What an Arizona LLC Actually Costs

The core cost of starting an Arizona LLC is the fee the Arizona Corporation Commission charges to file your Articles of Organization. That single fee brings your LLC into legal existence and covers the statutory agent designation that is filed with it. The current amount is shown in the receipt card on this page — Arizona's formation fee is on the low end nationally, which is one reason the state is friendly to small businesses and solo owners.

Unlike some states, Arizona does not bundle a mandatory separate charge for the statutory agent designation into a second line item at the Commission — naming your agent is part of the formation filing. What varies your total is what you add on top: expedited processing, the publication step if it applies to you, and whether you hire a commercial statutory agent.

Expedited processing

Standard processing at the ACC runs roughly two weeks. If that is too slow — you are signing a lease, opening an account, or bidding on time-sensitive work — Arizona offers expedited handling for an additional state fee that brings the turnaround down to a few business days. It is optional. If your timeline is relaxed, the standard queue costs nothing extra beyond patience.

Arizona's publication requirement is the one cost people don't see coming, and it is the biggest reason two Arizona LLCs formed the same week can end up paying different totals.

After the ACC approves your LLC, Arizona law requires publishing a Notice of Publication in an approved newspaper for the county of your known place of business — three consecutive times within 60 days. The newspaper charges for that run, and the amount depends on which paper and county you're in. It is a third-party cost paid to the newspaper, not a state fee, so it does not appear on the ACC's fee schedule.

The Maricopa and Pima exemption saves this cost entirely

Here is the important part: if your known place of business is in Maricopa County or Pima County, you owe nothing for publication. The Corporation Commission posts the notice on its own public database at no charge to you, and no newspaper publication is required. Because Phoenix is in Maricopa County and Tucson is in Pima County, a large share of Arizona LLCs avoid this line entirely. If your business address is in any other county, budget for the newspaper's publication charge on top of your state fee.

Every Arizona LLC needs a statutory agent — Arizona's term for a registered agent — but what it costs depends entirely on how you fill the role.

Serving as your own agent

If you have a physical Arizona street address and you're comfortable with it being public, you can act as your own statutory agent at no cost. The trade-offs are non-monetary: your address goes into the ACC's public database, and you have to be available during business hours to receive legal documents in person.

Using a commercial statutory agent service

A commercial service charges an ongoing fee — typically annual — to serve as your agent, keep your personal address off the public record, and receive and forward legal documents and state notices for you. Whether that fee is worth it depends on your privacy preferences, how often you travel, and whether you want a stable in-state address that doesn't change when you move. For out-of-state owners, a service is effectively required, since you need an Arizona address to satisfy the rule.

This is where Arizona genuinely stands out. In most states, the recurring cost of an LLC is the annual report fee — a yearly charge just to keep the entity active, with penalties if you miss it. Arizona LLCs do not file an annual report and pay no annual report fee to the Corporation Commission at all.

That means, from the state's side, an Arizona LLC costs essentially nothing to maintain year to year. Your recurring costs, if any, come from elsewhere:

• A commercial statutory agent, if you use one, bills on its own cycle (usually annual).
• Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) licensing and returns apply if you sell taxable goods or services — a Department of Revenue obligation, plus city-level TPT and business registration in many municipalities.
• Profession-specific licensing renews on its own schedule for regulated fields.
• Federal and state income tax on the LLC's pass-through income, based on how it is taxed.

None of these are "keep the LLC alive" fees the way an annual report is elsewhere. If you have no employees, no taxable sales, and act as your own agent, the year-two-and-beyond cost of an Arizona LLC to the state can be zero.

A handful of costs are optional or only come up in specific situations. None are required to form a basic LLC, but it helps to know they exist.

Name reservation

If you want to hold your LLC name before filing, the ACC charges a small fee to reserve it for 120 days. Most people skip this and simply file when they're ready.

Trade name (DBA)

If you plan to operate under a name other than your LLC's legal name, you register a trade name with the Arizona Secretary of State — a separate office from the Corporation Commission — for its own fee. This is optional and only needed if you're branding under a different name.

Certified copies and good standing

Banks, lenders, or other states may ask for a certified copy of your Articles or a Certificate of Good Standing from the ACC. Each carries a small fee and is ordered only when something specifically requires it.

Amendments and later changes

Changing your LLC's name or other Articles information means filing Articles of Amendment for a fee. Changing your statutory agent is a separate filing that may carry a small fee. These come up only when your situation changes — they are not part of the initial cost of forming.

The receipt card on this page reflects the current state fees for the standard formation path. Situational and third-party costs — publication outside Maricopa and Pima Counties, a commercial agent, DBAs, expediting — sit on top of that base depending on your choices and where you operate.