by Richard Keyt and Richard C. Keyt, Arizona LLC attorneys who have formed 9,300+ Arizona LLCs and have 252 five star Google reviews and a total of 372 five star online reviews because people love their lost cost LLC formation services that includes same day filing and approval and a confidential LLC that keeps owner’s name and address off of the public records.
This Article Explains Creating an LLC in Arizona & How to Form an LLC in Arizona Online
Read this article to learn how to form a do-it-yourself Arizona LLC by creating an LLC in Arizona online. Follow the detailed step by step guide with pictures below that explains each of the 10 steps needed to form a new Arizona LLC or PLLC online using the ACC’s online eCorp LLC formation system. The end result is you will have formed an Arizona LLC and received a one page document called the Articles of Organization.
See also our How to Form an LLC in Arizona FAQ in which we answer frequently asked LLC in Arizona questions.
What You Get If We Form Your LLC Arizona
If you form an Arizona LLC online all you get is the LLC and a one page document called Articles of Organization. Compare that to the 9 (Bronze LLC), 15 (Silver LLC) & 21 (Gold LLC) services we give you if you hire us to form an AZ LLC. See the contents and prices of our three LLC formation packages. Our Gold LLC is a confidential LLC that keeps your name and address off of the public records of the Arizona Corporation Commission and it includes a revocable living trust that leaves the LLC and other assets you put in the trust to your loved one automatically on your death without the need for a probate.
How to Hire Us to Form an AZ LLC
To hire us to form your new Arizona LLC with a new Arizona LLC law-compliant Operating Agreement do one of the following:
Option 1 Online: Complete and submit our LLC formation questionnaire.
Option 2 Phone Call: Call one of the following Arizona LLC attorneys to get free answers to your questions and give him your LLC information:
- Richard Keyt (father) – 480-664-7478 or make a free office or phone appointment using his online calendar at www.keytlaw.com/rk
- Richard C. Keyt (son) – 480-664-7472 or make a free office or phone appointment using his online calendar at www.keytlaw.com/rck
Ten Steps to Form an LLC in Arizona Online in 10 Minutes
After registering and creating an account with the Arizona Corporation Commission follow the 10 steps listed below to form your LLC. Each step is explained in detail. Click on a step to go directly to that step.
Click on a + symbol below or the text to the right of the + symbol to open a section to read the information in the section. To close a section that is open click on the – symbol or the text to the right of the – symbol.
Warning: Your LLC Must File a FinCEN BOI Report within 90 Days of its Formation
Warning: All Arizona LLCs Need an Operating Agreement
Step 0. Create an Account with the Arizona Corporation Commission or Login
Before you can use the Arizona Corporation Commission’s eCorp system you must register and create an account. Watch our video below that demonstrates how to register and create an account with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Go to the Arizona Corporation Commission’s online e-corp web page. If you have previously registered with the ACC enter your email address and password. If you have not previously registered with the ACC you must create an eCorp account by clicking on the green rectangle that says “Register.” Next enter your name, email address and password.
While on your dash board page click on the text “Create a New LLC” underneath My Dashboard.
Under Start a Business click on the radio button to the left of Limited Liability Company then click the Next icon on the bottom right.
Step 1. Entity Search
If You Reserved a Name
If you reserved a name for your LLC select the “Yes” radio button to the right of the text that says “Have you reserved a name for this entity?“
Enter the name reservation ID you got when you reserved the name in the field to the right of the text “Reservation ID:.” The name reservation ID is six numbers and/or letters. It was emailed to the person who reserved the name. You cannot go past this point unless you enter the six digit reservation ID.
If you did not reserve a name for your LLC select the “No” radio button to the right of the text that says “Have you reserved a name for this entity?“
Enter the LLC or PLLC Name
Enter the name of the LLC or PLLC in the field to the right of the text “Entity Name.” Click on the blue button that says “Search.”
The ACC’s system will do a search and tell you if the name is available or not available. If the name is not available, enter text for a different name and Search again. A slight variation in the name such as adding the letter S at the end of a word may make the name available.
If the name is available, click in the blue button on the bottom right that says “Next.”
