How to Start an LLC in Arizona (2026)
Missing Arizona's newspaper deadline does not dissolve your LLC. The statute says so. A.R.S. 29-3708 lists six grounds for administrative dissolution and publication is not one of them, which changes what your $50 buys.
In This Article
- Overview
- Quick Facts
- Introduction
- Choose a Name for Your Arizona LLC
- Choose a Statutory Agent in Arizona
- File Your Articles of Organization with the Arizona Corporation Commission
- Get an EIN for Your Arizona LLC
- Create an Operating Agreement for Your Arizona LLC
- Open a Business Bank Account for Your Arizona LLC
- Publication Requirement
- Federal BOI Reporting
- Top 3 LLC Services
- FAQ
- Next Steps
What You'll Learn in This Guide
This guide walks you through every step to legally form a Limited Liability Company (LLC) in Arizona, from picking a name to staying compliant year after year. We've kept it practical, current, and free of unnecessary fluff.
Note
Arizona LLC formation costs $50 in state fees. Most founders complete the process in 12 days, ACC live board, either DIY or through a formation service starting at $0.
Arizona LLC: Quick Facts
Last Verified: Aug 2026- Filing Fee (Online)
- $50
- Processing Time
- 12 days, ACC live board
- Expedited Available
- Yes (6 days, ACC live board / $35)
- Annual Report
- N/A
- State Income Tax
- Yes
- Sales Tax Rate
- 5.6%
- Filed With
- Arizona Corporation Commission
- Last Verified
- August 15, 2026
What You Need to Know About Forming an LLC in Arizona
An Arizona LLC puts a legal wall between what you own and what the business owes. That wall is the whole point. If the company is sued or runs up debt, your house and your savings sit on the other side of it.
Two things make Arizona unusual. There is no annual report. Once the LLC exists the Commission asks nothing of you again and bills you nothing either. Then there is the newspaper rule. Most new LLCs have to run a notice of formation in a local paper within sixty days. You are off the hook if your statutory agent street address sits in a county of more than eight hundred thousand people. Today that means Maricopa and Pima.
The steps are plain. Pick a name, name a statutory agent, file the articles, then sort out an EIN and the notice if you owe one. The state charges $50 for all of it. What you can buy on top is speed.
Arizona sells speed in rungs and prices each rung on its own schedule. Here is the whole ladder.
Choose a Name for Your Arizona LLC
Your name has to be one of a kind. The state checks it against every business on file.
Your name has to be distinguishable from every entity already on file with the Commission. Search first, it is free. If the name is clear but you are not ready to file, section 29-3113 lets you hold it for one hundred twenty days for $10.
Search available names →Arizona LLC Naming Requirements
Name Reservation (Optional)
- The fee is $10.
- It holds the name for one hundred twenty days.
- You file it with the Commission.
State Specific
The agent has a different name here. The rules for naming the LLC itself are the usual ones.
Pro Tip
Search the Commission name database before you fall in love with a name. It is free and it takes two minutes.
Choose a Statutory Agent in Arizona
Other states call this the registered agent. Same job. Your agent takes legal papers for the LLC and needs a real street address in the state.
Your statutory agent takes legal notices, tax mail and court papers for the LLC. Arizona wants a real street address in the state. No P.O. boxes. The agent can be a person who lives here, an Arizona company, or an out of state firm cleared to do business here.
An agent service does not make you anonymous here, and it is worth being clear why. A.R.S. 29-3201(B)(4) puts every member on the articles of a member managed LLC, name and address both. Manager managed is not much better. It names every manager, plus every member holding twenty percent or more. The articles are public. The Commission also lets anyone search its records by principal name, so one query on a person returns the companies they run. An agent service fixes the agent address. It does nothing to the ownership field.
Your Three Options
- Be your own agent. It is free. Your street address then joins your name on the public record, and you have to be there in business hours.
- Ask someone you trust in Arizona. They need a real address here and they need to be reliable.
- Hire an agent service. It runs $50 to $300 a year, keeps your home address off the agent field, and means nothing gets missed.
State Specific
Most states call this the registered agent. Arizona uses another word for the same job.
Pro Tip
A professional statutory agent keeps your home address out of the agent field. It does not keep your name out of the articles, which section 29-3201(B)(4) requires. Treat those as two separate problems.
File Your Articles of Organization with the Arizona Corporation Commission
This is the filing that makes the LLC real. You send Form L010 to the Commission, online or by post.
Form L010 asks for a short list. Your LLC name, your statutory agent name and street address, your principal address, how the LLC is managed, and the member or manager names section 29-3201(B)(4) wants. File it online or by post. Online means the Arizona Business Center, the portal that used to be eCorp.
File Online
File by Mail
$50
Filing Fee
online or by mail
12 days
Regular Examination
ACC board, 15 Aug 2026
$85 total
Expedited
6 days on the same board
Arizona sells speed in rungs and prices each one. Regular is in the $50. Expedited is $85 all in. Above that sits accelerated examination. Next day is $100, same day is $200 if the Commission has it before 10am, and a two hour turn is $400 between 8am and 3pm. Each of those is charged on top of the filing fee. The Commission posts what the tiers are really doing on a board it restamps daily. Check it the morning you file, rather than trusting any guide, this one included.
