Georgia LLC filing: a registration, not a report, and a window that closes April 1

Georgia’s recurring filing is called an annual registration rather than an annual report, and the difference is not only vocabulary. It runs on a window rather than a deadline: the filing period opens January 1 and closes April 1 every year, which means an owner who thinks in terms of a due date can misjudge when the obligation actually begins.

Georgia’s ongoing cost is among the lowest in the Southeast, and well below the $200 that neighboring North Carolina charges every year. For a portfolio owner running several entities, that difference compounds.

Georgia’s annual registration opens January 1 and closes April 1, and its cost is a fraction of North Carolina’s.

Naming the company

A Georgia LLC’s name must include an LLC designator and be distinguishable from other names on the Secretary of State’s record. Name reservation is available before filing if you are not ready to form.

Forming the LLC

Formation is the Articles of Organization, filed with the Corporations Division of the Georgia Secretary of State, with online filing the standard route and a lower fee than paper. Confirm the current formation fee, the paper differential, and any expedited service tiers on the Corporations Division’s fee schedule when you file. This page does not publish figures it has not read from the source, and Georgia’s fee schedule is the source.

The registered agent

Every Georgia LLC must maintain a registered agent with a Georgia street address to accept service of process. A post office box does not qualify. You can serve as your own agent with a Georgia address, which puts that address on the public record, or use a commercial agent for a separate annual fee.

The annual registration

Georgia’s one recurring obligation is the annual registration, and its structure differs from most states.

Georgia’s annual registration confirms the company’s officers or managers, which is why the entity offers no privacy.

The registration updates the company’s principal office address, registered agent, and the officers or managers on the public record, and it must be filed within the January 1 to April 1 window each year. Georgia offers multi-year registration options in some circumstances, which can be worth using simply to remove a recurring deadline from your calendar. Confirm the current fee and the multi-year options on the Corporations Division schedule.

Missing the window leads eventually to administrative dissolution, and reinstatement requires bringing filings current and paying the associated fees. Confirm the reinstatement fee and the timeline before relying on either.

Foreign registration and other filings

An LLC formed elsewhere that transacts business in Georgia registers with the Corporations Division and then files the same annual registration. That includes a foreign series LLC, which Georgia will register even though it will not form one, as the structure and cost page explains. Confirm the foreign registration fee, amendment fee, name reservation fee, and reinstatement fee on the Secretary of State’s schedule at the time you file.

The bottom line

Georgia’s recurring filing is an annual registration, filed between January 1 and April 1 each year.

The registration puts the company’s officers or managers on the public record annually.

Georgia’s ongoing cost is among the lowest in the Southeast and well below North Carolina’s $200 annual report.

A registered agent with a Georgia street address is required, and a post office box does not qualify.

Missing the registration window leads to administrative dissolution, and reinstatement costs more than compliance.

Georgia will register a foreign series LLC even though it does not form domestic ones.

What this page does not cover

This page is the mechanics: filings, the agent, and the registration window. How creditors reach you in Georgia is on the protection page. What your operating agreement can do, including what it can give away, is on the governance page. Series treatment, taxes, and transfer costs are on the structure and cost page.

Last verified July 2026.