How to Conduct a Hawaii Business Entity Search

Search Hawaii businesses by name

The most common usage of the Hawaii Business Express tool is as a business name search. The Business Registration Division of the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs provides this handy tool for free as a means of helping people find details about business registrations in the state. Whether you’re using it as a Hawaii LLC name search or you’re looking for details about the registered agent of a corporation, the Hawaii business name search can help.

The step-by-step instructions for the Hawaii business name search couldn’t be much simpler. All you need to do is input your search terms into the empty field and choose whether you’d like to search for businesses that begin with or contain them. From there, the tool will search all businesses registered in the state and display the matching results.

We’ll note that the search is not a definitive method to determine business name availability. This tool can give you an idea of whether or not a name is available, but to be sure, you’ll need to contact the Business Registration Division.

On the following screen, you can view a few details about each business in the search results. This is where the Business Registration Division displays each company’s name, file number, current status, and record type (entity, trade name, service mark, etc.). For more information about any of these companies, simply click on the business name.

The next page shows you a variety of details about your chosen company. You can view its name, business entity type (limited liability company [LLC], corporation, etc.), term of existence, filing number, management structure, current status, registered agent info, home jurisdiction, registration date, mailing address, and more. You can also purchase a Certificate of Good Standing for $7.50 and sign up for reminders and alerts for annual reports.

Further down the page, the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs details the company’s annual filing history, ownership details, and formation documents.

Search Hawaii businesses by registered agent

You can also research businesses’ registered agents using the “agent search” provided by the Hawaii Business Registration Division. Unlike the business name search, the agent search isn’t free — there’s a $2 fee to use it, plus $0.05 per business record.

To start your search, enter the registered agent’s name into the empty field and select whether you’d like to search for all businesses or restrict your query to active businesses.

You can view the agent search results page for free — the fees only kick in when you click through to the registered agent details page. The information on the search results page is rather limited, as you can only see the agent’s name and how many business records are associated with them.