Ala. Code Title 10A, Ch. 9A (Alabama Limited Partnership Law) contains no annual report requirement (zero 'annual' report provisions in the chapter); the Ala. SOS Business Entities Division fee schedule lists no LP annual filing (the only periodic item is 'Professional Association Annual Renewal $100.00') · source↗ (opens the official source)
◎Verified
Annual report - LLP
no report required
Ala. Code § 10A-8A-10.01 - the statement of limited liability partnership remains effective until a statement of cancellation is filed; the 2018 Partnership Law (Act 2018-125) carried no annual-notice requirement forward (§ 10A-8A-11.04 transition rule treats the 'registration or latest annual notice filed ... under predecessor law' as the statement of LLP) · source↗ (opens the official source)
◎Verified
Annual report - LLLP
no report required
Ala. Code Title 10A, Ch. 9A contains no annual report requirement for limited partnerships or LLLPs; the Ala. SOS fee schedule lists no LP/LLLP annual filing · source↗ (opens the official source)
57 of 59 fee datums on this page are verified against the agency's own published schedule or statute (2026-09-04); the rest are marked pending review in the Status column - portal-surcharge components no official page states, values the official source contradicts (held for a correction package), or sources that could not be reached.
Values were first corroborated across independent internal records; verified cells now also carry the agency's own published schedule or statute as their authority, which is what promotion to verified requires.
Cost position
Ranked 39 of 54 on first-year state
filing cost, at $236.00 against a national median
of $185.00.
Recurring annual cost $0.
See the full ranking.
Where Alabama sits among its neighbours in the first-year cost ranking (USD)Show all 54 jurisdictionsThe full ranking with Alabama highlighted (USD)
Registered-agent statutes, quoted verbatim
The one section on this page that clears the publication gate in full. 7 citations, verified, quoted from the official code with every elision marked.
Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.31
◎Verified
Alabama Business and Nonprofit Entities Code, Title 10A, Chapter 1 (General Provisions) · applies to
corporations and LLCs
Designation and Maintenance of Registered Agent and Registered Office.(a) Each filing entity and each foreign filing entity with a registration under Article 7, and each general partnership that has an effective statement of partnership, statement of not for profit partnership, or statement of limited liability partnership on file with the Secretary of State in accordance with Chapter 8A, shall designate and continuously maintain in this state: (1) a registered agent; and (2) a registered office. [...] (c) The registered office: (1) must be located at a street address in this state where process may be personally served on the entity's registered agent; (2) is not required to be a place of business of the filing entity or foreign filing entity; and (3) may not be solely a mailbox service or a telephone answering service.
Alabama Business Corporation Law (Title 10A, Chapter 2A) · applies to
corp
Incorporators; Filing of Certificate of Incorporation.Section 10A-1-3.04 shall not apply to this chapter. In order to incorporate a corporation, one or more incorporators must execute a certificate of incorporation and deliver it for filing to the Secretary of State. (Act 2019-94, §1; Act 2021-299, §3.)
Alabama Limited Liability Company Law of 2014 (Title 10A, Chapter 5A) · applies to
LLCs
Formation.(a) In order to form a limited liability company, one or more organizers must execute a certificate of formation and deliver it for filing to the filing officer provided for in subsection (e). Section 10A-1-3.05 shall not apply to this chapter. Instead, the certificate of formation shall set forth: (1) the name of the limited liability company, which must comply with Article 5 of Chapter 1; [...] (b) A limited liability company is formed when its certificate of formation becomes effective in accordance with Article 4 of Chapter 1. [...] (e) A certificate of formation shall be delivered for filing to the Secretary of State.
Alabama Business and Nonprofit Entities Code, Title 10A, Chapter 1 (General Provisions) · applies to
corporations and LLCs
Grounds for Revocation.The Secretary of State may commence a proceeding under Section 10A-1-7.13 to revoke the registration of a foreign entity authorized to transact business in this state if: (1) the foreign entity does not pay within 180 days after they are due any applicable privilege or corporation share tax, qualification fee or admission tax, or interest or penalties imposed by this title or other law; (2) the foreign entity is without a registered agent or registered office in this state for 60 days or more; [...]
