How to Start an LLC in Missouri (2026)

Published by Jon Morgan | Co-Founder & Chief Editor

Last updated: September 17, 2026

FACT CHECKED by Jon Tobin, Business Attorney

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To form an LLC in Missouri, you file Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State. The fee is $105 by mail or $50 online.

The state never makes you publish a formation notice in a newspaper. This guide walks through every step for a new Missouri LLC, from picking a name to your first tax registration.

Quick Summary

• Search the name database first. The state will not file your LLC if the name is too close to one already on record.
• A member or manager can act as your registered agent. That address becomes part of the public filing, so weigh the savings against your privacy.
• All Missouri LLCs must have an operating agreement, even with one owner. Put it in writing anyway.

Missouri LLC Requirements at a Glance

Here is the whole Missouri LLC filing process in one place, with the exact numbers, names and links you need before you start filing.

How to Start an LLC in Missouri: 5 Steps

The state asks for five things before your LLC exists on paper. You need a name, a registered agent, a filed document, an internal agreement and a federal tax number.

For the general playbook, see our guide to how to start an LLC. It covers the process step by step for each state.

Step 1: Choose and check your LLC name

Your name must include "LLC," "L.L.C." or another word Missouri allows [1]. It cannot use words like "corporation" or "incorporated," since those describe a different kind of entity.

Search the Missouri Business Filings database before you file. The state will reject a name that is not different enough from one already registered.

If you are not ready to file yet, you can reserve your name for 60 days. You get two more 60-day renewals after that.

Step 2: Appoint a registered agent

All Missouri LLCs need a registered agent with a physical street address in the state. The agent must be able to accept legal papers. The agent can be a Missouri resident, or a company allowed to do business in the state.

Many owners simply name themselves or a manager, since that keeps the cost at zero. If you would rather pay someone else, registered agent services in Missouri can handle the role for you.

Step 3: File the Articles of Organization with the Missouri Secretary of State

The Articles of Organization is the document that creates your LLC. It asks for your name, registered agent, management structure, organizer and duration.

You can file it online through the Missouri Business Filings portal. Or mail a paper copy to the Secretary of State's office in Jefferson City instead.

The next section breaks that form down field by field. It covers the fee, the mailing address and what you get back once it is approved.

Step 4: Create an operating agreement

Missouri requires LLC members to adopt an operating agreement [2]. The law lets it be written or spoken instead of typed up.

You never file this document with the state. Keep a signed copy with your business records anyway, in case a dispute ever comes up.

Step 5: Get an EIN

You can get an EIN at no cost directly from irs.gov, and it arrives immediately once you finish the short online application. Keep the confirmation letter somewhere safe once you get it.

Banks ask for it before they will open a business account. You will also need it to hire anyone or to register for Missouri withholding tax.

Filing the Articles of Organization in Missouri: What to Expect

Each field on the Articles of Organization matters. Here is what to expect line by line, from what the form asks for to what you receive once it is approved.

1. What the form asks for

Form LLC-1 asks for your company name and a purpose statement. You can simply state that you will conduct any lawful business.

It also wants your registered agent's name and Missouri address. Pick manager-managed or member-managed on the checkbox before you file.

You will list the name and address of each organizer, and how long the LLC will exist, which can be a set number of years or forever.

An optional field covers your main office address. You can also set an effective date up to 90 days after you file.

If you are forming a series LLC, an extra attachment form lists each series by name and confirms it has limited liability.

2. Fee and payment methods

Paper filers pay by check or money order made out to "Secretary of State." Online filers pay by credit card or e-check, and the processor adds a small convenience fee that the state does not keep.

Bring the exact amount, because a missing or wrong fee is one of the few things that will stop a filing cold.

3. Processing times

The Secretary of State does not post a fixed number of days for online or mailed filings, since it works documents in the order it receives them. Processing has run slower than normal since it switched to a new online system.

4. Where to file by mail or in person

Mail your Articles of Organization, or drop them off, at the Secretary of State's Business Services Division. The address is PO Box 778, 600 W. Main St., Room 322, Jefferson City, MO 65102.

Online filers skip the mail entirely and submit everything through the Missouri Business Filings portal instead, straight from their computer.

5. Common reasons filings are rejected

Missouri does not publish an official list of common rejection reasons. Common reasons include an unpaid fee, a name too close to one already registered, or a missing registered agent.

6. What you receive when it is approved

Mail filers get their stamped, filed Articles of Organization sent back to whatever name and address they wrote on the form. Online filers can log back into their Missouri Business Filings account and pull up the filed document any time, without waiting on the mail.

What It Costs to Start an LLC in Missouri

Here is every fee the state can charge to form and maintain your LLC, gathered from the Secretary of State's own fee schedule.

You only have to pay the Articles of Organization fee. A name reservation, a certified copy and a paid registered agent are optional extras.

You can skip them if you are comfortable acting as your own agent and filing under a name you already know is free.

Missouri-Specific Rules That Change the Process

A few Missouri rules do not show up in a generic LLC checklist, and they can change how you plan your filing.

1. Naming restrictions and restricted words

Beyond that needed word, your name cannot contain "corporation," "incorporated," "limited partnership" or similar words that describe a different type of entity, and it cannot suggest you are a government agency.

Names implying you are a bank or an insurance company are not filed through the Secretary of State at all. Instead, those go through Missouri's Division of Finance or Department of Insurance.

2. Professional LLC rules

Missouri's LLC law does not have its own PLLC filing for licensed professionals. Doctors, lawyers and other licensed professionals can form a regular LLC instead. Or they can organize as a professional corporation, which needs a certificate from their licensing board attached to the filing.

3. Member vs manager disclosure

The Articles of Organization only ask you to check a box for member-managed or manager-managed. You do not have to list every member's name.

Only the organizer who signs the filing appears on it, so owners who are not the organizer are not named on the filing.

4. No annual report, but keep your registered agent current

The state does not require LLCs to submit any annual or biennial report, so there is no yearly deadline to track.

If your registered agent lapses, a filing fee goes unpaid, or required paperwork stays unfiled, the Secretary of State can cancel your Articles of Organization after 30 days' written notice. Late fees run $10 for every 30 days you are behind [3].

5. How Missouri taxes your LLC

By default, the state treats your LLC as a pass-through entity and collects no extra LLC-level tax on top of your personal return.

If your LLC is taxed as a partnership, you can elect into the state's optional Pass-Through Entity Tax. That lets the company pay state tax on the members' behalf, and gives each member a matching credit.

What to Do After Your Missouri LLC Is Approved

Getting your Articles of Organization approved is a milestone, but a few tasks still stand between you and actually running the business.

Take your filed Articles and EIN to open a business bank account. Banks typically ask for both before they will open one in the company's name.

Check whether your city or county needs a local business license. Missouri does not issue one at the state level, only local governments do.

If you sell taxable goods or services, or plan to hire anyone, register with the Missouri Department of Revenue. Use Form 2643 to set up your sales tax or withholding tax account.

If you will have five or more employees, state law makes you carry workers' comp insurance, and that threshold drops to one employee in construction.

Keep your accounting apart from day one. None of this involves the Secretary of State again, unless you change your registered agent or amend your Articles.

FAQs

References:

1. https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=347.020
2. https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=347.081
3. https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=347.183