To form a Michigan LLC, you file the Michigan Articles of Organization (Form CSCL/CD-700) with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). The form has five short articles plus an organizer signature block, the filing fee is $50, and you can submit online through the MiBusiness Registry Portal or by mail. Once LARA endorses the filing, your LLC exists as a separate legal entity.
Check Your Name Before You Touch the Form
Michigan requires your LLC name to be distinguishable from every active entity on file, so run it through LARA’s Business Entity Search at mibusinessregistry.lara.state.mi.us before you fill anything out.1Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Naming a Limited Liability Company A few rules catch first-time filers:
- The name must include “Limited Liability Company,” “L.L.C.,” or “LLC.”
- It cannot contain “Corporation,” “Incorporated,” “Corp.,” or “Inc.”
- It cannot imply a purpose different from the one stated in the articles.
- If you plan to do business under a different name, you’ll also need a Certificate of Assumed Name (CSCL/CD-541).
Not ready to file yet? You can reserve a name for 180 days while you finish your operating agreement or line up a registered office.1Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Naming a Limited Liability Company
Filling Out the CSCL/CD-700
The form is short, but LARA will reject filings that are incomplete or inconsistent with Michigan’s Limited Liability Company Act. Work through it article by article.
Article I: Company Name
Enter the full legal name of the LLC exactly as you searched it, including the required designator. Minor differences — a missing comma, swapped word order — can trigger a rejection or produce a name that’s confusingly similar to another entity already on file.
Article II: Purpose
Michigan allows a broad default: the company is formed for “any lawful purpose.” Most organizers use this language because it lets the LLC move into new lines of business without amending the articles later. If your LLC will provide state-licensed professional services (medical practice, legal services, architecture, and the like), you need language identifying it as a professional limited liability company.
Article III: Duration
Leave the duration as perpetual unless you have a specific reason not to. That’s the statutory default under Michigan law, and it means the LLC continues indefinitely without any renewal of the articles.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 450.4202 – Limited Liability Company; Formation; Filing as Evidence That All Conditions Performed; Exception; Duration A fixed end date only makes sense for a single-project LLC — a real estate development, for instance — where the members want dissolution built in from the start.
Article IV: Resident Agent and Registered Office
Every Michigan LLC must continuously maintain a resident agent and a registered office in the state. The resident agent is the person or entity authorized to receive legal documents — lawsuits, government notices, official correspondence — on behalf of the LLC.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 450.4207
The agent can be an individual who lives in Michigan and whose home or business address matches the registered office. It can also be a domestic corporation, a domestic LLC, or a foreign entity authorized to do business in Michigan, as long as its business office is the same as the registered office address.
Two details cause most rejections in this section. First, you cannot use a P.O. box for the registered office. It has to be a physical street address where someone can accept service of process. Second, if the LLC’s mailing address is different from the street address, list both.
Many organizers name themselves as resident agent to save money. The tradeoff is that your home address becomes public record and you need to be reachable during business hours. Commercial registered agent services typically run $50 to $150 per year and keep your address off the filing.
Article V: Additional Provisions
This section is optional. Common additions include specifying whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed, restricting member authority, or setting a delayed effective date. Many organizers leave Article V blank and address governance in the operating agreement instead.
Organizer Signatures
One or more organizers must sign and print their names at the bottom. Organizers don’t have to be future members; they’re simply the people responsible for the initial filing.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 450.4202 – Limited Liability Company; Formation; Filing as Evidence That All Conditions Performed; Exception; Duration Attorneys and formation services often act as organizers for the actual owners. Each signature needs a printed name so LARA’s records stay legible.
How to File
Online
LARA prefers online submissions through the MiBusiness Registry Portal at mibusinessregistry.lara.state.mi.us. This portal replaced the older Corporations Online Filing System (COFS) in June 2025. You can submit the articles, pay the $50 fee by credit card, and track status from a single dashboard.4Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Corporations Division Online filing cuts down on data-entry errors and generally processes faster than paper.
By Mail
Send the completed form with a $50 check or money order payable to the “State of Michigan” to:
Corporations Division
P.O. Box 30054
Lansing, MI 48909
Postal transit adds days, so build in a cushion if you’re targeting a specific start date.5Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Limited Liability Company Filing Information
In Person
LARA’s Lansing office accepts walk-in filings and has a 24-hour drop box. If you need expedited processing, hand-delivering ensures the document reaches the reviewer’s desk without postal delay.
Expedited Tiers
Standard processing usually takes a few business days, though it fluctuates with volume. If you need faster, LARA offers three tiers charged on top of the $50 base fee:6Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Expedited Service Fees
- 24-hour service: $50 additional for formation documents.
- Same-day service: $100 additional. Must reach LARA by 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
- One-hour service: $1,000 additional. Must be received by 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
Expedited requests use a separate Expedited Service Request form (CSCL/CD-272), submitted with the articles and combined fees. The one-hour option is priced for closings that need proof of entity status the same afternoon.
When Your LLC Starts to Exist
Once LARA endorses the articles, you receive an endorsed copy and a certificate of organization. Those documents prove the LLC legally exists and are what banks, licensing agencies, and counterparties will ask for.
The LLC’s existence begins on the endorsement date unless you set a later effective date in Article V. Michigan law allows a delayed effective date of up to 90 days after delivery.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 450.4104 Delaying is useful when you want the entity to come alive on a clean calendar date, such as the first day of a new tax year.
Mistakes That Get Filings Rejected
- Filing without checking name availability. Any name that isn’t distinguishable from an existing entity comes back rejected.
- Forgetting the required designator (“LLC,” “L.L.C.,” or “Limited Liability Company”) in the name.
- Listing a P.O. box as the registered office. It must be a physical street address where the agent can accept service.
- Mismatched resident agent and registered office addresses. They have to be identical on the form.
- Wrong payment. The base fee is $50; forgetting to add an expedited fee, or making the check out to anything other than “State of Michigan,” causes delays.
- Unsigned form. At least one organizer must sign and print their name.
What to Do Right After Filing
Filing the articles creates the entity, but three follow-up items usually can’t wait.
Get an EIN. The IRS online application at irs.gov is free, takes about 15 minutes, and issues the number on screen. Wait until you have your endorsed articles in hand — the IRS requires the entity to exist with the state first. Have the responsible party’s Social Security number or ITIN, the LLC’s legal name as it appears on the endorsed articles, and the LLC’s physical address ready before you start, since the session times out after 15 minutes of inactivity and can’t be saved. Print or save the CP 575 confirmation notice; replacements take weeks.8Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
Draft an operating agreement. Michigan doesn’t require one, but the articles are a bare-bones public document that says nothing about how the company actually runs. The operating agreement is the private document that sets ownership percentages, profit-and-loss allocation, voting rights, and what happens when a member leaves or the company dissolves. Without it, Michigan’s default LLC statute answers every one of those questions with generic rules that rarely match what the members intended. This is also where you spell out whether the LLC is member-managed (every member can bind the company day-to-day) or manager-managed (designated managers run operations; other members vote only on major decisions like mergers or dissolution).
Mark the annual statement deadline. Every Michigan LLC files an annual statement by February 15 for a $25 fee, submitted online through the MiBusiness Registry Portal. LARA no longer accepts paper annual filings.4Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Corporations Division LLCs formed after September 30 skip the following February and file for the first time the year after that.9Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Annual Reports and Annual Statements Missing February 15 adds a $50 penalty on top of the $25 fee, and continued failure to file can lead to dissolution.5Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Limited Liability Company Filing Information