How to Start an LLC in Florida in 2026 (Step-by-Step)

Hey, my name's Dan, and in this video, I'll show you exactly how to start an LLC in Florida. I'll walk through every single step so that you feel confident you aren't making any mistakes along the way. By the end of this video, you'll have clear expectations of what you need to do at each step, what's required from you, and what your Florida LLC formation will cost. To make the whole process as straightforward and as easy as possible, we're going to use a registered agent service to handle the filing. It's the service that I would use if I were starting a Florida LLC today. And you'll see exactly why it's a great option when we get to that step. But, let's start with step one, choosing your LLC name. Your LLC name needs to be unique in the state of Florida. That means no other active businesses registered in Florida can have the same name or something too similar to it. If you submit a name that's already taken or one that's too close to an existing one, your filing can be rejected, and that $125 state fee is non-refundable. So, it's worth checking on this before you do anything else. Florida also has a few naming rules that you need to follow. The most important one is that your name has to end with an approved designator. That means you need to include limited liability company or an abbreviation like LLC at the end of your name. Most people go with LLC, and that's perfectly fine. You'll also want to avoid words that suggest your business is a government agency or a financial institution, things like agency, commission, bureau, bank, or trust. If you include restricted words like these, your filing can be rejected. Once you have a name in mind, you need to check that it's actually available. In Florida, you can do this through the Florida Division of Corporations website. The official tool is called Sunbiz, and I'll put the link in the description. It's completely free to use, and you don't need to create an account. Just type in your desired name into the search, and check that nothing comes up that's the same or too similar. If you see a close match, you'll want to pick a different name before moving forward. While you're at it, do a quick brand check. Search for your business as a domain name and check the major social media platforms, too. It's fine if the exact match isn't available everywhere. You can usually add a small variation to the social handles, but you want to make sure that the name works for your brand before you lock it in. Finally, do a quick trademark search. You can do that on the USPTO or the United States Patent and Trademark Office database and search your name there. You don't need a trademark to form an LLC, but if someone else has already trademarked a similar name, you could run into legal issues down the road. I'll link that USPTO search tool in the description. It only takes a few minutes and it's worth doing before you commit to a name. Once you have your name sorted, it's time for step two, choosing a registered agent. A registered agent is a person or company that receives official mail on behalf of your LLC. That includes things like legal notices, government letters, and service of process, which is the formal paperwork your business would receive if it were ever sued. Every LLC in Florida is required to have a registered agent. In Florida, your registered agent needs to have a physical street address in the state. A PO box won't work. And they need to be available during normal business hours to receive documents. You have a couple of options here. You can be your own registered agent, which is free, but the trade-off is that your name and home address can become part of the public record. And you have to personally be available during business hours to receive documents. It'll also take more time and effort to file. The other option is to use a registered agent service, which handles all of this for you. For most people, using a service just makes more sense. It keeps your personal address off of public records. You don't have to worry about being home to receive any documents. And it keeps everything organized in one place. It's also not very expensive. Usually well worth handling everything correctly so that you don't have to worry about it. The service that I recommend is Northwest Registered Agent. Their basic package is $39, and it includes your first year of registered agent service for free. And they use their own Florida address, so that your home address stays off public records. Their support is US-based. They scan your mail digitally, and they'll remind you of when deadlines are coming up. Step three is to file your formation paperwork. This is the step that officially creates your LLC in the state of Florida. And I'll walk you through that now, step by step, using Northwest Registered Agent. To join me on this page, and to get the best available deal with Northwest, go to the link on screen, or get here by clicking the link you can find in the description below. Once you're on this page, select Florida as your state, and then click get started. If you're not quite ready to start the filing yet, that's completely fine. Just follow along, and you can come back to the link whenever you're ready. When you land on the order tab, you'll see everything that's included with your formation service. You get 1 year of registered agent service free, a free business address and mail scanning, a free domain, website, email, and phone line, free brand protection, and renewal alerts and filing service enrollment. Northwest calls the domain, the website, email, and phone line their business identity features. They're free forever at the starting level, and if you need to, you can upgrade to paid versions as your business grows. The entity type is already set to LLC, which is what we're forming today. You'll see options for corporation and nonprofit. Those don't apply here, so we'll just leave LLC selected. And the jurisdiction is already set to Florida. You'll see the Florida filing fee here, $125 for the standard processing. That's the state fee, not a Northwest charge. You'd pay that regardless of how you file. Even if you wanted to be your own registered agent and handle everything yourself, you'll still pay this fee to the state of