Incorporating in Illinois
Incorporating your business is a way to protect your assets, attract investors, and add prestige to your company. We’ve formed thousands of Illinois corporations for our clients, so we can help you cut through the red tape.
Below, you’ll find a six-step guide to forming an Illinois corporation on your own. If you’d rather keep things simple, you can hire us to incorporate your business for $303 total (including state fees).
Illinois Corporation Package: $303 Total
At Illinois Registered Office, we offer more than just basic formation service. We provide you with everything you need to start, maintain, and grow your business, including:
- Illinois Business Address
- Registered Agent Service – Always Just $49/Year
- 1 Day Processing (Holiday/Weekend Orders Processed Next Business Day)
- Online Account to Monitor, Track, and Receive Business Documents
- Same-Day Document Scans
- FREE Domain Registration for First Year
- FREE Website, Email and Phone Service for 90 Days
- Option to Add Additional Filings, such as Trade Name Registration
- Compliance Service Enrollment at No Upfront Cost
- Lifetime Customer Support
- Lowest Prices in Illinois
How to Incorporate a Business in Illinois
To form an Illinois corporation, you need to file Articles of Incorporation with the Illinois Secretary of State and pay the $150 filing fee ($154 including credit card fee). We break down the basic steps you’ll need to take.
1. Choose a corporation name
Your corporation’s name needs to meet a couple basic criteria:
- Be unique. Your name can’t be the same or extremely similar to another registered business name in Illinois. You can submit a Corporate Name Availability Inquiry Form to check if your preferred name is available.
- Include a corporate designator. Your business name needs to include the word “corporation,” “company,” “incorporated,” or an abbreviation of one of those words.
2. Appoint a registered agent
Illinois requires every corporation to have an Illinois registered agent. This can be an individual or a company that provides registered agent service (like us!), but they must reside in Illinois.
Your registered agent also needs to have a physical address in Illinois (not a P.O. box) where they can be reached year-round to receive service of process in person on behalf of the business. While you could appoint yourself for this role, using a registered agent service allows you more flexibility to travel, move, or work nontraditional hours without worrying you’ll miss a time-sensitive legal notice.
3. File Illinois Articles of Incorporation
When you’re ready to make your corporation official, you need to submit Articles of Incorporation, which you can do online via the Illinois Secretary of State website or by submitting Form BCA 2.10 by mail or in person. The filing fee is $150 (add $4 if paying by credit card).
Here’s the information you’ll need to include:
- Company name. Don’t forget a corporate designator like “Corp” or “Inc.”
- Registered agent and office. Must include a physical street address in Illinois.
- Company purpose. If applying online, you must use the generic business purpose provided.
- Authorized shares. Must include the number and class of shares issued, and the amount of money or property the company will receive for the shares.
- Incorporator(s) name and address. Contact information for the person who files your Articles.
Your Articles may include additional information, like your initial board of directors or the duration of your business. The IL Department of Business Services recommends consulting an attorney before filing your Articles.
4. Create corporate bylaws
Every corporation in Illinois is required to adopt bylaws, according to Illinois statute §805 ILCS 5/2.20. Your bylaws are documents that establish the internal policies and procedures of your corporation, such as:
- Responsibilities of directors and officers
- When and where meetings will be held
- How stock can be issued and transferred
- Record-keeping procedures
- Procedure for amending the bylaws
- Procedure for dissolving the corporation
In Illinois, bylaws can be adopted either by the directors or shareholders of the corporation. Since your bylaws are legally binding, it’s a good idea to consult an attorney before finalizing yours.
When you hire Illinois Registered Office to incorporate your business, we’ll send you a free, attorney-drafted corporate bylaws template to get you started.
5. Appoint directors and hold the first organizational meeting
Once your corporation is registered and you’ve prepared your bylaws and other initial documents, it’s time to appoint an initial board of directors and hold the first board of directors meeting. If you didn’t name directors in your Articles, the shareholders should hold a meeting to appoint a board of directors (per 805 ILCS 5/2.20).
