay $110. That is the $100 Articles of Organization fee plus the $10 service charge on the Corporations Division schedule, by an accepted credit card. Expedite is optional. Pay what eCorp shows and keep the receipt.
5. Get an EIN after articles are accepted. Form the state entity first, then apply free on IRS.gov — Get an EIN after the state entity exists.

The Corporations Division says online filings are generally processed within 7 to 10 business days of receipt, and paper filings within 15. Expect longer waits in late December through January and at quarter ends (late March, June, and September). Expedite is optional and billed on top of the filing fee.

Paper is slower. Mail filings need the Articles of Organization (form CD 030 or your own draft) plus Transmittal Form 231 (LLC), with a check or money order for $110. Mail goes to the Corporations Division at 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SE, Suite 313 West Tower, Atlanta, Georgia 30334 — that is the state’s filing address, not an address for Formation Lane. A second official overview of the process is georgia.gov/register-llc.

After the articles come back

If the name is available and the filing is complete, Georgia.gov says the articles of organization are returned within the stated processing time. Formation with the state is not a license to skip tax, employment, or local occupational-tax registrations. Georgia.gov states that SOS registration is not the only step before doing business in Georgia.

The IRS tells applicants to form the state entity first, then obtain an Employer Identification Number. The EIN application on IRS.gov is free. Walk through it on Get an EIN after the state entity exists. A single-member LLC often still needs an EIN to open a business bank account even when the LLC is disregarded for income tax.

After the EIN, park operating cash and, if the work calls for it, open a brokerage. See First business checking account and First brokerage — and which ones pay sites like this.

Georgia does not require an operating agreement to be filed with the Secretary of State. A written agreement still matters between members, and a single-member LLC still benefits from a short document that says who owns the company — see LLC operating agreement basics. That is a lawyer’s drafting job if the facts are not trivial.

Annual registration: 1 January–1 April

Cross-state renewal comparison: LLC annual report and annual registration. Every Georgia LLC files an annual registration. Georgia.gov’s formation page and O.C.G.A. § 14-11-1103 put the window at January 1 through April 1. The first annual registration is due in that window in the calendar year after the year of formation. An LLC formed in October 2026 files its first annual registration between 1 January and 1 April 2027 — not in the formation year, and not on the formation anniversary.

Missing the filing can lead to administrative dissolution. That is the state’s leverage; it is not a suggestion to ignore the registry. If the company is already dissolved for a missed registration, start with Reinstate an administratively dissolved or revoked LLC rather than filing a brand-new set of articles by mistake.

O.C.G.A. § 14-11-1101 sets a $50 annual-registration fee and a $25 late-filing penalty. The Corporations Division schedule adds a $10 service charge, so annual registration is $60 online or on paper. You can file for the current year only, or prepay two or three consecutive years. Online annual registrations are processed immediately; mail filings must be postmarked by April 1 to avoid the late fee. One Click Annual Registration is only for entities that are current on fees and need no changes.

Georgia LLC FAQ

How much does it cost to form an LLC in Georgia?

Articles of Organization are $110 online or on paper: the $100 statutory fee plus a $10 service charge on the Corporations Division fee schedule (effective 6 September 2025). A 27 August 2026 eCorp checkout charged the same $110. Expedite is optional. Pay what eCorp shows and keep the receipt.

Does a Georgia LLC need newspaper publication?

No. Georgia LLCs do not have a newspaper-publication step for articles of organization. The publication rule in O.C.G.A. § 14-2-201.1 is for corporations, not LLC formation. Reject any “Georgia LLC publication” package. New York LLCs do publish under a different statute — see How to form an LLC in New York.

When is the first Georgia LLC annual registration due?

January 1 through April 1, in the calendar year after formation — not in the formation year. The Corporations Division fee schedule lists annual registration at $60 ($50 statutory fee + $10 service charge), online or on paper, and a $25 late penalty. Cross-state renewals: LLC annual report and annual registration.

Can I use a P.O. box as my Georgia registered agent address?

No. Georgia requires a physical street address in Georgia where a person can be located — not a P.O. box or drop box alone. The registered-agent address is a public record. DIY versus commercial tradeoffs: Registered agent basics for a new LLC.

Should I form in Wyoming or Delaware if I live and work in Georgia?

For a one-state operator who lives and works in Georgia, home-state (domestic Georgia) filing is the honest default. A Wyoming or Delaware LLC that transacts business in Georgia still needs a Georgia certificate of authority ($235 with service charge on the Georgia schedule), a Georgia registered agent, and Georgia annual registration — plus the formation state’s agent and report. When a second state is really in play, see Foreign LLC and certificate of authority.

Do I get an EIN before or after filing the Georgia LLC?

After the state articles are accepted. The IRS tells applicants to form the state entity first; the EIN application on IRS.gov is free. Sites that charge for an EIN are reselling a government form. Walkthrough: Get an EIN after the state entity exists. After the EIN, park operating cash in a dedicated account — see First business checking account.

Does Georgia require an operating agreement to be filed?

No. Georgia does not require an operating agreement to be filed with the Secretary of State. Banks often still ask for one, and a single-member LLC still benefits from a short written ownership document. Basics: LLC operating agreement basics.

How long does Georgia LLC filing take?

The Corporations Division says online filings are generally processed within 7 to 10 business days and paper filings within 15, with longer waits in late December–January and at quarter ends. Optional expedite on the Division’s schedule is $120 (two business days), $275 (same day, by noon), or $1,200 (one hour). This page does not guarantee SLAs.

What this page does not cover

• Professional LLCs, series LLCs, or conversions from a corporation.
• Sales-tax, Department of Revenue, or Department of Labor accounts — those have their own registrations.
• Whether an S corporation election is worth the payroll. That is a CPA conversation after there is real net income, not a formation-day default.
• Voluntary dissolution, termination, or cancellation — see Dissolve or cancel an LLC.
• Any promise that an LLC prevents a personal guarantee on a bank account or a business card. It usually does not.