Entrepreneurship is exciting—the thrill of developing a winning product or service, bringing that idea to life, and making life better for your clients—it’s fun. But unfortunately, it’s not free. Long story short: starting a business has a price tag. LLCs are no exception.
If you’re hoping to start an LLC in Oklahoma, you’ll quickly learn that you’ll have a pretty long list of fees for forms, licenses, and applications that you’ll need to get started. Some of those are optional fees, and some are unavoidable. In this guide, we’ll walk you through all the costs you can expect when starting an Oklahoma LLC. By the end, you’ll have a clear picture of how your new business will impact your wallet.
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What’s the least amount I have to pay to form an LLC in Oklahoma?
If you’re crunching the numbers before diving right in, good on you! Planning ahead is a surefire way to start your business off on the right foot. But let’s make one thing clear: the phrase “cost to start an LLC” is a bit deceptive. That’s because you don’t want to get stuck focusing on the “day one” expenses of business.
That’s right—when budgeting for start-up costs, you need to account for the costs you’ll pay today and the costs you’ll pay a year or two down the road.
So let’s talk start-up costs and ongoing costs for your Oklahoma LLC. But to keep things simple, here we’ll cover the non-negotiable costs. Later on, we’ll talk about services that are nice to have (but you can live without if you have to).
OK LLC Start-up costs
There are two primary start-up costs in Oklahoma. The most important one is the Articles of Organization. The fee is $100. But regardless of whether that sounds like pocket change or an expense that you’ll have to budget for, you can’t avoid this cost. After all, the Articles is what officially forms your business in the state. Without it, you’re not a recognized business.
A lot of Oklahoma will also need to get licenses in order to run a compliant business. Unlike many states, Oklahoma doesn’t require a general business license. But there’s a good chance that one of the state’s professional licenses will apply to your business. For example, Oklahoma requires licenses for photography services, transportation, bars, and more. Unfortunately, you’ll have to do your own research to learn which ones apply to your business. Oklahoma Commerce is a good place to start that search.
Unfortunately, we can’t provide a comprehensive list of price tags for these licenses, but you can reasonably expect to pay an application fee when you get one.
Ongoing costs for an LLC in OK
If your business lasts (and we’re confident it will), then you’ll have several ongoing costs. These include license renewals, annual reports, and taxes. Let’s dig into those prices and fees.
License renewals
Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about renewing a state general business license, but you might have to renew your professional or occupational permits. Each Oklahoma licensing board has its own policies for renewals, though, so we can’t really list them here. This guide would be tedious if we did. When you obtain your licenses, we recommend taking note of the renewal requirements for your industry so none of the fees surprise you.
Annual taxes
In Oklahoma (or any state, for that matter), one of the biggest annual costs will be taxes. And the tax with the biggest impact is probably the state income tax. How much you’ll pay largely depends on your taxation structure. If you’re taxed as a pass-through entity, you’ll pay rates between 0.5% and 5%. But if you’re taxed as a corporation, you’ll pay a flat rate of 6%.
If you’re also involved in the sale of qualifying goods or services, then you’ll have to collect and pay the state’s business sales tax. The statewide rate is 4.5%, but Oklahoma allows cities and counties to add surcharges to the tax. Last but not least, you should keep in mind that the sales tax requires a permit, which costs $20 to obtain.
There’s also a wide variety of miscellaneous business taxes that might apply to your LLC: alcohol, motor fuel, and tobacco are just a few examples. But we won’t dig into all the nitty-gritty details here. If you think a miscellaneous business tax might apply to you, check out the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
Annual report
Most states require LLCs to file some version of an “annual report,” or a document that informs the state about the current standing of your business. This document is usually required in addition to annual tax reports, since it usually includes information about your business address, members, your registered agent, and so on.
In Oklahoma, the annual report is commonly referred to as the annual certificate, but it’s fairly simple to file. Simply log into the Secretary of State’s online portal, fill out the requested information, and pay the $25 filing fee. That’s really all there is to it.
What are the discretionary costs to form an Oklahoma LLC?
When you’re starting your business, your budget is usually pretty tight. Prioritizing costs can get tricky. The costs we listed above are unavoidable. Well, technically, you can avoid them, but you’ll be heavily penalized if you do. And there’s not much point to spending all that money on starting a business only to knowingly let it be dissolved because you didn’t pay your ongoing costs.
But if you can help it, doing the “bare minimum” is probably not the best way to start your business. There are plenty of discretionary costs you can pay for certain services that make life easier. Here, we’ll dig into those costs—and why you might consider paying them.
1. Name reservation application
Naming things can be a bit tricky; after all, sometimes inspiration is a little lacking! And since Oklahoma doesn’t allow you to use a name that someone else has already claimed, you have to work even harder to pick one that’s unique, memorable, and just right for your business.
It’s a multi-step process, really: you have to brainstorm name ideas, choose just the right words, meet state name requirements, and of course, ensure that the name isn’t already in use (you can check using a Name Availability Search).
If you’re like a lot of people, you probably want to ensure that your hard work doesn’t go to waste once you’ve created the perfect name. So you have to lay claim to your new business name. You can do so either by filing your Articles of Organization, or by filing a Name Reservation Application. You should only file this form if you’re not yet ready to file your Articles. Otherwise, you’d be wasting your hard-earned cash. Oklahoma requires a small $10 fee for this reservation, and it will protect your chosen name for 60 days.
