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Last Updated: April 18, 2025
If you’re looking for an excellent Illinois LLC service, choose ZenBusiness. We’ve already formed 800,000+ businesses since 2017!
If you want a socially conscious Illinois LLC service with a service discount, choose ZenBusiness.
Northwest Registered Agent charges $225 (plus state fee) for LLC filing services. That said, Northwest’s personalized customer support is a feature that could make their prices worth paying for some entrepreneurs.
Overall, Northwest does have some points in its favor. However, keep in mind that it charges $225 (plus your state’s required fee) for its LLC filing services.
Want to learn more? See this Northwest LLC review.
LegalZoom is one of the biggest names in the industry, with millions of customers served and frequent advertising efforts. LegalZoom provides an LLC filing package for free (plus the state’s fee).
LegalZoom is a huge company, so while it offers extended support hours, the quality of its customer support may vary a bit from representative to representative.
Want to learn more? See this LegalZoom LLC review.
Incfile/Bizee offers LLC formations for free, as long as you pay your state’s fee. Incfile and ZenBusiness have some similar characteristics, but there are also some significant differences that set the two apart.
If you’re looking for a cheap LLC formation service in Illinois and ZenBusiness doesn’t feel right for some reason, Incfile/Bizee could be worth a closer look.
Want to learn more? See this Incfile/Bizee LLC review.
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In addition to the costs of a business formation service or hiring an attorney (which are optional, as we’ve discussed), there are quite a few other required and optional expenses when forming and maintaining an Illinois business. You cannot form an LLC in Illinois without filing the Articles of Organization, the document that officially registers your business within the state. Illinois charges a $150 filing fee for paper forms or $250 for expedited paper forms and online submissions.
No matter what entity type you form, your business will need to file the Annual Report each year. This is a simple filing, but it keeps the state up-to-date about certain vital but basic information about your business, like your address and registered agent. This filing will cost you $75 annually. Read more about Illinois costs – Illinois LLC costs.
We invite you to take a look at our comprehensive guide to forming a limited liability company in Illinois. This article walks you through the LLC formation process in this state step by step, ensuring that you don’t miss any crucial elements.
One of the most important steps in forming an Illinois LLC is choosing a business name. Once you come up with ideas for your name, you should search through the Secretary of State’s corporation and LLC search to make sure your desired name is available. For more information on conducting a business name search in Illinois, check out Illinois business search on the topic.
You can fill out the Illinois Articles of Organization on the Secretary of State’s website.
All LLCs operating in the state of Illinois are required to submit an annual report to the Secretary of State. It’s due by the first day of your anniversary month each year, and there is a $75 filing fee.
Chances are, you’ll require at least one license or permit to operate your LLC in compliance with Illinois state law. Unfortunately, Illinois does a poor job of explaining its business licensing requirements, as the state’s official Registrations, Licenses, and Permits webpage includes little valuable info. We recommend checking with any relevant state agencies, along with your municipal and county governments, to find out what licenses you might need.
Online filings typically take around 24 hours for the Secretary of State to process. If you don’t file online, the Secretary of State should be able to process your LLC’s formation within 7-10 business days.
If you want more details about what these companies can offer in this state, or you’d like to take a look at some other options, check out our complete guide to Illinois registered agents.
Unfortunately, not all businesses last forever. If the time comes when you need to close your LLC’s doors, you’ll need to do so in a manner consistent with the state’s regulations. That’s why we wrote our guide to Illinois LLC dissolutions, so you can complete the process in a compliant manner.
If your LLC already exists in another state, you don’t actually need to “form” it in Illinois. Instead, you’ll need to foreign qualify the business in this state. This process is somewhat similar to LLC formation, but there are some crucial differences as well. Take a look at our guide to foreign qualifications in Illinois for more information.
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Disclaimer: The content on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. If you have specific questions about any of these topics, seek the counsel of a licensed professional.
Written by Team ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness has helped people start, run, and grow over 800,000 dream companies. The editorial team at ZenBusiness has over 20 years of collective small business publishing experience and is composed of business formation experts who are dedicated to empowering and educating entrepreneurs about owning a company.
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