How to Form a Missouri LLC

Missouri keeps LLC formation cheap and keeps it simple afterward. You file Articles of Organization with the Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division under RSMo 347.037, and the fee is $50 if you file online or $105 if you send in the paper form. Read that again if you are used to other states: in Missouri, the online filing is the cheaper one. The paper version is Form LLC-1, and the electronic path runs through the Secretary of State's business filing portal, where the only extra charge is a small card convenience fee collected by the state's payment processor.

Once the LLC exists, the Secretary of State will never bill you again for a routine filing, because Missouri LLCs have no annual report. The details are in the steps.

Missouri LLC Formation Steps

1. Confirm the name is available. Missouri wants "Limited Liability Company," "LLC," or "L.L.C." in the name, and the name must be distinguishable from everything already registered. Run it through the state's business entity search before committing.
2. Choose a registered agent. This one is mandatory in Missouri, and the pool is defined by RSMo 347.030: an individual Missouri resident whose business office matches the registered office, or a corporation (domestic, or foreign and authorized here) with its business office at that address. Your LLC cannot name itself; the state's own form instructions rule that out.
3. Fill out the Articles of Organization, Form LLC-1 (LLC 1). The hyphen comes and goes in state listings, but it is the same document either way. The statute behind it says any person "may form a limited liability company by signing and filing articles of organization" with the secretary. The form wants the LLC name, purpose, registered agent and office, management structure, duration, and organizer signatures.
4. File and pay. Online through the Missouri Secretary of State business portal, the charge is $50. Mailing Form LLC-1 with a check runs $105. Same document, same result, $55 apart.
5. Write an operating agreement. Nothing gets filed with the state, but the agreement is where ownership percentages, profit splits, and exit rules live. Banks ask for it. Put it in writing while everyone still agrees.
6. Apply for an EIN. Direct from the IRS, at no charge, usually issued on the spot. Skip anyone selling this as a service.
7. Note what is missing from your calendar. No annual report. No franchise tax. Your standing obligation to the Secretary of State is a single continuous one: keep that registered agent and Missouri registered office on file without a gap.

The $50 vs $105 Split

Missouri publishes both prices on its official fee schedule: Articles of Organization at $105 on paper, $50 online. Most states flip this, charging a premium for the convenient channel. Missouri went the other way, so unless you have a specific reason to mail documents, the portal filing saves you $55 and gets your paperwork into the system directly.

Prefer to hand it off entirely? We prepare and submit the filing for $199, and that includes your first year of registered agent service, which then renews at $99 a year.

Life After Formation

Missouri asks almost nothing of an LLC once it exists. There is no yearly report to remember and no recurring Secretary of State fee. The requirement that never expires is the registered agent and registered office under RSMo 347.030; letting either lapse is grounds for administrative dissolution. Beyond that, tax registrations with the Missouri Department of Revenue and your federal obligations carry on separately from the Secretary of State.

Form Your Missouri LLC