Colorado is an LLC-friendly state with one of the lowest flat-rate corporate taxes. While you may want to get your Colorado LLC running and reap the benefits as soon as possible, it's important to understand how long the Colorado Secretary of State takes to approve your Articles of Organization.
Working with our LLC experts and business advisors with over eleven years of experience in the industry, we've researched the LLC formation in Colorado and the processing times of different registration papers.
Here's what you should anticipate.
Quick Summary
- The Colorado Secretary of State only offers online filing for the Articles of Organization for new Colorado LLCs.
- Online filings for LLCs and small businesses are approved almost immediately after the payment is approved.
- You can file other LLC documents by mail and have them approved by the SOS within 7-10 business days.
How Long Does It Take To Form an LLC in Colorado?
It takes less than 1 business day to form an LLC in Colorado online. However, the process can be approved instantly after payment confirmation.
The Colorado Department also offers other different filing methods, including mail and expedited filing, each with varying processing times, as we'll see further down.
Note that the mail filing option is not available for your Articles of Organization but for other LLC documents, like annual reports.
Colorado LLC Processing Time
The processing time in Colorado accounts for the total time the SOS takes to approve your LLC’s Articles of Organization.
In Colorado, the different filing methods offered by the SOS have other processing times.
Let's take a closer look at each filing method.
1. Online Filings
The Colorado Department only allows online filing for your Articles of Organization for a domestic and foreign LLC. Small business owners can have their LLC approved almost immediately after the filing fee payment is confirmed.
You can access the online documents on the Colorado state website by clicking on the "Summary" page and selecting the "File a Form" option.
You can pay for your documents filed online using a prepaid account or credit and debit card [1].
Filing online can be done at any time except for regular maintenance intervals.
Maintenance is often planned between 11:50 p.m. and 2:00 a.m., Mountain Standard Time. If you are in the process of filing, you must finish payment before maintenance begins.
If your procedure is disrupted by servicing, you must continue your registration later.
The Colorado SOS also has periodic service outages at the close of each year, so it would be best to avoid filing your registration papers at this time.
If you file online, it's good that the Colorado state’s office offers to send you notifications via email so that you know when other document filings are due. You can sign up for email alerts during the registration process.
If you're new to the process of filing online, you can navigate to the "Help on this Page" and get detailed instructions on how to file a particular document online.
This instruction tab is helpful because the SOS doesn't offer legal guidance on filing the forms.
2. Mail Filings
The Colorado SOS offers mail filing options for LLC documents like a periodic report or a business record amendment form.
The SOS will accept documents and process them within 7-10 business days after receipt [2].
This turnaround time may be more because the central distribution center picks up the mailed documents before they're delivered to the SOS office.
Also, the SOS doesn't approve any documents during holidays or weekends.
But because the SOS office doesn't send a certified paper copy of the approved documents, it's best to file your LLC documents online, where you can access images of the approved copies on the "Summary" page under "Filing History and Documents. "
3. Expedited Filings
Expedited processing is an excellent option to receive your LLC files sooner than the standard turnaround time.
In Colorado, you can pay additional state fees of $150 and have your papers processed within 3 business days [3].
Note that this service is available primarily for paper filings because most online submissions are processed almost immediately.
Visit our page for more information on the costs to get an LLC in Colorado.
How To Start an LLC in Colorado
If you want to start an LLC in Colorado, here are nine easy steps.
- Step 1: Look up a Colorado LLC and choose an available business name for your Colorado limited liability company.
- Step 2: Hire a Colorado-based registered agent service to act as the primary point of contact with the SOS and receive all legal notices on behalf of the LLC.
- Step 3: Draft and submit your Articles of Organization to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office along with the filing fee.
- Step 4: Develop an operating agreement - a legal document that'll govern how your LLC conducts transactions and other state management activities.
- Step 5: Register for an employer identification number (EIN) from the IRS for filing taxes and hiring employees.
- Step 6: Open a business bank account to separate your business funds from individual income.
- Step 7: Apply for the relevant LLC business license and permits from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.
- Step 8: Open a wage withholding account if you plan on hiring an employee.
- Step 9: Per Colorado business law, you must get a sales tax license from the Colorado Department of Revenue to sell tangible products in Colorado.
FAQs
How Can I Get My Colorado LLC EIN Number Fast?
You can get your Colorado LLC EIN number fast by visiting the Internal Revenue Service’s website and applying for an EIN. Access to your EIN is granted immediately.
How Do I Register a New LLC Colorado?
You register a new LLC in Colorado by filing your Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State. Once your details are verified and the filing documents approved, your LLC can legally transact in this Colorado department.
Should You Hire an LLC Service in Colorado?
If you are forming a business in Colorado, engaging with a firm that provides a flexible and all-inclusive LLC formation service is advisable to make handling all business requirements easier.
After examining available LLC services in this state, we picked the best LLC services in Colorado that meet all the standards.
These online business formation services provide low-cost LLC formation services with some of the industry's fastest response times.
These services have professional LLC experts and lawyers who understand the formation and management of an LLC and will swiftly walk you through all the Colorado SOS requirements.
References:
- https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/business/helpFiles/LLCintro.html
- https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/business/FAQs/filing.html
- https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/info_center/fees/business.html#SERVICES