Step 2. Entity Information
On this page you will enter the information for the company’s Articles of Organization. All the information you enter on this page will be available to the public.
Entity Information
To the right of the text that says “Entity Email Address” enter the email address to which the Arizona Corporation Commission will sent the approved or rejected Articles of Organization and any other correspondence about the company. This field is optional. Don’t enter an email address if you don’t want your email address to be public.
If you enter an email address you will be asked “Are you sure? By providing an entity email address, the entity consents to received official Notices from the ACC by email to that email address. Select “I agree” if you accept.
Effective Date
To the right of the text “Effective Date” you will see today’s date. The date in this field will be the effective date of the new company. If you want the company to be effective (born) in the future enter the desired date, but it cannot be more than 90 days in the future.
Ignore the “Effective Time” field.
Character of Business
Put your cursor in the Character of Business field. You can select the type of business that best describes the new company’s business, but I recommend you select “Any legal purpose.”
Click in the blue button on the bottom right of the page that says “Next.”
Step 3. Statutory Agent
The new company must have a statutory agent. The statutory agent is what most states call a resident agent. The Statutory Agent does not have general authority to act for the LLC. The Statutory Agent’s purpose and authority is to accept service of process (lawsuits) on behalf of the LLC.
The Statutory Agent can be a member and/or manager of the LLC. A Statutory Agent can be an individual, or an Arizona corporation or LLC, or a foreign corporation or LLC that is authorized to transact business in Arizona. An LLC cannot be its own Statutory Agent – it must appoint someone apart from itself. For example, the LLC can appoint one of its members or managers in his or her capacity as an individual as the statutory agent, but cannot appoint the LLC itself as the statutory agent. If an entity is appointed as Statutory Agent, its name must match exactly the name as shown in the records of the Arizona Corporation Commission.
If an individual is appointed as the statutory agent, that individual must be a permanent, full-time resident of the State of Arizona and must have a permanent, full-time physical or street address in the State of Arizona. The mailing address, if any, of that individual statutory agent must also be in Arizona.
The person or entity you select to be the company’s Statutory Agent (“SA”) must officially accept the appointment by accessing their email and following instructions in that email. The SA has 7 days after you pay and submit the online Articles of Organization in which to accept the appointment via email. If the Arizona Corporation Commission does not receive the auto-confirmation that the SA has accepted the appointment to be the company’s SA, the Articles of Organization that was submitted electronically will be rejected automatically, without review or examination, on the eighth day after payment of the filing fee.
To hire our law firm KEYTLaw, LLC, to be your LLC’s statutory agent for $99/year simply complete our online Statutory Agent Questionnaire. When you submit our questionnaire and pay our fee you must select KEYTLaw, LLC as your new LLC’s statutory agent.
Option 1: Select an Arizona Corporation Commission Registered Statutory Agent
If the statutory agent will be a person or entity that is registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission answer yes to the question “Is your Statutory Agent an existing business registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission?” Search for the person or entity. When the search finds the statutory agent, select the radio button for the statutory agent.
After selecting the entity’s radio button the statutory agent’s stree address will be displayed. Under the street address check the box “Statutory Agent Mailing Address same as street address” if the statutory agent’s mailing address is the same as its mailing address.
If the statutory agent’s mailing address is different than its street address enter the statutory agent’s mailing address below the text “Statutory Agent Mailing Address same as street address.”
To designate a person or entity to be the company’s statutory agent select individual or entity select “No” to the right of the text “Is your Statutory Agent an existing business registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission?” Then click on the blue button with the text “Create Agent.”
Now you are on a window titled “Create Statutory Agent.” Enter name and street address of the Statutory Agent. If the statutory agent’s street address is the same as the statutory agent’s mailing address check the box to the left of “Same as street address.” Be sure to enter the statutory agent’s email address. Now click on the blue button at the bottom with the text “Done.”
If the statutory agent’s mailing address is different from the statutory agent’s mailing address do not check the box to the left of “Same as street address” and enter the statutory agent’s mailing address in the fields below the text “Statutory Agent’s Mailing Address.” Be sure to enter the statutory agent’s email address.
