How to start an LLC in Florida: Costs and steps
Michel Myara is co-founder and product designer at looch, where he designs the tools small businesses use to get paid, manage spend, and run their books.
Florida is one of the easiest and cheapest states to form an LLC. The state filing fee is $125 (a $100 filing fee plus a $25 registered agent designation), the process is online, and there is no state income tax on pass-through income.
Two things most guides skip: your manager name goes on the public record in Florida, and "LLC approved" is not the same as "open for business." This post covers both, walks you through every step, and shows you how to get from filing to a real business account in the same week.
What it actually costs to start a Florida LLC
State filing fees
Filing Articles of Organization with the Florida Division of Corporations costs $125: a $100 filing fee plus a $25 registered agent designation fee. That is the state minimum for a DIY filing.
If you want to reserve your LLC name before filing, that costs an additional $25 and holds the name for 120 days. It is optional.
Source: Sunbiz fee schedule
Ongoing costs
Florida requires an annual report every year starting the year after formation. The fee is $138.75, due between January 1 and May 1.
Miss the May 1 deadline and a $400 late fee is added (Florida does not waive it). Miss the third Friday of September entirely and Florida administratively dissolves your LLC. Reinstatement is an additional cost and paperwork headache.
Formation service vs. DIY
DIY saves money up front. A formation service adds: a business address for the registered agent (keeping your home address off Sunbiz), EIN filing, an operating agreement, and time you do not have to spend on state websites.
looch Start is $249 all-in, with the state filing fee included. That covers state filing, registered agent with a real business address, a single-member operating agreement, and an EIN, including for non-US founders without an SSN. No upsells. After formation, you onboard directly into looch's business accounts.
Step 1: Choose and check your LLC name
Your LLC name must include "Limited Liability Company," "LLC," or "L.L.C." It cannot match or be confusingly similar to an existing Florida entity name.
Search the Sunbiz name database before you commit. The search is free and takes two minutes. If the name is available and you are not ready to file yet, you can reserve it for $25 for 120 days.
One thing to know: your LLC name appears publicly on every Florida filing, forever. That is true regardless of how you form.
Step 2: Appoint a registered agent
What Florida requires
Florida requires every LLC to maintain a registered agent with a physical Florida street address. A P.O. Box is not acceptable. The registered agent must be available during normal business hours to accept legal documents.
You can be your own registered agent, appoint a trusted person who has a Florida address, or use a registered agent service.
Why the registered agent address matters more in Florida than you think
Florida's Sunshine Law makes all Division of Corporations filings publicly searchable on Sunbiz. That includes the registered agent address.
If you list your home address as the registered agent, that address is public record, searchable by anyone, permanently. It does not come off when you move or stop operating.
A registered agent service gives you a business address on the filing instead of your home address. That is the practical workaround Florida founders use. looch Start includes a registered agent with a real business address. It renews at $49 per year after the first year.
Step 3: File your Articles of Organization
File online at efile.sunbiz.org or by mail. Online is faster.
The form asks for your LLC name, principal address, registered agent name and address, and the name and address of at least one authorized person or manager.
This is the Florida-specific thing most guides do not say plainly: the manager or authorized-person name and address you put on the Articles of Organization becomes public record on Sunbiz. This is not optional. It is how Florida's public records law works.
Delaware and Wyoming allow anonymous formation at the entity level. Florida does not. If you form in Florida, your name is on the public record. The mitigation is to use a business address (not your home address) for both the registered agent and the authorized-person fields, so your home address stays off the filing.
A note on timing: with looch Start, looch submits your filing to the state within 1 business day. That is the submission step, not Sunbiz's processing time. The state still has to receive and process the filing on its end before your LLC's existence is recorded.
Source: Sunbiz Articles of Organization instructions
Step 4: Create your operating agreement
Florida does not require an operating agreement by law. You should have one anyway.
An operating agreement is an internal document, not filed with the state. It defines how the LLC is owned, managed, and governed: ownership percentages, how profits are distributed, who makes decisions, and what happens if the LLC dissolves or an owner wants to exit.
For a single-member LLC, the operating agreement is especially important. Without one, a court dispute could challenge the separation between you and the LLC, weakening your liability protection.
looch Start includes a single-member LLC operating agreement. If your LLC has more than one member or a manager-managed structure, you will need an agreement that fits that setup.