Alabama Business and Nonprofit Entities Code, Title 10A, Chapter 1 (General Provisions) · applies to
corp
Name of Corporation or Foreign Corporation.(a) The name of a corporation or foreign corporation must contain: (1) the word “corporation” or “incorporated”; or (2) an abbreviation of one of those words. (b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a nonprofit corporation or foreign nonprofit corporation, or to banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, or insurance companies. [...] (d) The requirements of subsection (a) do not apply to any corporation organized before January 1, 1981. [...]
Alabama Business and Nonprofit Entities Code, Title 10A, Chapter 1 (General Provisions) · applies to
LLCs
Name of Limited Liability Company or Foreign Limited Liability Company.The name of a limited liability company or a foreign limited liability company registered to transact business in this state must contain the words “Limited Liability Company” or the abbreviation “L.L.C.” or “LLC”.
If an entity fails to designate and maintain a registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the entity may be served under the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure. Alabama has no Secretary-of-State-as-agent mechanism for registered entities; the fallback is the civil procedure rules (and 10A-1-5.36 makes the statutory methods non-exclusive).
What happens if there is no agent
○Pending review
Revocation Foreign. The Secretary of State may revoke a foreign entity's registration if it is without a registered agent or registered office for 60 days or more, or fails to file a statement of change within 60 days; authority to transact business ceases on the date shown on the certificate of revocation (10A-1-7.13(c)).
No Court Access. A foreign filing entity that fails to register (the same sentence pairs this with failure to appoint and maintain a registered agent) cannot maintain any action or proceeding in Alabama courts until it registers; validity of contracts and the right to defend are unaffected.
Dollar amounts named in the registered-agent statutes
What
Amount
Status
Secretary of State filing fee for "any other filing instrument" under Title 10A - the catch-all that covers a statement of change of registered agent or registered office
Portion of the $200 formation fee paid to the county treasurer of the county in which the office of the entity's initial registered agent is located
$100
○Pending review
8 statutory citations and their supporting verbatim quotations sit behind this section in the record and are withheld from public display until the review pass lands, because a citation presented as authority is a verification claimed. Statutory references appearing inside the summaries above are part of the recorded text rather than an authority claim, and they are not rendered as citations, linked, or emitted in this page's structured data. How the gate works.
Governance rules
7 governance rules are recorded for Alabama - the organizational and annual meetings, action by written consent, and whether bylaws or an operating agreement are mandatory. Each verified rule links to the statutory text it was verified against, quoted verbatim below.
Organizational meeting required · applies to
corporations ·
yes
the initial directors shall hold an organizational meeting ... to complete the organization of the corporation by appointing officers, adopting bylaws, and carrying on any other business
Annual meeting required · applies to
corporations ·
yes
Unless directors are elected by written consent in lieu of an annual meeting as permitted by Section 10A-2A-7.04, a corporation shall hold a meeting of stockholders annually
Action by written consent allowed · applies to
corporations ·
yes
may be taken without a meeting, and without prior notice, if one or more consents in writing ... are signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be required
Operating agreement required · applies to
LLCs ·
no
LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY AGREEMENT means any agreement (whether referred to as a limited liability company agreement, operating agreement or otherwise), written, oral or implied, of the member or members
Any matter requiring the consent of members may be decided without a meeting, and a member may appoint a proxy or other agent to consent or otherwise act for the member
Action by written consent allowed · applies to
LLCs ·
yes
a matter in the ordinary course of activities and affairs of the limited liability company may be decided by a majority of the members ... The consent of all members is required to: (i) amend the limited liability company agreement
$30 registration fee per name per class (Application to Register or Renew Trademark, Service Mark or Trade Name, form LAT-1; additional $30 per extra class)
Term
5 years
Renewal
Renewable for successive 5-year periods; renewal application may be filed up to 6 months before expiration with 1 specimen; renewal fee $30 per the LAT application fee (registration instructions state $30 filing fee; confirm renewal amount with SOS at 334-242-5325)
Publication
Not required. None
Online filing
Available
The regime
Alabama has no mandatory statewide DBA/assumed-name filing act in the captured corpus. What exists is a voluntary registration system: a 'trade name' is a species of 'mark' under the trademark article, and any person who adopts and uses one may (not must) register it with the Secretary of State.
