How to Start a Georgia LLC: Step by Step

Before anything else, make sure the name you want is actually open. Georgia requires every LLC name to be distinguishable from every other business name already on file with the Corporations Division. That includes corporations, partnerships, and reserved names, not just other LLCs. "Distinguishable" is a legal test, not a gut check. The Division's own examples of names that don't pass: adding only "a," "an," or "the," abbreviating a word ("Ga." for "Georgia"), or swapping in a phonetic spelling ("Boyz" for "Boys").

Run your candidate through the Georgia business search on eCorp. Try the exact name and a few close variants. If something too similar is already registered, the state can reject your Articles, which sends you back to the start and costs you days.

Georgia naming rules

• The name must include an approved designator: "LLC," "L.L.C.," "limited liability company," "limited company," "LC," or "L.C."
• It cannot imply a purpose the LLC is not organized for, or falsely suggest a government agency.
• Some words need another agency's written approval first: insurance-type words (insurance, assurance, surety, fidelity, indemnity) from the Insurance Commissioner; bank, banc, trust, or credit union from the Department of Banking and Finance; and college or university from the Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission.

Optional: reserve the name

Not ready to file but want to hold the name? Georgia will reserve an available name for $35 ($25 plus a $10 service charge). The reservation lasts 30 days from approval or until you submit your formation filing, whichever comes first, and online responses usually take 5 to 7 business days. It does not create the LLC; it just parks the name while you handle the rest.

If you'll operate under a different name

Georgia trade names ("doing business as" names) are registered at the county level with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where you chiefly do business, not with the Secretary of State. Georgia law expects the registration within 30 days of starting to use the name, and most counties require you to publish notice in the county's legal organ newspaper. Handle that only if you plan to trade under a name other than your LLC's legal name.

You need a registered agent settled before you file, because the agent's name and Georgia address go directly into the Articles of Organization. The registered agent is the party that receives lawsuits, state notices, and official correspondence for your LLC, and Georgia requires one at all times.

Who can serve

• You: if you're a Georgia resident and you're actually located at a Georgia street address (not a P.O. box or mail drop). Your address becomes part of the public eCorp record.
• Another individual: any Georgia resident located at a street address in the state, such as a partner, an employee, or a Georgia-licensed attorney.
• A commercial registered agent service: a Georgia corporation or LLC, or an out-of-state one with authority to do business in Georgia. It keeps its professional address on the public record instead of yours, has people at that address to accept documents, and forwards what comes in.

One option is off the table: the Secretary of State says an entity cannot be its own registered agent, so your LLC can't name itself.

Why it matters more than it looks

Whatever address you list as the agent's becomes searchable to anyone who looks up your LLC. If you use your home, that home address is now public. Owners who travel, work odd hours, or simply value privacy tend to use a commercial service both to keep their address off the record and to be sure a legal notice is never missed because nobody was home to sign for it.

The Articles of Organization is the filing that brings your LLC into legal existence in Georgia. File it online through eCorp, the faster route, or on paper using Form CD 030 with Transmittal Form 231 and a check. The state fee is $110 either way ($100 plus a $10 service charge).

The Division says online filings are generally processed within 7 to 10 business days and paper filings in about 15. If you are working against a hard date, you can pay extra for two-business-day or same-day review. One-hour service also exists, but only for filings made by mail or in person, so it's not something you can choose in eCorp.

What the Articles ask for

• LLC name: your full legal name with an approved designator
• Registered agent name and Georgia street address: a real physical address, no P.O. box
• Principal office mailing address: the main address for the business; it may be outside Georgia
• Filer and organizer names and addresses: whoever submits the filing, plus each organizer
• Entity email address: where the state sends notices and annual registration reminders

What you don't have to disclose

Georgia does not ask you to name your members, spell out ownership percentages, or describe what the business does. The Articles are a compact formation document, not a disclosure filing. Everything about who owns what and how the company runs lives in your operating agreement, which stays private.

