Statutory requirements, filing fees, and recommended services for Florida businesses.
Verified against Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations · Updated 2026-04-30
If you are forming an LLC in Florida, the first decision after picking a name is who will serve as registered agent. Fla. Stat. §605.0113 sets the requirements; the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations files the designation and treats it as the entity’s official contact for legal and tax mail. This page documents how Florida treats the registered agent designation under Fla. Stat. §605.0113, the fees the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations charges to file, and the practical mistakes that trip up first-time filers.
A Florida registered agent is the individual or business entity that Fla. Stat. §605.0113 requires every LLC and corporation to maintain as the official recipient of service of process, state tax notices, and Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations correspondence. The agent must keep a physical Florida street address — P.O. boxes alone do not satisfy the statute — and must be reliably available during normal business hours. The Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations files the agent’s name and street address as part of the public business record, searchable by any member of the public through the agency’s online entity database.
The registered agent designation in Florida is filed as part of the Articles of Organization, submitted to the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations’ business filings division. Most filers use the Sunbiz.org filing portal operated by the Division of Corporations, which accepts the formation document, the agent designation, and the $125 filing fee in a single transaction. Online submissions typically clear in two to seven business days; paper filings can take two to four weeks depending on agency workload.
Florida charges a $400 late fee if the $138.75 annual report is not filed by May 1 — the steepest punctual-filing penalty in the country relative to the base fee. The annual report window opens January 1 and closes May 1 without exception.
Once the entity is on file, the registered agent’s role continues for as long as the LLC or corporation exists. Florida’s ongoing maintenance is handled through an annual report at $138, due annually between January 1 and May 1, and any subsequent change of registered agent is filed with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations via a Statement of Change at a $25 fee. The agent must file a written consent or, where the agency requires, sign the formation document itself — the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations rejects designations that lack agent consent.
National registered agent services — Northwest Registered Agent, Mainstay Filing, ZenBusiness, and LegalZoom — operate in Florida with the same pricing and feature set they offer in every other state. For most Florida LLCs and corporations, a national provider is the right choice: consistent pricing, an online dashboard with scanned mail, and same-day acceptance of service of process. Northwest’s $125/year tier and Mainstay Filing’s $99/year tier are the two most common picks for Florida businesses that want privacy and reliability without paying premium prices.
A Florida-specific provider like Florida Registered Agent.io makes sense in narrower cases. State-focused agents tend to specialize in Florida filings only, which can mean faster local turnaround on Statements of Change, deeper familiarity with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations’ portal, and a single jurisdiction to worry about. For business owners who plan to operate exclusively in Florida and value a local-only operator, a state-specific provider is often a better cultural fit than a multi-state brand. The tradeoff is interface polish: state-specific services usually lack the dashboard depth and mail-forwarding automation of the national services.
Five state-specific gotchas account for most of the registered agent problems we see in Florida filings.
Listing a P.O. box or commercial mailbox. Fla. Stat. §605.0113 requires a physical street address, and the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations returns filings that list anything other than a real Florida street. Commercial mailbox services without a registered street component (typical UPS Store-style addresses) are routinely rejected.
Using a non-Florida address. The agent’s address must be physically inside Florida. Out-of-state owners cannot list their own home address; they must either hire a commercial agent or designate a Florida-resident individual.
Letting the agent designation lapse without filing a Statement of Change. When a commercial agent service is terminated and a replacement is not filed with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, the LLC enters a compliance gap. The $25 change fee is trivial compared with the cost of administrative dissolution and reinstatement.
Missing the annual report deadline. Florida’s annual report is due annually between January 1 and May 1, and the registered agent is the only party who receives mailed reminders from the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations. If the agent is unreliable, the entity can miss the deadline silently.
Florida’s $400 May 1 late fee is non-waivable and applies the day after the deadline. There is no grace period for first-time filers.
| # | Service | Price/yr | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwest Registered Agent | $125 | privacy-focused customers |
| 2 | Mainstay Filing Best Value | $99 | balanced value |
| 3 | ZenBusiness | $199 | new businesses bundling formation |
| 4 | LegalZoom | $249 | customers wanting brand-name support |
Florida-specific option: Florida Registered Agent.io operates exclusively in Florida and specializes in same-state filings. Best for businesses that want a state-focused provider with local-only operations.
| Physical address required | Yes — must be a street address in Florida |
|---|---|
| P.O. box allowed | No |
| Business hours availability | Required during normal business hours |
| Resident requirement | Florida resident OR authorized business entity |
| Listed in public record | Yes — searchable via Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations |
| Statute reference | Fla. Stat. §605.0113 |
| Filing Type | Fee | Renewal | Renewal Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC formation (Articles of Organization) | $125 | annually between January 1 and May 1 | $138 |
| DBA / Fictitious Name | $50 | Every 5 years | $50 |
| Registered Agent change | $25 | — | — |
| Annual Report | $138 | annually between January 1 and May 1 | $138 |
Yes — if you are a Florida resident with a physical street address and are available during business hours.
Yes. Florida law requires every LLC to maintain a Florida-based registered agent regardless of where the owner lives.
The Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations can administratively dissolve your business after approximately 60 days of non-compliance.
Yes — file a Statement of Change of Registered Agent with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations for $25.
$50–$150 per year for commercial services; free if you self-serve.
Yes. The agent's name and address are searchable via the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations business records.
Same-day with most commercial services; same-business-day filing if submitted online before the daily cutoff.
This page provides general information about Florida registered agent requirements, not legal advice. Filing fees and procedures may change; verify current details with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations before filing. We may receive compensation from services listed in our comparisons; this does not influence our editorial selections.