Sunbiz LLC name availability [Glossary]

Last updated : Aug 2, 2022

How do I find out if a business name is available in Florida?

How to search Florida business names. The Florida Secretary of State Division of Corporations maintains a database of business licenses that are registered in the state of Florida. The database maintains a list of active and expired business licenses that is free for the public to search.

How do I find an LLC name in Florida?

You can perform a search for the name in the online Florida Division of Corporations Records Database.

Can I use an inactive LLC name in Florida?

Yes. You can use an inactive business name in Florida. In the state of Florida, names with an “INACTIVE” or “INACT” status are available, while names with an “ACTIVE”, “ACT”, or “INACTIVE/UA” status are not available for use.

How do I know if my LLC is approved in Florida?

You will receive your filing confirmation by email at the address you provided. Your confirmation will be sent to you once the document is examined and approved by the Division of Corporations. You will not receive a confirmation by U.S. Mail.

How long does it take Sunbiz to approve LLC?

This depends on how you filed. If your Articles of Organization were submitted and paid for online, they will usually be processed within two to three business days. Submissions and payments made by mail will take three to five business days to be processed.

How long does it take for an LLC to be approved in Florida?

Florida LLC Approval Times Mail filings: In total, mail filing approvals for Florida LLCs take 3-4 weeks. This accounts for the 5-7 business day processing time, plus the time your documents are in the mail. Online filings: In total, online filing approvals for Florida LLCs take 1-2 business days.

Can 2 businesses have the same name in Florida?

A fictitious name registration is important because: By statute, more than one individual or business may register the same fictitious name.

Can LLCs have the same name?

Can Two LLCs or Companies Have the Same Name? Yes, with some exceptions. When you're forming a corporation or an LLC in a state, the name must be unique to your business within that state. Others can form LLCs and businesses in other states that have the same name as yours.

What is a good name for an LLC?

• Make It Legal. The most important thing when you're choosing an LLC name is to make sure it's legal.
• Make It Memorable. You want your LLC name to be something people can remember.
• Make It Meaningful.
• Make It Original.
• Make It Distinctive.
• Make It Domain Name Ready.
• Make It Social Media Friendly.

Can I use a business name that is inactive on Sunbiz?

Active: An active status indicates that an LLC exists in Florida with that name, so it would not be available for use. INACT: An “inact” or inactive status means that an LLC went through the administrative dissolution process and has been formally dissolved. The business name could be available for use.

How much does it cost to reinstate an LLC in Florida?

Reinstatement Fees **Florida law requires a $500 reinstatement fee for each year or part thereof the limited partnership was revoked + $500 filing fee for each report year due.

What does name HS mean on Sunbiz?

name history NAME HS: This status stands for name history, which indicates that the company has changed its name. CROSS RF: This status stands for cross reference, which means that the company made an attempt to qualify in the state.

Can I be my own registered agent in Florida?

A business entity with an active Florida filing or registration may serve as a registered agent. An entity cannot serve as its own registered agent. However, an individual or principal associated with the business may serve as the registered agent. The registered agent must have a physical street address in Florida.

Do you need a registered agent for an LLC in Florida?

Florida requires a registered agent and a registered office for every corporation, limited liability company (LLC), and limited partnership that is either organized in Florida (a domestic entity) or organized in another state, territory, or country and that conducts business in Florida (a foreign entity).

What do you need to start an LLC in Florida?

1. Name Your Florida LLC.
2. Choose Your Registered Agent.
3. Prepare and File Articles of Organization.
4. Receive a Certificate From the State.
5. Create an Operating Agreement.
6. Get an Employer Identification Number.
7. Obtain your Florida Business License.
8. Establish a Bank Account.

What is the downside of an LLC?

Disadvantages of creating an LLC Cost: An LLC usually costs more to form and maintain than a sole proprietorship or general partnership. States charge an initial formation fee. Many states also impose ongoing fees, such as annual report and/or franchise tax fees. Check with your Secretary of State's office.

Do LLCs pay taxes in Florida?

LLCs in Florida Like S corporations, LLCs, except those that are also incorporated, are shielded from state income tax, and their owners pay no tax to the state of Florida on the personal income that passes through to them from the businesses.

Is Sunbiz only for Florida?

Updated May 4, 2022: Sunbiz register LLC is the division that allows for registration of businesses in the state of Florida, including limited liability companies (LLCs).

Do I need a DBA for my LLC?

No, you do not need a DBA for an LLC. This is because when you register an LLC, you'll also register your company name eliminating the need for a DBA. However, in some instances, you may use a DBA for your LLC to expand your business and operate part of it under a name other than your original business name.