The operating agreement is your LLC's internal rulebook. Georgia does not require you to file it and it never appears in any public database, but you want one signed before you take on partners, open accounts, or do real business.

What a solid operating agreement covers

• Ownership: each member's name and ownership percentage
• Capital contributions: what each member put in and any obligation to contribute more later
• Profit and loss allocation: how gains and losses are split; it does not have to track ownership exactly, though it usually does
• Distributions: when and how cash goes out to members and in what order
• Management: whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed, and what authority the managers hold
• Voting: how votes are weighted and which decisions require a full member vote
• Transfers: what happens when a member wants to sell or leave, including any right of first refusal
• Dissolution: how the company winds down and how remaining assets are divided

For a single-member LLC, the agreement reinforces that the company is a genuine separate entity (something Georgia courts weigh when evaluating liability protection), and banks often ask to see it. For a multi-member LLC it is essential. Without one, the default provisions of Georgia's LLC Act fill every gap, and those defaults frequently do not match what the members actually agreed to.

An Employer Identification Number is a nine-digit federal tax ID issued by the IRS for free. Think of it as a Social Security number for the business. You use it on tax filings, to open bank accounts, and to hire employees.

When you need one

• Your LLC has more than one member (a multi-member LLC files a partnership return and requires an EIN)
• You plan to hire employees
• You want a business bank account (most banks require it)
• You have elected S corporation or C corporation tax treatment

A single-member LLC with no employees can technically use the owner's Social Security number for federal purposes, but nearly every advisor recommends getting an EIN anyway. It keeps your SSN off business paperwork and smooths bank account opening.

How to apply

Apply free through the IRS EIN Assistant at IRS.gov. The online application takes about ten minutes and issues the number immediately, so you can use it the same day. You need a U.S. Social Security number or ITIN to file online; applicants without one submit Form SS-4 by fax or mail. Apply only after the Corporations Division approves your Articles. When you form with Mainstay, we apply for the EIN for you as part of the package, and the number itself stays free.

Keeping the company's money separate from yours is not optional. It is what preserves the liability shield. Pay personal bills from the business account, or run business income through your personal account, and you hand a future opponent an argument to pierce the LLC and reach you personally.

What banks usually want to open an LLC account

• Filed Articles of Organization from the Corporations Division
• Your IRS EIN confirmation
• The operating agreement (many banks ask for it; have it ready regardless)
• Government-issued ID for every authorized signer

Community banks and credit unions are often more flexible with brand-new LLCs than the big national chains, and several online business banks can open an account without a branch visit. Before you settle on one, weigh the monthly fees, the caps on transactions, and any minimum-balance requirements.

Most of the compliance work is front-loaded into formation. After that, it comes down to one annual filing plus staying on top of any change to your agent or address.

Annual registration

File your annual registration through eCorp between January 1 and April 1 each year, starting the year after you form. The fee is $60 ($50 plus a $10 service charge). For an LLC, Georgia requires only the registered agent to be listed, so it's a short filing about your agent and addresses, not your members, managers, or finances. Miss the deadline and Georgia adds a $25 penalty. If you still don't file, the Division mails a Notice of Administrative Dissolution, and you have 60 days to file before the LLC is dissolved. Multi-year registration is available if you would rather not track it annually.

Registered agent maintenance

If your agent moves, resigns, or you switch to a new one, update it promptly with an amended annual registration, since Georgia has no separate change-of-agent form. A stale agent address leaves the LLC out of compliance even when everything else is current.

Taxes

Federal filing depends on how the LLC is taxed: Schedule C for a single-member LLC, Form 1065 for a multi-member LLC, Form 1120-S for an S election. Georgia taxes the pass-through income on the members' individual state returns. If you sell taxable goods or services, register with the Georgia Department of Revenue for sales tax.

Local licenses

Georgia has no statewide general business license, but many cities and counties require a local business license or occupation tax certificate, and some professions need state board licensing. These run on their own calendars and are separate from your Corporations Division filing.