When done, click on the blue button at the bottom with the text “Done.”
You will be taken back to the Statutory Agent page. Click on the button on the bottom right that says “Next.”
The person or entity you named to be the company’s statutory agent must log in to their Arizona Corporation Commission account and accept the appointment within 7 days after the date the ACC sends the statutory agent an email message alerting the statutory agent of the need to accept the appointment.
Warning: If the statutory agent does not accept the appointment within 7 days, the Articles of Organization will be rejected automatically, without review, and the company will not be formed.
The statutory agent should look for the below email message in his or her in box.
To accept (or reject) the appointment, the statutory agent must log in to his/her/its account (or create an account) at the Arizona Corporation Commission’s eCorp website at https://ecorp.azcc.gov. From your dashboard, review your Alerts for the pending appointment.
When logged in to the ACC’s website the statutory agent must put the cursor on the text at the top right of the dashboard that reads “Statutory Agent.” Then click on the drop down text that reads “Appointment Request.”
Next click on the text that reads “Process.”
Next enter the statutory agent’s name in the name field and the date of acceptance into the date field. Then click on the text “Accept Appointment.”
When you get the Appointment Acceptance window click on the text “OK.”
The statutory agent has now accepted the appointment as the company’s statutory agent.
Step 4. Principal Address
Enter the company’s principal address. The principal address can be anywhere. The principal address MAY be:
- In Arizona or outside of Arizona
- The same as the Statutory Agent’s street or mailing address
- A U.S. post office box
- A PMB (personal mailbox)
If the company’s principal address is the same as the statutory agent’s street address or mailing address check the appropriate box.
If you don’t want your address to be on the Arizona Corporation Commission’s public records and website purchase our address service for $100/year by completing our online address service agreement. You can then use our Firm’s address as the company’s principal address and the address for all members and managers.
Step 5. Principal Information
The owners of an Arizona limited liability company are called members. Arizona LLCs must have at least one member. Arizona LLCs must be member managed or manager managed. When the LLC is formed its Articles of Organization must state that the LLC is member managed or manager managed. In this Step 5 you must select member managed or manager managed.
A member and a manager can be a person, an entity, a trust or an estate. A manager does not have to be a member (owner). If the LLC is member managed then all members (even a 1% member) have management powers and can sign contracts on behalf of the LLC and bind the LLC to legal obligations. If the LLC is manager managed then members do not have any management powers. Instead, only managers have management powers and can sign contracts on behalf of the LLC and bind the LLC to legal obligations.
Arizona adopted a new LLC law on September 1, 2019, that entirely replaced Arizona’s prior LLC law that became effective in 1992. We urge you to read our article called “Why All Arizona LLCs Need a New LLC Law Compliant Operating Agreement.” All Arizona LLCs need an Operating Agreement with language the eliminates the harmful provisions that apply to all Arizona LLCs and PLLCs that lack a new law compliant Operating Agreement.
How to Buy A Custom New Arizona Law Compliant Operating Agreement
To hire Richard Keyt and his son Richard C. Keyt, Arizona LLC attorneys who have formed 6,700+ Arizona LLCs and have 109 five star Google reviews and a total of 172 five star online reviews because people love their LLC formation services to draft a custom Operating Agreement complete our online Operating Agreement Preparation Questionnaire.
If any member of the LLC is a married resident of Arizona that member needs to understand the following about Arizona community property law:
- All property acquired by either spouse while they are married is automatically community property unless one spouse acquires it as a gift or by inheriting it.
- If the LLC is member managed, Arizona LLC law requires both spouses to be listed as members in the LLC’s Articles of Organization.
- If the LLC is manager managed Arizona LLC law requires both spouses to be listed as members in the LLC’s Articles of Organization if they own 20% or more of the LLC’s profits.
- If the Articles of Organization names only one spouse when both spouses own the LLC interest as community property the failure to name one of the spouses in the Articles of Organization does not cause the omitted spouse to lose any ownership interest in the LLC.