Where it is filed
Voluntary trade-name (mark) registrations are filed in the office of the Secretary of State, which keeps a public record of registered and renewed marks.
Five years from the date of registration, renewable for successive five-year terms.
Name restrictions
A mark (including a trade name) cannot be registered if it is immoral, deceptive, or scandalous; disparaging; consists of government insignia; uses a living person's name or portrait without consent; is merely descriptive, geographically misdescriptive, or primarily a surname (absent acquired distinctiveness); or is confusingly similar to a mark registered or previously used in Alabama and not abandoned.
Assumed names for registered entities
Under the Alabama Business and Nonprofit Entities Code, a foreign entity whose name does not satisfy the Article 5 name requirements may, among listed cures (adding an entity designator), adopt a fictitious name for use in Alabama by filing a certified resolution of its governing authority with the Secretary of State. A fictitious name for a foreign entity whose name is unavailable may also be reserved.
Penalties
There is no penalty for not registering (registration is voluntary), but a person who procures a filing or registration by false or fraudulent representation is liable for all damages sustained in consequence.
Recording an assignment (new certificate issued to assignee)
$30
Ala. Code § 8-12-11
◎Verified
Known gaps in the record
Regime: the 'voluntary' classification rests on the captured Title 8 ch. 12 text plus the retrieval-manifest note; no repealer or express exemption statute is citeable from the corpus
county-filing:none-found-in-corpus - no county/probate-judge general DBA filing requirement located, but statutes outside Title 8 ch. 12 and Title 10A were not captured
Publication: only the bottler-specific § 8-12-20 publication rule appears in the chapter
Common questions
Does Alabama require sole proprietors or partnerships to register a DBA?
The statute in the corpus imposes no general registration mandate. Alabama's trade-name provision is voluntary: 'any person who adopts and uses a mark in this state may file' an application with the Secretary of State (Ala. Code § 8-12-8(a)), and 'mark' is defined to include 'any trade name' (§ 8-12-6(5)).
Where is an Alabama trade name registered and what does it cost?
Registration is filed in the office of the Secretary of State with a $30 filing fee (Ala. Code § 8-12-8(a), (d)). Renewal and assignment recordings each carry a $30 statutory fee (§§ 8-12-10(a), 8-12-11).
How long does an Alabama trade name registration last?
Five years from the date of registration. If the mark is still in use, it may be renewed for successive five-year terms by application filed within six months before expiration (Ala. Code § 8-12-10(a)-(b)).
Does registering a trade name in Alabama give exclusive rights?
A registered owner gains a statutory civil action against infringing uses likely to cause confusion (Ala. Code § 8-12-16), with remedies including injunctions and damages (§ 8-12-18). The article also preserves rights 'acquired in good faith at any time at common law' (§ 8-12-19), so unregistered users retain their common-law rights.
