To look up an LLC in Indiana, use the Secretary of State’s free INBiz business search at bsd.sos.in.gov/publicbusinesssearch. No account is needed, the database covers every LLC ever registered in the state, and a single lookup returns the entity’s formation date, current status, registered agent, principal office, and filing history.1INBiz. Business Search
What to Have Ready Before You Search
The fastest lookup uses the Business ID, a unique number the Secretary of State assigns when an LLC is formed. Enter it and you get exactly one result.2INBiz. Business Entity Reports
If you don’t have the ID, the legal name works. Use the name as it appears on contracts or invoices, including “LLC” or “L.L.C.” at the end. A partial name will still generate results; you’ll just have more to sort through. Skip trade names or informal abbreviations that differ from the entity’s legal filing name.
The portal also lets you search by filing number, registered agent name, or the name of an incorporator or governing person, which is useful if the company itself is hard to pin down but you know one of the people connected to it.1INBiz. Business Search
Running the Search on INBiz
Once you’re on the search page, name searches use one of three match filters:
- Starts With returns entities whose names begin with your search terms. Use it when you know the first word or two but not the full legal name.
- Contains casts the widest net, pulling any entity with your search terms anywhere in the name.
- Exact Match returns only names that match your input precisely. Use it when you have the full legal name and want to skip the clutter.
The entity-type dropdown narrows results further. Selecting “LLC” or “Domestic Limited Liability Company” filters out corporations, partnerships, and other entities that might share similar names. Click the search button and the system returns a list of matches.
What the Record Shows
The results page lists each match with the business name, Business ID, entity type, and status. Click the Business ID link to open the full record.2INBiz. Business Entity Reports
The detail page for an Indiana LLC typically shows:
- The official legal name on file and the Business ID assigned at formation.
- The formation date, meaning the date the articles of organization took effect.
- The current status: Active, Dissolved, or Administratively Dissolved.
- The registered agent authorized to accept legal documents for the LLC, and that agent’s address.2INBiz. Business Entity Reports
- The principal office address.
- A filing history listing documents the LLC has submitted, including articles of organization, amendments, and biennial Business Entity Reports.
Click through the filing history if you need more than the summary. The original articles of organization and any amendments often contain details the summary page doesn’t display, such as the name of the organizer or whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed.
Reading the Status Field
The status field is the single most important piece of information for anyone doing due diligence on an LLC. It answers, in one word, whether the company can legally operate in Indiana right now.
Active means the entity is current on its filings and authorized to do business in Indiana. That’s what you want to see before signing a contract with the company.
Administratively Dissolved means the Secretary of State revoked the LLC’s active status. That almost always happens because the company failed to file its biennial Business Entity Report within 60 days of the due date, went 60 consecutive days without a registered agent in Indiana, or failed to pay required fees.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 23-0.5-6-1 An administratively dissolved LLC cannot legally carry on business activities other than winding down its affairs or applying for reinstatement.2INBiz. Business Entity Reports
Dissolved typically means the members voluntarily ended the LLC. Either dissolved status is a signal to slow down. If you’re about to do business with the entity, ask what’s going on before you sign.
Finding Members or Managers
Indiana does not display LLC member names on the main search results page. The summary record shows the registered agent and principal office, not members or managers. This surprises people who assume ownership is public.
Your best chance of finding ownership information is inside the filed documents linked from the entity’s record. The original articles of organization list the organizer, and if the LLC is manager-managed, later filings sometimes name the managers. None of that is guaranteed to reveal every member. Indiana law does not require LLCs to publicly disclose all of their members.
When You Need Proof, Not Just a Screen
A screenshot of the INBiz record is fine for informal purposes. Banks, lenders, and out-of-state registration offices usually want more.
A Certificate of Existence is Indiana’s version of what many states call a Certificate of Good Standing. It’s an official document from the Secretary of State confirming that the LLC’s formation records are on file, the entity has not been dissolved, the most recent biennial report has been filed, and no dissolution proceeding is pending. The fee is $15 when ordered electronically through INBiz and $30 for a paper filing. Under Indiana law, a Certificate of Existence may be relied upon as conclusive evidence of the facts it states, which is why lenders and courts treat it as more than a printout of a database record.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 23-0.5-2-8
Certified copies of other filed documents, such as the original articles of organization or amendments, are available through INBiz at no charge.5INBiz. INBiz – Indiana’s One Stop Source for Your Business A certification from the Secretary of State accompanying a copy of a filed record serves as conclusive evidence that the copy accurately reflects the original on file.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 23-0.5-2-7
Checking a Name Before You File
The same search tool answers a different question for people forming a new LLC: is the name I want already taken? Indiana law requires that an LLC’s name be distinguishable from the names of other businesses already on record with the Secretary of State.7Indiana Secretary of State. Business Name
Use the Contains filter and try variations of your proposed name. A clear result on INBiz doesn’t cover every naming issue. The system won’t flag trademark conflicts or fictitious business name registrations. What it does tell you is whether the Secretary of State is likely to accept your articles of organization without a name-related rejection. If a similar name belongs to a dissolved entity, you may still be able to use it, but a quick call to the Secretary of State’s office before filing saves the hassle of a rejected application.