State Specific
The exemption is a population test, not a list of names. Section 29-3201(G)(2) excuses you when your statutory agent street address sits in a county of more than eight hundred thousand people. Two counties clear that bar today. Maricopa and Pima.
Important
Publication is still required if your statutory agent sits outside Maricopa or Pima County. Three runs, sixty days. What it does not carry is a dissolution penalty, because A.R.S. 29-3708 lists six grounds and publication is not one of them.
Recommended: Northwest Registered Agent
$39 + state fee. Includes registered agent, business address, domain, website, email, and phone. No upsells.
Get an EIN for Your Arizona LLC
An EIN is a federal tax ID number for your business. You need one to open a bank account, hire employees, and file taxes.
Get your EIN straight from the IRS. It is free. The form takes about ten minutes and the number comes back on the spot. You will need the LLC legal name and the date the Commission approved your articles.
Apply for your EIN on IRS.gov →Create an Operating Agreement for Your Arizona LLC
An operating agreement sets out who owns the LLC and who runs it. Arizona does not require one. Skipping it hands both questions to the default statutes.
Without an agreement the default Arizona statutes decide how your LLC works. They rarely match what you wanted. Profit splits, who makes the calls, and what happens when a member walks all fall back on the code. Your bank will probably ask to see one when you open the account.
Key Sections to Include
Pro Tip
Single member LLCs need one too. It marks the line between you and the company, and that line is what protects your house.
Open a Business Bank Account for Your Arizona LLC
A business account keeps your money and the company money apart. That gap is what holds the shield up.
Mixing personal and business money is the fastest way to lose the protection you filed for. If a court decides you treated company funds as your own it can pierce the veil and come after you personally. A separate account is the defence. Use it from day one.
What to Bring to the Bank
- Your approved articles from the Commission.
- The EIN letter from the IRS.
- A copy of your operating agreement.
- A photo ID.
- Your principal business address.
Pro Tip
Plenty of Arizona banks and credit unions run free business checking for small LLCs. Shop around first.
Publication Requirement
Arizona requires LLCs to publish a notice of formation in a local newspaper.
Arizona gives you sixty days from the day the Commission files your articles to publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of your statutory agent's street address, three consecutive publications, under A.R.S. 29-3201(G). The same subsection excuses you if that county holds more than eight hundred thousand people, because the Commission posts the approval to its own database instead. Maricopa and Pima are the only Arizona counties above that line today, so the exemption is a population test, not a fixed list of county names. Filing an affidavit of publication afterwards is optional, the statute says one may be filed. The Commission charges nothing for any of this, the newspaper sets its own rate, so ask the paper in your agent's county before you budget for it.
Important
Failure to meet the publication deadline can result in the suspension of your LLC.
Federal BOI Reporting
No. FinCEN exempted every company created in the United States from beneficial ownership reporting in its interim final rule of 26 March 2025, applied from 21 March 2025, and has since made that exemption permanent by final rule. An Arizona LLC formed in Arizona files nothing with FinCEN.
Top 3 LLC Formation Services
We've independently reviewed the top LLC formation services in Arizona. Here's how they compare.
| Feature | Northwest Registered Agent Best Overall | ZenBusiness Best for LLC Formation | Tailor Brands Best for Branding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $39 + state fees | $0 + state fees | $0 + state fees |
| Formation Speed | Same-day filing | 7-10 days, 1 day on Pro | 2-14 business days |
| Support | Lifetime Corporate Guides | Phone, Chat, Email | Phone, Chat, Email |
| States Covered | 50 states | 50 states | 50 states |
| In Business Since | 1998 | 2015 | 2014 |
| Get Started → | Get Started → | Get Started → |
Frequently Asked Questions
What to Do Next
Once your Arizona LLC is approved, take these steps to set your business up for success.
Get an EIN
Apply for free in about 10 minutes at IRS.gov, required before opening a bank account or hiring anyone.
Open a Business Bank Account
Keep personal and business money apart from day one. Bring your EIN, your approved articles and a photo ID.
Create an Operating Agreement
Arizona does not ask for one. Write it anyway. It settles who owns what before anyone falls out.
Publish Your Notice of Formation
Outside Maricopa or Pima County? Run the notice within sixty days. Nothing is due after that. No report, no yearly fee.
Ready To File?
Start your Arizona LLC with Northwest Registered Agent. $39 + state fee includes registered agent, business address, domain, and more.
About the Author
Legal & Compliance Analyst
Daniel grew up in the shadow of Silicon Valley but chose the legal route over engineering, working as a paralegal for a corporate law firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions. He realized that early-stage founders were constantly making catastrophic legal mistakes because they couldn't afford a $500/hour attorney, prompting his move to B2B media.
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