At the first board meeting, the directors should:
- adopt corporate bylaws
- elect officers
- handle any other business matters that came up before the meeting
6. Obtain an EIN
Next, you’ll need to apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. This is your company’s federal tax ID number, which you’ll need to file taxes. You can apply for free on the IRS website.
How Our Illinois Incorporation Process Works
- You Order Our Illinois Incorporation Package
- We Prepare & File Your Articles of Incorporation in 1 Business Day
- The State Confirms Authorization of Your Corporation
- We Deliver Your Customized Corporation Documents to You
- We Provide Illinois Registered Agent Service for 1 Year
- Next Year, We Send You A Renewal For Registered Agent Service, ALWAYS Just $49/Year
NOTE: If you want to register an out-of-state corporation in Illinois, check out our foreign corporation registation service. Need an Illinois Nonprofit? We can help with that, too! Our nonprofit incorporation service will register your organization with the state, as well as set you up properly to apply for tax-free status with the IRS.
The Illinois Registered Office Difference
We take pride in offering the most perks for our clients while still charging less than our competition. Since we’re based in our own building in Springfield, we’re able to provide our services in house with a local, full-time staff. Here’s what you can expect when you’re our client.
Stability & Expertise
We have over a decade of experience forming businesses in Illinois, and we know our stuff. We’re based in Springfield, so we can offer free courier service when you need filings delivered in person.
Plus, since we own our building, you won’t have to worry about address changes every time your registered agent moves. We also offer virtual mail and virtual office services, all handled in-house. Unlike many competitors, we never outsource your mail to third-party processing centers!
Committed Compliance Support
Every year, Illinois businesses are dissolved because they neglected to file their annual report. We make it effortless to keep your corporation active by sending reminders far in advance of the due date and submitting your annual report for you.
When you hire us, you’re enrolled in our Annual Report Compliance Service at no upfront cost. We’ll send reminders several weeks before the due date and then file your annual report for $100 + the state fee. If you decide you’d rather handle your own compliance reports, just cancel this service in your client account.
Full Suite of Web & Phone Services
Get everything you need to launch your company in one place, for a much lower cost than you’ll find elsewhere. When you order incorporation service, you can try our Business Presence package free for 90 days. This includes:
- Domain name FREE for an entire year (up to $25 value)
- Business website Open source, customizable website template, with free phone support from our team
- Free SSL security included with every website to protect your data
- Up to 10 business email addresses featuring your domain (such as admin@mybusinessnamehere.com)
- Business phone service with local phone number that you can access through your existing cell phone using our free app
Illinois Corporation FAQ
Many Illinois incorporation services hide what they charge instead of showing you exactly where your money goes. We believe in transparency.
| Service | Fee |
| Illinois State Filing Fee | $154 |
| Our Incorporation Service Fee | $100 |
| One Year Registered Agent Service | $49 |
| Total | $303 |
The Secretary of State charges $100 for 1-Day Expedite, plus a credit card processing fee. Order your 1-Day Corporation for $405 total.
If you order expediting and your form can’t be filed online (such as for close corporations or corporations with multiple classes of stock), we’ll walk in your Illinois Secretary of State expedited filings ourselves for FREE.
We provide all of our corporation formation clients with FREE custom business documents, including corporate bylaws, stock certificates, and a huge library of state business forms. Our competitors charge between $50 and $75 for corporate bylaws templates, which we think is obscene. Plus, while many of our competitors only provide generic bylaws, our bylaws template is attorney-drafted and customized for Illinois corporations.
CORPORATE BYLAWS
Corporate bylaws lay out the ownership of your corporation and the way in which it will be managed. It lists the names and addresses of your initial shareholders, their initial capital contributions, shares of stock, rights and responsibilities, and how stock can be bought and sold. It also details management structure: initial directors and officers, their rights and responsibilities, and how meetings will be managed.
SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTIONS
A resolution is a directive from your shareholders or directors authorizing a particular action. For example, when you want to open a business bank account or purchase property, you will write a resolution authorizing a specific individual to do so.
SHAREHOLDER CERTIFICATES
Shareholder certificates are evidence of ownership. Each shareholder receives a certificate with the name of the company, the name of the shareholder, the amount and value of the shareholder’s stock, and any other information your shareholders deem necessary.
MEETING MINUTES
Your corporation will hold shareholder and director meetings throughout the year. It is crucial that an official record of these meetings is kept, especially whenever your shareholders or directors are called upon to pass a vote. Minutes are official records kept by your Secretary.
Here’s the sad truth: not every registered agent and incorporation service is created equal. At Illinois Registered Office LLC, we charge a lot less than our competitors, and sometimes prospective customers want to know why. Sounds too good to be true, right?
We charge $303 total for our corporation package because we don’t believe in charging you extra for every little service. Nor do we believe in charging you extra for services that we would normally provide anyway. This is how a lot of companies pad their margins.
Let’s take a look at just how we’re different:
Free Custom Business Documents
The Competition:
Most incorporation services will charge you $50 to $75 per document for simple business documents like your corporate bylaws, meeting minutes, shareholder resolutions and more. You can spend hundreds of dollars getting these from other companies.
How We’re Different:
We provide custom business documents for your Illinois corporation absolutely FREE. We already have the templates set up, and our system automatically generates the documents right after you sign up. We buy in bulk and the documents cost little to print. It would be absurd to charge you an arm and a leg for these documents.
Registered Agent: $49 Per Year
The Competition:
Other registered agent services in Illinois offer incredible rates, with some companies even throwing in a “free” year of service up front. What they don’t mention is how next year’s price will be much higher—with an average of $150 a year.
How We’re Different:
Our price is $49 this year, $49 next year, $49 every year after that. We don’t believe in “introductory prices” and other gimmicks to get you in the door. We believe in quality service year after year. If we do right by you, then you’ll likely sign on again next year. That’s our business model in a nutshell.
Yes. All Illinois corporations are required to file an annual report and pay the Illinois Franchise Tax. Failing to file your annual report can result in late fees and even administrative consequences if your report is overdue for a long period of time. To help keep your corporation from falling out of good standing with the state, we include enrollment in our Annual Report Compliance Service when you order Company Formation Service at no additional upfront cost. We send you reminders before you annual report is due. You can have us handle the filing while you focus on other aspects of your business, or cancel and file yourself. Compliance Service is $100 plus state fees and helps prevent you from missing even a single report.
Having a website is an important way for businesses of all sizes to connect to clients and customers. Your website is where people will be able to find your company, buy items or services, and learn more about what you do. It’s a very affordable marketing tool most companies take advantage of.
When you add our Business Presence package to your order, you’ll get everything you need to get your business on the internet. We’ll partner with you every step of the way to help you build an effective website with a catchy domain that suits your company’s image.
A trade name is a name your company uses to conduct business not listed on your Articles of Organization. Trade names are also called “assumed names” or “doing business as (DBA).” Oftentimes businesses use a trade name for convenience or franchising purposes.
Upon check out for your business formation, you can select our Trade Name Service inside your account, and we’ll register your trade name. The state of Illinois renews trade names on years ending in 0 or 5 and prorates their fee. Our fee is always $125 plus state fees. We price your initial purchase of a trade name accordingly, all state fees included, with each year prorated:
| Years ending in | State fee + Processing fee | Our fee | Total: |
| 0 or 5 | $150 + $3 | $125 | $278 |
| 1 or 6 | $120 + $3 | $125 | $248 |
| 2 or 7 | $90 + $3 | $125 | $218 |
| 3 or 8 | $60 + $3 | $125 | $188 |
| 4 or 9 | $30 + $3 | $125 | $158 |