- If a married Arizona resident wants to own an interest in an LLC as separate property when he or she is a member of an LLC, that person must get the non-owner spouse to sign a document called a “Disclaimer” by which the non-owner spouse disclaims any ownership interest in the LLC.
Community Property vs. Community Property with Right of Survivorship
Arizona has two types of community property: (i) community property, and (ii) community property with right of survivorship. The difference between the two forms of community property is:
- When an Arizona couple owns an asset as community property (no survivorship) and one spouse dies the one half community property interest of the deceased spouse may not be inherited by the surviving spouse. If the deceased spouse had a will or a trust the deceased spouse’s interest in the LLC will be inherited by the heir(s) named in the will or the trust which could be somebody other than the surviving spouse. If the interest of the deceased spouse is not owned by a trust an expensive, time-consuming and public Superior Court probate may be necessary to transfer the interest of the deceased spouse to the heir(s).
- When an Arizona couple owns an asset as community property with right of survivorship and one spouse dies, the one half community property interest of the deceased spouse transfers automatically to the surviving spouse without the need for a probate.
For an Arizona married couple who want the interest of a deceased spouse to transfer automatically to the surviving spouse without the need for a probate they must own the asset as community property with right of survivorship, not as community property, which is the default ownership method when an Arizona couple acquires an asset as community property. Arizona community property law requires a married couple to satisfy the following requirements if they want to own an asset as community property with right of survivorship:
- The spouses must sign a document in which they consent to own the asset as community property with right of survivorship.
- The document signed by both spouses must contain this statement: Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 agree they are acquiring the asset as community property with right of survivorship, not as community property and not as joint tenants with right of survivorship.
Bottom line for Arizona Married Couples Who Want their LLC Interest to Go to Surviving Spouse
If you are an Arizona resident who owns an interest in an Arizona LLC and you want the membership interest to transfer automatically to the surviving spouse if a spouse dies, both spouses need to sign an Operating Agreement that satisfies the two requirements set forth in the preceding paragraph. If you purchase our LLC Operating Agreement it will satisfy both requirements an cause an automatic transfer of the membership interest of the first spouse to die to the surviving spouse without the need for a probate. To hire us to prepare a custom Operating Agreement for your Arizona LLC for $$297 (for a married couple) or $$797 for a multi-member LLC) complete and submit our Operating Agreement Questionnaire.
Arizona LLC law requires that the Articles of Organization of every Arizona LLC state that the LLC is:
- Member managed, or
- Manager managed.
The type of management determines who has the legal power to sign contracts on behalf of the LLC and take action that causes the LLC to incur legal obligations. If your LLC is member managed then ALL members (even a 1% member) have management power and may sign contracts on behalf of the LLC and cause the LLC to incur legal obligations. If the LLC is manager managed no member has any management powers. Instead, all management powers are vested in the people and/or companies or trusts that are designated by the members as managers.
A member can be both a member and a manager. Managers do not have to be members.
If the LLC adds or removes a manager it must file an amendment to its Articles of Organization with the Arizona Corporation Commission. If you want us to prepare and file this type of amendment for $255 (includes the $60 expedited filing fee) complete and submit our Amendment to Articles of Organization Questionnaire.
This explanation is only for LLCs that will be member managed. If your company will be manager managed skip this explanation and go to the next explanation.
Select the Management Type
To the right of the text “Management Structure” put your cursor on the drop down field that says “Select Management Structure” and click. Select “Member-Managed.”
Enter the Names & Addresses of All Members of the LLC
Arizona LLC law requires that the name and address of EVERY member be listed in the Articles of Organization. The information you are submitting online is for the LLC’s Articles of Organization. Enter the name and address of every member on this page. Each time you enter all the information for a member click on the text at the bottom center that says “Add Principal.”
Select the radio button that says “Individual” if the member is a person or “Entity” if the member is not a person. Enter the name and address of every member of the LLC. Member’s addresses can be any where in the world. If a member is married and owns the membership interest with his or her spouse list each spouse as a separate member.
Click on the text “Select Title” to the right of the word “Title.” Select “Member” for every member. To the right of the title field is a field called “Date of Taking Office.” This field is optional. If you want to insert the date a member became a member type the date in this field or use the calendar.
