If you chose a partnership, corporation, or limited liability company (LLC) as your business structure you must register or incorporate with the California Secretary of State. This can be accomplished in two steps. 

This is not a substitute for legal or professional advice.

Step 1: Name

Check if the name you want is available. You can check name availability and reserve an available name by mail with the CA Secretary of State. Learn more about this process in our Choose a Name section.

Step 2: Registration

Once you know the name you want is available, you can file the appropriate forms for your business structure with the CA Secretary of State:

Corporation

• Review the Secretary of State's Corporate Filing Tips before getting started.
• This business type requires you to file Articles of Incorporation. 

Limited Liability Company

• Review the Secretary of State's LLC Filing Tips before getting started.
• This business type requires you to file Articles of Organization (Form LLC–1). 

Limited Partnership

• Review the Secretary of State's LP Filing Tips before getting started.
• This business type requires you to file a Certificate of Limited Partnership (Form LP–1). 

General Partnership

• The Secretary of State's Office does not have filing tips for forming a General Partnership, but not to worry - the GP process is the most simple of the five.
• This business type requires you to file a Statement of Partnership Authority (Form GP–1). 

Limited Liability Partnership

• Remember, you can only register as an LLP after registering as a General Partnership.
• This business type requires you to file an Application to Register a Limited Liability Partnership (Form LLP–1). 

Note 
If you are an out-of-state or out-of-country company that plans on doing business in California, you may need to register as a foreign business entity.