Recurring entity-level tax
Alabama Business Privilege Tax (Alabama Business Privilege and Corporation Shares Tax of 1999)
Ala. Code 40-14A-22: taxable net worth = net worth plus additions, minus exclusions, times Alabama apportionment factor, less deductions; the RATE tier is selected by federal taxable income apportioned to Alabama · source↗ (opens the official source)
Minimum
$0
Ala. Code 40-14A-22(c) as amended by Act 2022-252 (2022 HB391): minimum reduced from $100 to $50 for taxable years beginning after 12/31/2022; for taxable years beginning after 12/31/2023, tax calculated at $100 or less is FULLY EXEMPT and no return (CPT/PPT/BPTIN) is required · source↗ (opens the official source)
Maximum
$15,000
Ala. Code 40-14A-22(d): general cap $15,000; financial institution groups and insurance companies capped at $3,000,000; electing family limited liability entities capped at $500 · source↗ (opens the official source)
Due date
Same as the corresponding federal income tax return due date: Form PPT (S corps, pass-through LLEs, disregarded entities) - 15th day of 3rd month after year begin for calendar-year pass-throughs (March 15); Form CPT (C corps and entities taxed as corps) - federal corporate return due date (April 15 calendar year); financial institution groups - due with the Alabama financial institution excise tax return
Ala. Code 40-14A-25; ALDOR 2025 Form CPT/PPT quick reference: returns due 'no later than the corresponding federal income tax return as required under federal law' · source↗ (opens the official source)
Stored as a delta against the federal baseline:
3 days this state closes that the
federal government does not, and 0 federal
holidays its filing office works through.
Alabama 2026 closure delta
Date
Day
Filing office
2026-02-17
Mardi Gras
Filing office closed
2026-04-27
Confederate Memorial Day
Filing office closed
2026-06-01
Jefferson Davis' Birthday
Filing office closed
Provenance - Alabama 2026 closures◎Verified
Citation withheld: this record did not clear the publication gate.
4 restricted entity-name word entries
are recorded for Alabama - 2 prohibited outright,
the rest requiring an agency's consent or licensure before the word may appear in a name.
Governing law: Ala. Code §§ 10A-1-5.02 (unauthorized purpose in name prohibited), 10A-1-5.05(e) (LP prohibited words); Ala. Code § 5-1A-3 (bank words); Ala. Code § 5-11A-4 (trust).
Alabama restricted entity-name words
Treatment
Word or phrase
Authority
Citation
Status
Consent required
bank / banker / banking (incl. foreign-language equivalents)
Superintendent of Banks, Alabama State Banking Department (Letter of No Objection)
Ala. Code § 5-1A-3: use of "bank," "banker," "banking" or words of similar meaning in any foreign language as a name or part of a name is restricted to banking corporations; other entities are prohibited unless the Superintendent determines the use is unlikely to mislead and authorizes it; $100/day penalty for violations
◎Verified
Consent required
Trust
Alabama State Banking Department (Letter of No Objection)
Ala. Code § 5-11A-4, as cited on the State Banking Department's Letter of No Objection page (applies to foreign-language equivalents as well)
◎Verified
Prohibited
(any word implying unauthorized business)
Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.02: an entity "may not have a name that contains any word phrase that indicates or implies that the entity is engaged in a business that the entity is not authorized by law to pursue"
Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.05(e): "The name of a limited partnership may not contain the following words: 'bank,' 'banking,' 'banker,' 'trust,' 'insurance,' 'insurer,' 'corporation,' 'incorporated,' or any abbreviation of such words."
● accepted · ○ not accepted · ? unknown or conditional (hover for the recorded condition). Channel data covers 54 jurisdictions (2026-08-15 wave). Source links render on verified rows only.
Contact the filing office
Verified against the agency's own contact page
2026-08-13.
Source links render on verified rows only.
Reaching the filing office
◎Verified
Phone
(334) 242-5324
Mailing address
Secretary of State, Business Services, P.O. Box 5616, Montgomery, Alabama 36103-5616
Courier / walk-in
Business Services Division, RSA Plaza - Suite 580, 770 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104
The Business Services Division direct line (not the 242-7200 switchboard) plus the exact PO Box the filing-form footers instruct; the RSA Plaza suite is the division's published street location for hand/courier delivery. No division email is published - filings are explicitly not accepted by email.
Where to search Alabama's UCC (Article 9) financing statements, on what terms, and what the office charges to file one. Verified against the filing office's own pages 2026-09-11. UCC division contacts are listed with the other filing-office contacts above.