Note: If the address of a member is the same as the company’s place of business address check the box to the left of the text “Same as Known Place of Business Address.”
When you are done entering all the member information click on the blue button on the bottom right that says “Next.”
To learn more about Arizona married couples owning their interest in the LLC as community property, community property with right of survivorship or separate property click on the + icon above that is to the left of the text “Warning for Married Members: Community Property vs. Separate Property“
This explanation is only for LLCs that will be manager managed. If your company will be member managed skip this explanation and go to the previous explanation.
Select the Management Type
To the right of the text “Management Structure” put your cursor on the drop down field that says “Select Management Structure” and click. Select “Manager-Managed.”
Enter the Names & Addresses of All Members Who Own 20% or More of the LLC’s Profits
Arizona LLC law requires that the name and address of EVERY member of the LLC who owns 20% or more of the LLC’s profits be listed in the Articles of Organization. Do not enter information for any member who owns less than 20%. The information you are submitting online is for the LLC’s Articles of Organization. Enter the name and address of every 20% or greater member on this page. Each time you enter all the information for a member click on the text at the bottom center that says “Add Principal.”
Select the radio button that says “Individual” if the member is a person or “Entity” if the member is not a person. Enter the name and address of every member who owns 20% or more of the profits of the LLC and every manager of the LLC. Members’ addresses can be any where in the world. If a member is married and owns the membership interest with his or her spouse list each spouse as a separate member.
Click on the text “Select Title” to the right of the word “Title.” Select (i) “Member” for every 20% or greater member who is not a manager, (ii) “Member and Manager” for every 20% or greater member who is a member and a manager and (iii) “Manager” for managers that are not members.
To the right of the title field is a field called “Date of Taking Office.” This field is optional. If you want to insert the date a member became a member type the date in this field or use the calendar.
Select “Member” for every member. To the right of the title field is a field called “Date of Taking Office.” This field is optional. If you want to insert the date a member became a member type the date in this field or use the calendar.
To learn more about Arizona married couples owning their interest in the LLC as community property, community property with right of survivorship or separate property click on the + icon above that is to the left of the text “Warning for Married Members: Community Property vs. Separate Property“
Click on the text “Add Principal” after you enter the data for each member and manager to add the information to the Arizona Corporation Commission’s online database.
When you are done entering member and manager information click on the blue button on the bottom right that says “Next.”
Step 6. Organizer Information
An organizer is the person signing the company’s Articles of Organization. The organizer is not required to be part of the LLC or PLLC in any other way, i.e., the organizer does not have to be a member or a manager. The organizer may be an already-existing entity , but the LLC or PLLC you are forming cannot be its own organizer.
The company must have at least one organizer. It could have more than one organizer, but normally there is no need for more than one organizer. If the company will be issuing membership interests that are state securities then the company may want to have each investor be an organizer of the company. For more on this topic read Richard Keyt’s article called “New Arizona Law Exempts LLC Organizers from Arizona Securities Laws.”
Select “Individual” or “Entity.” Enter the name and address information for the organizer. After you have entered an organizer click on the blue icon on the bottom middle of the page that has the text “Add Organizer.”
When all organizers have been entered click on the blue button with the text “Next” at the bottom right of the page.
Step 7. Upload Document
This page gives you the option to do one of the following:
- Use the information you submitted to prepare the Arizona Corporation Commission’s form Articles of Organization, or
- Upload your own custom Articles of Organization in Adobe pdf format that will replace the ACC’s form Articles of Organization.
If you want to use the Arizona Corporation Commission’s form Articles of Organization that contains the information you submitted do nothing on this page other than clicking on the blue button on the bottom right that says “Next.”
If you want to upload custom Articles of Organization answer “yes” to the question “Do you want to use the eCorp Articles as your official document submitted for filing?” then click on “Browse” and upload your Articles of Organization. The maximum file size is 50 megabytes. After uploading your Articles of Organization click on the blue button on the bottom right that says “Next.”