Florida. The Northwest Basic Package is $39, which you can see on the right side of the screen. That's their flat service fee on top of the state fee. You can see the rest of your included items here, and when you're ready, click continue. Now we're on the company tab, and this is where you'll enter your company name. Enter your LLC name in the company field here. You'll notice there's a separate designator drop down right next to it. The most common designator is already selected, so I'd go with that. Below these fields, you'll see the preview showing exactly how your business name will appear on state records. If your name isn't available, Northwest will help guide you through some options. I'll be using Business Tutorial Academy LLC, and once you're done, scroll down and click continue. Now we're on the business details tab. You'll see a check box here for business purpose. By default, it's checked, and it says use generic business purpose. If you want to keep it simple, you can leave that as is. If you'd like to be more specific about what your business does, just uncheck it, and you can type in your own business purpose. I'll leave it checked for now. For both the physical address and mailing address, you'll see that these are both set to the Northwest registered agent address, and that's exactly what we want. This is one of the real benefits of using Northwest. If you click the blue question mark tool tips, they explain why using their address keeps your personal information off public records. I'd recommend leaving both of these set to the Northwest address. Next, if you have a business attorney, you can switch this to yes, and then enter their email. If you don't, just leave it as no. Once you're done, click continue. Now we're on the account tab. This is where you'll create your login for Northwest. Enter your first and last name, then your phone number. Northwest uses that for two-factor authentication to help keep your account secure. Then enter your email address, and create a strong password. Make sure it's something secure that you haven't used elsewhere, and save it somewhere safe. Click continue when you're done. Next is the management tab. Here you'll choose your management type. Member managed is already selected, and for most people that's the right choice. If you click this tooltip, it explains the difference. Member managed means that the owners make all of the decisions themselves. Manager managed is for situations where the owner's not involved in the day-to-day operations, and wants to hire a manager to make business decisions. If you're not sure, leave it on member managed. You'll also see an option to list your members and managers with the state. If you plan to open a business bank account, and you should, so I'll cover that shortly. Most banks will require this information to be on file with the state. So go ahead and select list with the state, which will make that process as easy as possible. Under that tooltip, Northwest also explains why they recommend using their address rather than your home address on public records. Below that option, you'll see member one. Enter your first and last name here. The address is already set to our registered agent address, which is what we want. If your LLC has more than one owner, click add member, and enter each person's details the same way. When you're done, click continue. Now you're on the recommended tab, and this is actually where we handle step four of setting up your LLC, getting your employer identification number, or EIN. You'll see tax ID as the first option here. That's your EIN. Your EIN is basically your business's social security number. You'll need it to open a business bank account, file your taxes, and hire employees if you ever need to. For $50, Northwest will handle all the IRS paperwork for you, and your EIN will show up directly in your Northwest account once it's ready. If you prefer to save the $50, you can get your EIN directly from the IRS for free at irs.gov. Just keep in mind that you have to wait until your Florida LLC is officially approved before you can apply yourself. If you want to keep things moving and have Northwest handle it, the $50 is worth it. I have done this myself in the past, but for my next LLC, I plan to include it here. Otherwise, skip this and apply on the IRS website once your approval comes through. The next option is the S Corp election with the IRS. This doesn't mean you're forming a corporation. You're still forming an LLC. This is purely a tax election that changes how the IRS taxes your business. If you're not sure whether this makes sense for you, you can skip it for now. You can always make this election later, and it's really a conversation to have with a CPA once your business is up and running. We'll come back to that in step seven. Next is premium mail service. This is different from your registered agent service. It's for all of your regular business mail. If you want a unique business address in a real commercial building, and you'd like Northwest to handle all of your incoming mail, this is the option for you. It's not something everybody needs, especially if you already have a good mail setup, but it's worth knowing that it's available. Toggle it on to explore the options, or leave it off if you don't need it. I've linked their Florida mail forwarding page in the description with more details. If you want to protect your brand name or logo, Northwest offers a trademark filing service for $599. It's not required to form your LLC, but if you're building a real brand, it's worth considering. You can skip this today and come back to it later. The last option is DBA trade name filing, also called doing business as. This lets your LLC operate publicly under a different name than your legal LLC name. If your brand name and your LLC name are the same, you don't need this. If you want to do business under a different name without setting up an entirely new business, you can add it here for $175. And if you're not sure about any of these right now, don't worry. As you can see in the good to know section at the bottom, you can add or cancel any of these services later from within your account. When you're ready, go ahead and click continue. Now you're on the payment tab. Enter your payment details and billing