UCC records - Alabama◎Verified
Filing office
Alabama Secretary of State - Business Services Division, UCC Division
The free arc-sos search is labelled "Simple Search (No Images)"; images are only in the fee-based "Advanced Search (with Images)" on alabamainteractive.org/ucc_filing/ at $1.00 per page plus the portal fees quoted in fee_note.
$20 on paper for the first two pages plus $2 for each additional page; $15 online through the Alabama Interactive UCC Online System plus a $9.75 electronic access fee and a $5.50 efficiency fee ($4.50 for subscribers); manufactured home financing statement $10; $5 extra for a non-standard form
Filing channels
online or paper; Online: UCC - Uniform Commercial Code Online System operated by Alabama Interactive, LLC (https://www.alabamainteractive.org/ucc_filing/), subscriber (ACH) or non-subscriber (credit card). Paper: by m
Filing expedite
No expedited filing service is published; the only expedite fee on the schedule is $100 per search (information request), matching Ala. Code 7-9A-525(d)
UCC-3 amendments, as the office states the fees
Continuation, amendment or assignment $20 for the first two pages plus $2 per additional page on paper; all terminations no charge; online UCC-3 filings use the $15 per filing rate plus the portal fees
Bulk data
published bulk-data program - $1,500.00 full extract (data WITHOUT scanned images)
Whether Alabama requires a general state-level business license, and on what terms. A "None" is a verified finding cited to the agency's own pages, not a gap. Which of the state's filings ask for an industry code is in the next section.
State business license - Alabama◎Verified
General state license
Yes - State and County Business Privilege License (Alabama privilege license)
Who must hold it
Every person, firm, or corporation that engages in or carries on any business, or does any act, for which a license is required by Title 40 (Ch. 12 schedule) - a state and a county license for each place of business
Issuing agency
County Probate Judge or License Commissioner of the county where the business is located (Alabama Department of Revenue, Business and License Tax Division, oversees and coordinates issuance) agency page↗ (opens the official source)
Statute
Code of Alabama 1975, Title 40, Chapter 12 'Licenses' (§40-12-1 to §40-12-450); Article 1 general provisions §40-12-1 to 40-12-31; Article 2 schedule of license taxes
Initial fee
none
Renewal cadence
annual - Before commencing business; annual license taxes due October 1 each year, delinquent November 1
Penalty
Delinquent license (after November 1): penalty of 15 percent of the license amount plus interest at six percent from the date of delinquency, collected by the probate judge or license commissioner when the license is taken out (§40-12-10(e)); citation fee $1.50 (§40-12-10(j)). Operating without a license is unlawful: on conviction, a fine of not less than all licenses required; on refusal, not les
county and city licenses - All municipalities shall have the following powers: (1) To license any exhibition, trade, business, vocation, occupation, or profession not prohibited by the Constitution or laws of the state which may be engaged in or carried on in the municipality.
Which of Alabama's business filings ask the filer for an industry classification, and in what form. "No industry information" is a positive finding cited to the form. Where the state uses its own category list and the list was captured, it is expandable below. The NAICS and SIC reference lists are on their own page.
Industry code on Alabama filings, 8 of 8 rows verified
Filing
Entity scope
Asks for
Required
Where on the form
Source
Formation
LLC
no industry information
not asked
No industry/NAICS/purpose field; items are name, name reservation, registered agent, member certification, LLC type, effective date
County Probate Judge / License Commissioner license application - license classified by the Title 40 Ch. 12 schedule of businesses, vocations, occupations and p
State business license - Title 40, Chapter 12 privilege-license schedule - Article 2 'Business, Vocation or Occupation Privilege Licenses' section list (plus Article 6 Store L, 126 options
40-12-41 Abstract companies, etc.
40-12-42 Acetylene gas and carbide manufacturers
40-12-43 Actuaries, auditors, and public accountants
40-12-43.1 Added fee for private examining or collecting firms
40-12-44 Adding machines, calculating machines, comptometers, etc.