2. Obtaining a Trade Name
Wait—didn’t we just cover business names? Yes. But there’s a distinction: your business name, which you’ll write in on your Articles of Organization, is the legal name of your business. A trade name, sometimes called a DBA, trade name, or assumed name, is like a nickname for your business. For example, your legal name might Joseph Smith, but your friends call you Joe for short. Joe is a perfectly valid name, but you can’t put it on legal paperwork. You’d have to legally change your name to do so.
A Trade Name acts kind of like a nickname for your business; some LLCs and corporations also use Trade Names to establish new product lines or new “businesses” under the LLC “parent company.” But regardless of why you use a Trade Name, if it differs from your legal name, you need to register it before you can use it.
Quick note: don’t confuse the Trade Name filing with the Fictitious Name listed on the Secretary of State’s website. The Fictitious Name filing is for foreign entities; the Trade Name one is for domestic entities.
Before you actually register your Trade Name, you should check that your name is even available to use. Oklahoma requires all names to be “distinguishable on the record” of the state’s database. If it is available, you can file your Trade Name Report. There’s a $25 fee for this filing, but the trade name doesn’t expire. For more information on this registration, check out our guide to Trade Names in Oklahoma.
3. LLC formation services
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Paperwork is a massive hassle. And unless you’re starting an LLC to help other Oklahoma residents with their paperwork, odds are you don’t want to deal with much paperwork yourself.
The bad news? Paperwork is an unavoidable part of starting an Oklahoma LLC: the Articles of Organization, annual reports, license applications—the list goes on and on. The good news? You can hire an LLC formation service to do the pesky paperwork for you.
Of course, there’s some cost involved. And while there are a lot of great LLC formation services, they aren’t all created equal. And they all have different price points.
Many LLC formation services offer a wide variety of options, with ZenBusiness offering packages starting at $0 + state fee. You can also take a look at other well known services like LegalZoom, Northwest, and Incfile that have other types of pros.
These services are completely optional; you can DIY your Oklahoma LLC formation. But many entrepreneurs find the time saved is worth the money. If you do opt to hire a service, please make sure you take the time to understand what you’re buying.
4. OK Registered agent services
Oklahoma law clearly states that every LLC must designate a registered agent to act as a middleman between your business and the state. Long story short, the registered agent accepts service of process (and any other official communication from the state) on your behalf.
Technically, this is another thing you can DIY; Oklahoma allows you to serve as your own registered agent. However, in our opinion, it’s worth the expense to hire a registered agent.
Why? For starters, a registered agent’s address becomes part of the public record; anyone in the state can find that address. That leads to spam mail (sometimes worse). Plus, a registered agent must be present at the registered address during all standard business hours. If you serve as your own, you’d be tied down to your location constantly. A registered agent service prevents those annoyances. A service will also help you keep track of annual filing requirements, license renewals, and more.
These services typically charge an annual fee. For example, annual fees for our top 4 Oklahoma registered agent services range from $99 to $299 per year depending on the service you choose. That said, some offer the first year free if you use them as an LLC formation service.
Quick Note: If you need to later down the line, you can always change your registered agent.
5. Expedited filing fees
In Oklahoma, how long it takes to process your Articles of Organization depends on how you file. If you file online, then your form will be filed within 1-2 business days. If you file by mail, it can take anywhere from 1-2 weeks.
If that sounds like too long to wait, there’s only one option to speed things up: dropping off your filing in-person to the state office. As long as you pay an extra $25 fee, they’ll process your Articles within an hour or so. Understandably, driving to the main office isn’t an option for everyone, but thankfully, it is cheap to expedite. So you can let your schedule, budget, and location be the deciding factors.
6. Business attorneys
Starting a business is a complicated process. And it’s a legal one. We do our best to make the process seem less daunting with guides like this one. But at the end of the day, we can’t write a guide that would cover every single question every business will ever face. That’s because your business is unique.
Business attorneys, however, can talk you through all the nuances of forming and running your business. In many cases, the advice of an attorney can save you thousands by helping you avoid expensive legal mistakes.
However, the upfront costs of hiring a business attorney can be pretty pricey. For example, many attorneys charge per hour, with rates ranging between $150-$350. Others offer “LLC formation packages” for flat rates that fall between $500-$2000. And of course, those fees vary based on the attorney’s experience, location, and so on.
If you’d like to hire one, we recommend checking out sites like Avvo.com. Their database is nearly comprehensive, so it’s a great way to search Oklahoma business lawyers. You can also narrow results by location, cost, overall satisfaction rating, and more. It’s the best place to look to find the right legal consultation for your business.
Conclusion
Long story short: starting an Oklahoma LLC can be a pretty pricey endeavor. If you look at each cost separately, it doesn’t seem too bad (even the $100 Articles of Organization fee isn’t unmanageable). But when you add them all up or tack on some additional services, the total price tag grows pretty quickly.
Thankfully, since you’ve read this guide, you know what you’re up against. And sometimes, knowing is half the battle—and now you’re armed with all the information you need to budget the start-up costs so you can start your Oklahoma LLC off on the right foot. We wish you and your new business the best!