An operating agreement covers:
- Ownership percentages
- Management structure (member-managed vs. manager-managed)
- Profit and loss distribution
- Voting and decision rules
- What happens on dissolution or ownership transfer
Step 5: Get your EIN
An Employer Identification Number is your LLC's federal tax ID. You need it to open a business bank account, hire employees, file taxes, and collect payments from many clients. Even a single-member LLC with no employees should have one.
If you have an SSN or ITIN
Apply free at IRS.gov. The online application takes about 15 minutes and issues your EIN immediately. No cost.
If you don't have an SSN or ITIN
This is where most guides drop the ball. Non-US founders cannot use the IRS online EIN portal. That does not mean you are stuck.
Your options:
- File Form SS-4 by fax or mail. On line 7b, write "Foreign." The IRS processes fax applications faster than mail.
- Call the IRS International EIN line at 267-941-1099, Monday through Friday, 6 AM to 11 PM ET. A representative can issue your EIN by phone if you have your Form SS-4 prepared.
looch Start handles EIN filing for non-US founders, without an SSN or ITIN, in about 4 days. looch delivers the official IRS CP-575 confirmation letter to you through the in-app virtual office.
Step 6: Handle Florida's ongoing requirements
Annual report
Florida requires an annual report filed between January 1 and May 1 every year, starting the calendar year after formation. File at dos.fl.gov/sunbiz.
Fee: $138.75. Late fee after May 1: $400. Administrative dissolution if not filed by the third Friday of September.
Set a reminder for April. The annual report is the one administrative task that kills Florida LLCs that are otherwise healthy businesses.
Florida sales tax
If you sell taxable goods or services in Florida, you need to register with the Florida Department of Revenue. Use Form DR-1. Registering online is free (there is a $5 fee if you register by mail).
Source: Florida Department of Revenue
Business licenses
Florida does not have a general statewide business license. Your county or city may require a local business tax receipt, depending on your location and industry. Check with your county tax collector's office.
After your LLC is approved: Get it bankable
Most guides end at "open a bank account" with a link to a national bank. That is where founders stall.
To open a business bank account, you need:
- A stamped copy of your Articles of Organization
- Your EIN
- An operating agreement
- A registered business address
Those four things take most DIY founders days to weeks to gather. With looch Start, all four come out of the same onboarding flow.
After formation, you move directly into looch: no-fee financial accounts with real account and routing numbers, Smartcards for business spending, in-person and online payment acceptance, real-time accounting, and pay by bank via Request for Payment. That is the full arc from "I need an LLC" to "I can take a payment today."
looch Start is mobile-first. You can complete formation and onboard into your business account on iOS in under a minute.
Is Florida a good state to start your LLC?
For most Florida-based operators, yes.
Florida has no personal state income tax. Pass-through income from your LLC is not taxed at the state level. Florida also has no franchise tax, unlike California ($800 minimum) or Delaware (franchise tax on authorized shares).
The tradeoff is the public record. Your name goes on Sunbiz. That is a feature of Florida law, not a bug you can avoid. If anonymity is critical to your business structure, Delaware or Wyoming offer more protection at the entity level. But if you operate in Florida and form in another state, you still have to register as a foreign LLC in Florida, which puts you on the Sunbiz public record anyway and costs you double in fees.
Florida is a good fit for:
- Florida-based service businesses and brick-and-mortar operators
- E-commerce founders who live in Florida
- Non-US founders who want a US entity with no citizenship or residency barriers
- Founders who want pass-through taxation without state income tax
Can a non-US citizen start a Florida LLC?
Yes. Florida imposes no citizenship or residency requirement on LLC members or managers.
You need:
- A valid passport for identity verification
- A US mailing or business address (looch's virtual office covers this)
- An EIN (looch handles EIN filing even without an SSN or ITIN, as described in Step 5 above)
Non-US founders can form, get an EIN, and open a business bank account entirely through looch Start without needing a US Social Security number.
looch Start is $249 all-in, with the state filing fee included and no upsells. looch submits your filing to the state within 1 business day. The EIN is included, even without an SSN, and looch returns the IRS CP-575 letter through your in-app virtual office. The virtual office and registered agent renew at $49 per year. After formation, you onboard directly into your business account.