Step 8. Signatures
Each organizer must digitally sign the Articles of Organization. Enter the name of an organizer to the right of the text that says “Organizer Signature.” Check the box that says “I Agree” then click on the blue button with the text “Add.”
The organizer is agreeing to the following:
“By typing/entering my name, I intend to affix my electronic signature acknowledging that this electronic document is submitted in compliance with Arizona law. I certify that the information on the electronic document is true, complete, and accurate as of the date the electronic filing is submitted.”
After you have entered all organizer information click on the blue button on the bottom right that says “Next.”
Step 9. Review
Step 10. Done
You must now pay the $85 expedited filing fee. If you file online you don’t have the option to pay the $50 regular filing fee.
See the current ACC document review times.
Click on the blue button on the bottom right that says “Add to Shopping Cart” and pay the fee with your credit card.
Next click on the text “Checkout.”
Now click on the text that says “Pay with credit card” and then enter your credit card information.
Print the ACC’s page that confirms you paid for your company and submitted the information. Save it as one of your company’s important records.
You have now entered all the information needed for your Arizona LLC formation online. The filing will not be accepted until the statutory agent accepts the appointment. If you are the statutory agent go back to Step 3. Statutory Agent and review the text that explains how to accept the appointment. If you are not the statutory agent alert the statutory agent that he/she should be on the alert for an email from the Arizona Corporation Commission that notifies the statutory agent of the need to accept the appointment.
Warning: If the statutory agent does not accept the appointment within 7 days of the email from the Arizona Corporation Commission the filing will be rejected and the company will not be created.
When the statutory agent accepts the appointment you should log in to your Arizona Corporation Commission account and download two important documents for your records. Download:
- Articles of Organization filed by the ACC
- ACC’s approval letter.
When logged in on your dashboard click on the text “My Correspondence.” Click on the following two documents and download them for your files:
- Articles of Organization
- LLC formation approval
The text below applies only to LLCs and PLLCs whose statutory agents do not have addresses in Maricopa County or Pima County. Your LLC or PLLC does not have to publish if its statutory agent’s address is in Maricopa County or Pima County.
If the address of the LLC’s statutory agent is not in Maricopa County or Pima County the LLC or PLLC must publish a notice for publication in an Arizona Corporation Commission approved newspaper in the county in which the company has its place of business. Below is the Notice for Publication that you can download, complete and send to an ACC approved newspaper. The Notice must be published by the newspaper within sixty days after the Commission files the Articles of Organization.
Important Tasks to Perform After Forming Your LLC or PLLC
There are several important tasks that you should complete after forming your new LLC or PLLC. To learn more see our article called “Important Post LLC Formation Tasks.”
How to Hire Us to Form an Arizona LLC
100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
If you hire us and are not happy we will refund your LLC formation fee less the filing fee. Nobody, repeat nobody will give you as much as we will give you if you hire us to form a Silver or Gold LLC. Take a couple of minutes and list below to see the many services we give you when we form an Arizona LLC.
We’ve made it very easy to hire Richard Keyt who has formed 9,300+ Arizona LLCs and has 252 five star Google reviews and a total of 372 five star online reviews. It’s a simple 5 – 10 minute process. To hire Richard Keyt to form your new Silver ($897) or Gold ($1,397) LLC select one of the following two options:
Option 1 – Telephone
Call Richard the father or the son and give them your LLC and credit card information over the phone:
- Richard Keyt (father) – 480-664-7478 or book a free phone, office or Zoom consultation with him.
- Richard C. Keyt (son) – 480-664-7472 or book a free phone, office or Zoom consultation with him
Option 2 – Online
Complete our LLC Formation Questionnaire and click on the submit button at the end. Our system will email the completed Questionnaire to the email address you specify in the Questionnaire so you can review the information to make sure everything is correct.
How to Hire Us to Prepare a Custom Operating Agreement for an Arizona LLC
If we don’t form your Arizona LLC you should hire us to prepare a custom Operating Agreement for $297 for a single member LLC or a married couple LLC or $$797 for a multi-member LLC by submitting our Operating Agreement Preparation Questionnaire.