address, and before you submit, take a look at the order summary on the right side of the screen. You'll see the Northwest basic package, the Florida state filing fee, and any of the add-ons that you've selected. Make sure everything looks right, and then click submit order. Once your payment goes through, you'll be taken into your Northwest account. From there, you can track the status of your filing and see an estimated completion date. Florida standard processing typically takes around 10 business days. So keep an eye on your email from Northwest for updates. Once you've filed for your EIN, and you've submitted your order, let's move on to step five, creating your operating agreement. Florida does not require LLCs to have an operating agreement, but I strongly recommend creating one anyway. Without one, Florida default rules govern your LLC, and those rules might not match how you actually want to run your business. A written operating agreement puts ownership, decision-making, and profit distribution all in writing. It also helps protect your liability status if your LLC is ever challenged in court. Even if you're the only member, it's worth having. Northwest provides free operating agreement templates inside of your account. I'll also link one down in the description below. Download it, fill in your details, sign it, and keep it with your business records. You don't file it with the state, it's just an internal document for your LLC. Next is step six, opening a business bank account. Once you have your operating agreement ready, you'll have everything you need to open one. Most banks will ask for your EIN and your operating agreement when you apply. So it's good to have both before you go. The goal is simple, keep your business money completely separate from your personal money. Once your LLC is active, all business income should go into your business account, and all business expenses should come out of it. One of the main benefits of an LLC is that your personal assets are protected if something goes wrong with the business. But if your personal and your business money are mixed together, that protection can go away. A court can decide that your LLC isn't truly a separate entity and your personal assets like your home, your car, your savings could all be at risk. Keep things separate from day one. You'll also need your EIN from step four before you can open a business bank account. Banks require it to verify your business. Once your account is open, use a business debit or credit card for all of those business purchases. Save your receipts as you go and set up a basic bookkeeping routine. Even a simple spreadsheet works to start. Review it once a month and you'll have clean records that make tax time much easier. I've also linked my recommended business bank account in the description down below. Take a look and see if it's the right fit for your business. The last step is step seven. Keeping your LLC in good standing. Forming the LLC is just the beginning. There are ongoing obligations that you need to stay on top of and it helps to know what's coming in year one and beyond so that you aren't surprised. This is also where using Northwest Registered Agent can really pay off. Let me walk you through what Florida requires. Florida requires all LLCs to file an annual report every year to keep your LLC active and in good standing. The report itself is simple. It just updates the state with your current business address, registered agent information, and the names and addresses of your members and managers. The filing fee is $138.75 and it's due by May 1st every year. It's not optional. If you miss the deadline, Florida adds a $400 late fee automatically and there's no way to waive it. So please don't miss this by May 1st. If you still haven't filed by the third Friday in September, the state can administratively dissolve your LLC. That means your LLC ceases to exist legally. But don't worry, Northwest will send you reminders ahead of the deadline. And if you stay enrolled in their compliance service, they handle both filings for you. And before we wrap up, I want to give you a couple of recommendations on the professional side. I'm not a lawyer and I'm not an accountant. What I'm sharing here is information specific to Florida, but not legal or tax advice. Your situation might be different. So, please treat this video as a great starting point, but not as a substitute for professional guidance if you need it. With that said, I do recommend connecting with a local business attorney at some point, especially for two things. First, depending on what your business does and where it operates in Florida, you may need specific licenses or permits at the local, state, or federal level. A business attorney can help you figure out exactly what applies to your situation. Second, if you want extra confidence in your operating agreement, especially if you have multiple members, having an attorney review it is a smart move. The Northwest template is a solid starting point, but a lawyer can make sure that it holds up if it ever is tested. On the tax side, I would recommend finding a CPA or tax advisor early on, even if your business is just getting started. One of the things that they can help you think through is whether that S corp election actually makes sense down the road. Once your income reaches a certain level, this election can reduce your self-employment tax burden, but it also comes with additional responsibilities like payroll, stricter bookkeeping, and more reporting. It's not the right move for everyone, and the timing can matter. This is a conversation that you should have with a professional, rather than a decision that you should make on your own. A CPA can also help you set up quarterly estimated tax payments. That way, you're not hit with a surprise bill at the end of the year, and they can get you started with a bookkeeping system that keeps everything clean as your business grows. And that's everything you need to know about starting an LLC in Florida. If you've only followed along so far and now you're ready to get started, remember to use the link in the description to get the best available price with Northwest Registered Agent. Thanks for watching, congrats on your new business, and I'll see you in the next video.