Georgia SOS LLC Filing vs. ZenBusiness Georgia LLC Filing

Yes. The Corporations Division accepts Articles of Organization directly from business owners, online through eCorp or by mail.

Filing with the Georgia SOS on your own means running your own name search, completing the Articles of Organization, naming a registered agent and filing an annual registration every year after that. The $105 Georgia filing fee applies either way, so the question is how much of that work you want to handle.

Georgia charges $105 to file Articles of Organization for an LLC, and a $10 service charge applies on top of state filing fees.

All fees are nonrefundable, so a filing the state cannot accept costs the fee as well as the time. Optional costs include a name reservation and expedited review. The recurring cost after formation is the annual registration.

Current amounts are published in the Secretary of State’s guide to registering a domestic entity.

The total cost is the same. The ZenBusiness Starter package has a $0 service fee, so you pay Georgia’s $105 filing fee and nothing more.

Filing with the Georgia SOS on your own is not cheaper, because that $105 is a state fee that applies no matter who submits the paperwork. The difference is who prepares the filing, who reviews it before it reaches the state and who keeps track of the annual registration each spring.

If you want more handled up front, ZenBusiness Pro is $199 per year plus the $105 Georgia filing fee and adds 1-business-day submission, an EIN and an operating agreement template.

An annual registration. Georgia uses that term rather than annual report, which sends owners looking for the wrong filing in the state system.

The function is the same as an annual report elsewhere. It confirms the LLC’s principal office address and registered agent information with the Corporations Division and keeps the business in good standing.

Between January 1 and April 1 each year, at a $50 fee plus a $10 service charge.

A newly formed LLC does not owe one immediately. The first annual registration is due in the window that falls in the year after the LLC was formed, so a business formed this year files its first registration next spring.

The registration is also how changes to the principal office address or registered agent get recorded during the year.

An LLC that does not file its annual registration is subject to administrative dissolution by the Secretary of State.

An administratively dissolved LLC can be reinstated within five years of the effective date of dissolution. Until the record is cleared, the public record shows the LLC as noncompliant, which affects the ability to obtain a certificate of good standing. Details are in the Corporations Division LLC filing procedure.

Yes. Every Georgia LLC must name a registered agent with a physical street address in Georgia, and the agent’s information appears in the public record along with the principal office address.

You can serve in that role yourself, which means being available at the address during business hours. Using an agent service replaces your address in the registered agent field. Georgia also collects a principal office address that is public, so a home-based business may still have a home address on file either way. Registered agent service is available as an add-on with the Starter and Pro packages and is included in ZenBusiness Premium at $399 per year plus the $105 Georgia filing fee.

Processing varies with office workload. Paper filings generally take about 15 business days from the date the Corporations Division receives them, and online filings through eCorp are faster.

Georgia sells expedited review on top of the filing fee: two business days for an additional $120, the same business day for $275 when submitted before noon, and one hour for $1,200.

That review time applies no matter who submits the filing. Where the paths diverge is how fast the Articles of Organization reach the state. Filing yourself, you submit as soon as your paperwork is ready. With ZenBusiness, the Starter package submits in 7 to 10 business days and the Pro and Premium packages submit in 1 business day.

Georgia reviews each filing against the minimum requirements of state law, and a rejection means the paperwork missed one of them. Common causes include a name that is not distinguishable from one already on record and an incomplete registered agent designation.

The money side matters here, because all Georgia filing fees are nonrefundable. A rejected filing costs the fee as well as the wait, which is different from states that decline to charge for filings they cannot accept.

ZenBusiness reviews filings before submitting them and backs the work with a 100% Accuracy Guarantee. If there is an error on our end, our team makes it right.

No. ZenBusiness is an independent business formation service with no affiliation with, endorsement from, or sponsorship by the Georgia Secretary of State, its Corporations Division, or the State of Georgia.

ZenBusiness prepares and submits filings to the state on behalf of its customers. The Corporations Division reviews and approves the filing in either case. Georgia’s own filing guidance notes that forming an LLC is simple but deciding whether one should be formed is not, and it recommends professional legal, tax or business advice before and after formation.

Every option below includes Georgia’s $105 filing fee, because the state charges it regardless of who submits the Articles of Organization.

• Filing with the Georgia SOS yourself: $105 total, plus the $10 service charge.
• ZenBusiness Starter: $0 service fee plus the $105 Georgia filing fee. Does not renew.
• ZenBusiness Pro: $199 plus the $105 Georgia filing fee. Adds 1-business-day submission, an EIN and an operating agreement template. Renews at $199 per year, without the state fee.
• ZenBusiness Premium: $399 plus the $105 Georgia filing fee. Adds registered agent service and advanced compliance protection. Renews at $399 per year, without the state fee.

The annual registration is a separate $50 state fee plus a $10 service charge, due every year between January 1 and April 1.