Georgia Certificate of Authority / Annual registration
Keeping a Georgia certificate of authority alive: the annual registration
A Georgia certificate of authority is kept in force by an annual registration, $60 for most entities, filed between January 1 and April 1; a filing after April 1 carries a $25 late fee. Entities that stop filing can have the certificate revoked, and a foreign entity cannot be reinstated afterwards.
The annual registration by entity
| Entity | Base fee | Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Profit corporation, LLC, LP or LLLP | $50 | $10 service charge, $60 in all |
| Nonprofit corporation | $30 | $10 service charge |
| Foreign LLP | $25 | $10 service charge |
| Amended annual registration | $20 | $10 service charge |
The first and the later ones
The first annual registration for a foreign corporation or LLC is filed in the calendar year following the initial filing, between January 1 and April 1, and one is filed in the same window each year after. An entity that was authorized in October therefore files its first the next spring, not in the months after authorization. The late fee applies to anything filed after April 1, and a mailed filing must be postmarked by that date to escape it.
Three ways to file
With One Click Annual Registration you skip the login, provided nothing has changed and your fees are up to date. Annual Registration With Changes is filed from the eCorp account, which also holds the filing history and payment receipts. A paper form, printed from the Division's site after a search for the business, goes by post with payment. Expect the updated registration and receipt for a mailed filing in 3 to 4 weeks.
One year or several
Georgia offers three terms: the current year, two years in a row, or three. A longer filing takes the April date out of the calendar for the years it covers.
What you need in hand
Where details are unchanged and fees are paid up, you need only the entity's name or control number, plus a means of payment. Where something changed, or fees are behind, also have ready the filing person's name, a working email address, the agent's name with a Georgia street address at which a person can be met, and the principal office's mailing address. Corporations can update their officers on the same filing.
What follows a missed registration
The renewal page warns of a civil suit, or administrative dissolution or revocation by the Secretary of State. The Division sends a notice to wherever it last had the principal office or the agent, and allows 60 days from its date to respond. The Division's business search shows an entity's status; an entry reading "active/noncompliance" warns of dissolution or revocation within the year. For a foreign entity, revocation is final in a practical sense: there is no reinstatement, only a new application and fee.
Changing details on the same filing
The annual registration is Georgia's main change channel. An address, the registered agent and the registered office can all be updated on it, or on an amended annual registration if one is already on file for the year. Updating the NAICS code costs $10 plus the service charge, and the primary email can be changed for $5 on paper. On a mailed annual registration, a two-business-day expedite is $60.
A routine that works
Set a reminder for the first week of February. Confirm that the entity's details have not changed, that the agent still serves, and that a card is ready. If nothing has changed, use One Click Annual Registration and save the receipt. If something has, use the with-changes route and update it in the same sitting. Then record the date and move the reminder to next February.
Renewal questions
Does the certificate itself have an expiry date?
The certificate stays valid while the annual registrations are filed.
Is the fee the same for every year?
The schedule lists one base fee per entity type. The checkout screen shows the exact amount.
Can I file in January?
Yes. The window opens on January 1 and closes April 1.
Renewal extras
What does a late registration cost?
A late fee is added to the registration after April 1.
Can I change the agent when I renew?
Yes. The annual registration is one of the ways to change the agent and registered office.
Our filing fee, then the Georgia fee
Checkout lists what we charge and what Georgia charges on separate lines. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Get a Georgia certificate of authority
$199
+ $235 Georgia fee
- The Georgia application that fits your entity type, filled in from your answers
- The home-state certificate requested, where your entity type needs one
- A Georgia registered agent: our office, or the one you name
- A note of the annual registration window that follows
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Georgia sources
- Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division filing fees and expedited processing (PDF)
- Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division business FAQ
- Georgia Secretary of State, Form CD 241, Application for Certificate of Authority for Foreign Limited Liability Company (PDF)
- Georgia Secretary of State, how to file an annual registration
- Georgia.gov, renew an LLC (annual registration)
Need Georgia authority for a company?
Send us the entity type and the date it started in Georgia. We assemble the papers and file.