40-12-45 Advertising
40-12-46 Air-conditioning plants and equipment
40-12-47 Amusement parks
40-12-48 Architects
40-12-49 Attorneys
40-12-50 Auctioneers
40-12-51 Automobile dealers
40-12-53 Automobile accessory dealers
40-12-54 Automobile garages and shops
40-12-55 Automobile storage garages
40-12-56 Automobile storage other than in garages
40-12-57 Automobile tire retreading shops
40-12-58 Barbers
40-12-59 Baseball parks
40-12-60 Battery shops
40-12-61 Beauty parlors, etc.
40-12-62 Bicycle and motorcycles
40-12-63 Blueprint makers
40-12-64 Bond makers
40-12-65 Bottlers
40-12-66 Bowling alleys
40-12-67 Brokers and agents of iron, railway, etc., supplies
40-12-68 Brooms, brushes, mops, etc.
40-12-69 Cereal beverages, carbonated or other soft drinks; retailers
40-12-70 Cereal beverages, carbonated or other soft drinks; wholesalers
Alabama has 67 county-equivalents: 67 countyies. Names and codes are the U.S. Census Bureau's (2020 national county codes); county seats and official sites are not yet published here.
All 67 county-equivalents
Alabama county-equivalents
Name
Type
FIPS
Note
Autauga County
county
01001
Baldwin County
county
01003
Barbour County
county
01005
Bibb County
county
01007
Blount County
county
01009
Bullock County
county
01011
Butler County
county
01013
Calhoun County
county
01015
Chambers County
county
01017
Cherokee County
county
01019
Chilton County
county
01021
Choctaw County
county
01023
Clarke County
county
01025
Clay County
county
01027
Cleburne County
county
01029
Coffee County
county
01031
Colbert County
county
01033
Conecuh County
county
01035
Coosa County
county
01037
Covington County
county
01039
Crenshaw County
county
01041
Cullman County
county
01043
Dale County
county
01045
Dallas County
county
01047
DeKalb County
county
01049
Elmore County
county
01051
Escambia County
county
01053
Etowah County
county
01055
Fayette County
county
01057
Franklin County
county
01059
Geneva County
county
01061
Greene County
county
01063
Hale County
county
01065
Henry County
county
01067
Houston County
county
01069
Jackson County
county
01071
Jefferson County
county
01073
Lamar County
county
01075
Lauderdale County
county
01077
Lawrence County
county
01079
Lee County
county
01081
Limestone County
county
01083
Lowndes County
county
01085
Macon County
county
01087
Madison County
county
01089
Marengo County
county
01091
Marion County
county
01093
Marshall County
county
01095
Mobile County
county
01097
Monroe County
county
01099
Montgomery County
county
01101
Morgan County
county
01103
Perry County
county
01105
Pickens County
county
01107
Pike County
county
01109
Randolph County
county
01111
Russell County
county
01113
St. Clair County
county
01115
Shelby County
county
01117
Sumter County
county
01119
Talladega County
county
01121
Tallapoosa County
county
01123
Tuscaloosa County
county
01125
Walker County
county
01127
Washington County
county
01129
Wilcox County
county
01131
Winston County
county
01133
Other records held
Other records held for Alabama
Record
Value
Status
State trademark registration
$30 per class, 5 year term, $30 renewal
○Pending review
Change of registered agent
$100
○Pending review
Who must be named in public filings
Formation forces onto the public record only: entity name/type/purpose/duration, street+mailing address of the initial registered office and name of the initial registered agent, and the name and address of each ORGANIZER (LLC/corp; incorporators under 10A-2A-2.02) or each GENERAL PARTNER for an LP (Ala. Code 10A-1-3.0
○Pending review
These come from a research pass its own author graded CANDIDATES. They are shown because they are useful and withheld from every ranking on this site because they are not ratified.