At what point do I need an LLC?

If you have business partners or employees, an LLC protects you from personal liability for your co-owners' or employees' actions. An LLC gives you a structure for operating your business, including making decisions, dividing profits and losses, and dealing with new or departing owners. An LLC offers taxation options.

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welcome to the LLC name research video there are a few things to keep in mind when selecting your LLC name your desired LLC name must be distinguishable and cannot be too similar to the names of existing organized entities there are also certain restrictions and requirements to keep in mind regarding the use of certain words and abbreviations suffixes and different business types do not constitute a difference for example the name business enterprises LLC would not be available for use if there was an active corporation filed under the name business enterprises incorporated the singular plural and possessive forms of a word are considered the same and spaces and punctuation do not constitute a difference inserting the words and the and we're using the ampersand symbol do not constitute a difference either for example umbrellas LLC and umbrella incorporated and the umbrella limited are considered the same and are not distinguishable from one another neither are the names apple orange LLC apples and oranges LLC and apple and orange limited the word Florida the abbreviation FL or the words of Florida at the end of the name do not constitute a difference either for example PGM logistics LLC would not be available for use if there was an active LLC with the name PGM Logistics of Florida LLC your LLC name will be available for use if there are no other names like it you will also need to pay attention to the status of existing registered names in the search results as some are available for use and some are not names with an inactive or enact status are available for use these are prior business names which have since expired and are now available to new businesses names with the act act or inactive /un for inactive and unavailable are not available for use active names are currently registered business names and an inactive and unavailable name is not yet available for new businesses to use we will go into detail through our examples in our online search since an LLC is not a corporation you cannot use the words incorporated or corporation or an abbreviation of either such as ink or Corp your LLC name must end with the words limited the liability company or the abbreviations LLC dot or LLC the abbreviation LLC is the most common if your LLC will be used in conducting business with others you may want to make it easy to remember easy to spell and something remarkable we also recommend thinking of an alternative name now in case you find yours is unavailable example your desired LLC name is speedy delivery services LLC and an alternative would be quick delivery LLC or at your door quick LLC keep in mind that if after you submit your articles of organization which is discussed in lesson 2 and it is discovered that your name is not available for use the division of corporations will send back your filing with details on what needs to be changed there are no additional costs associated with this we are now ready to search your desired LLC name against all of the registered entities in florida the link below this video will take you to the state's online database let's head over to the state's website this is what the search page will look like if for any reason the link below this video did not work please go to WWN biz org once on the homepage scroll down and on the left click search our records underneath corporations trademarks limited partnerships and limited liability companies click the first link which is inquire by name for a first example we will use bagels with LOX LLC I'm now going to type bagels with LOX into the search bar and then click search now capitalization is not important and don't enter the suffix such as limited liability company or the letters LLC you can just enter the first part once the search results are displayed you have to look through the alphabetical list and find the LLC name here you can see bagels with LOX LLC and if you scroll over to the right under status this is active that means that this is a registered business and I cannot use that name for my LLC remember if you see the status active AC T inactive /un which is in active and unavailable or you see named HS any of those names will not be available for use I'm now going to click the back button and let's try another search for this example I'm going to use the ride Adventures LLC I've entered the words the ride Adventures and I'm going to click search now you'll see here in research results that the first one that came up was ride Adventures LLC and if I look under status this is an active registered business although my desired name was the ride adventures LLC there's already a business with the name ride Adventures LLC remember the words the N a + + / sound or space don't constitute a difference in this example I cannot use this name I'm going to hit the back button again and we'll do another example for this example I'm going to go with a name Ships cafe of Florida I've entered the words and I'm now going to click search now sometimes you'll need to scroll through the list in order to see whether or not there is a similar name since I typed in ships cafe I'm realizing that the first results are a little bit ahead in alphabetical order I'm going to scroll down and click previous list and I'm gonna scroll down to the bottom you'll see at the bottom here I found ships cafe LLC and although I wanted the name ships cafe of Florida LLC using the word Florida the abbreviation FL or the words of Florida does not constitute a difference and in this case because this business is active I cannot use this name let's go back to the search screen and do another example for this example the desired LLC name is consulting across borders I've entered the desire name and will click search now for this example you'll see that we've come across consulting across borders Incorporated however if you look to the right hand side this name is inactive which means it's available for use the status in act or inactive means that the name has expired and is now available for new businesses if this were my LLC name of choice I could now move forward onto the next step which is the articles of organization let's do one more example let's go with the name byah Management LLC I've typed in the words by a management and I'm going to click search now as I scroll through this list I realize that there are no other existing businesses with even the word bhaiyya let alone by a management or something similar for this example I could move forward with the name by a management LLC if you have specific questions regarding your LLC's name availability you can call the division of corporations directly at eight five zero two four five six zero five one once you have found a name that either no one else has registered or a name that has an inactive status you're ready to move forward onto the next step please see lesson 2 for instructions on how to file the articles of organization this now concludes the name research video

Thanks for your comment Jamey Pomposo, have a nice day.
- Wilber Curra, Staff Member

hi everyone and welcome to my channel my name is Jeanette Carrera and I am the CEO of virtual business tutorials today we will show you the steps of how to register your business in Florida if you liked the video give it a thumbs up if you do not like it please comment down below what didn't you like so that we can address it in future videos don't forget to subscribe and turn on the notifications so you don't miss on my new videos and without further after you let's jump into the action let's start by going to some bistek or here we're gonna select start a business and under a start a filing we are gonna choose profit corporation here we're gonna select file or correct Florida profit Articles of Incorporation and before we go further I would like to let you know that before you file to register your business just make sure that you check the name of your business that it was available to be used so it means that if I wanted my business to be named very tall business tutorials before I registered that name I had to go to the third records and search for that name and make sure that nobody else was using it so after you complete that task you can come up here and start registering your business whenever you are on this webpage just make sure that you go around and you read all the instructions here where you know click I mean we're gonna check to certify that we have read and that we accept the Terms and after that we're gonna click on a start new filing in here we're gonna enter the effective date if you can see there you can whenever you are at the website just click on what is an effective date and it's gonna give you a description of what it is more or less what it says is that the effective day can be five stays prior to the date of submission or up to 90 days after the date of receipt then after that one after you and put the effective date you have the option to shoes for certificate of status and a certified copy both of them cost $8.75 and basically the certificate of the status certifies that the corporation is in good standing for the division as corporation and the certified copied certifies the Articles of Incorporation asked you and correct so let's continue we're gonna put the corporate name in this case virtual business tutorials I took that we're gonna add the corporate stock shares I just put a hundred we're gonna add the principal place of business the address if the mailing address is the same as your principal place of business just check on this box where it says that is same as principal address right after that we're gonna enter who the registered agent is the register agent asked her the division of corporation is the person that will accept service of process on behalf of your of a business entity so just go ahead read the description so that you have a idea of what a register agent is and you know who you should put as a registered agent making a fine then we can place the name of the incorporated in this case the incorporator is the person completing the dis priming with the name aunty address noticing here before we go down the bride up off where is this notice of annual report you need to make note of this because whenever your file or whatever you register for your business the next year we'll be required to file an annual report so read through all this and just make a note so you don't forget so after you have finished recording the incorporator name and address just go ahead and sign right here either you can put a description of the business I mean the corporate purpose or you can just check and it will say any and all lawful business read always and it says do not check this box if a professional association you must list specific purchase below so you have two hundred and forty characters remaining then after that we're gonna fill out for the name and email address and they need an email address because they're gonna be contacting you through the email after we finished writing the email then we're gonna go to the officer and director you're gonna put all the officers and directors if it is only one to spit one if it is more than one go ahead and list everyone after you finish click continue so when you hit continue it will ask you to review everything that you have done review it and then click continue and you're gonna get online filing information right here I highlighted this because it's very important and it is that to allow one to two business days for your document to be examined and filed by the office you should not be applying for the federal employer identification number yet so whenever you get an email from the division of corporations are telling you that your company has been affected then you can go ahead and apply for the FBI and click continue and in this page is the payment page you will be selecting either by the car payment or as some busy file accounting in this case which shows credit card so click on credit card payment or the Samba see file I counterpane it right here just below the information as requested and whenever you are done then click Submit just make sure that if you click Submit and it's just still running just let it run a don't click back because you can create a duplicate payment so just let the system work and after you click Submit then you cannot get your corporate filing payment confirmation there's gonna be a document number save it because you're gonna be using it whenever you apply for the cells tax and unemployment this is it thank you very much for watching

Thanks Mahungu9 your participation is very much appreciated
- Wilber Curra

About the author

Wilber Curra

I've studied market economy at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona and I am an expert in petrophysics. I usually feel stressed. My previous job was nuclear fuels research engineer I held this position for 28 years, I love talking about herping and sudoku. Huge fan of Alfred Molina I practice rollerblading and collect coins.