Iowa — statewide
Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division
In short
Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division issues 3 permits we publish for Iowa — statewide, last verified 2026-09-04. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Organization (LLC)only if it applies to you | Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division | $50 one-time filing | perpetual, but a biennial report is due every two years | 2026-09-04 |
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division | $50 one-time filing | perpetual, but a biennial report is due every two years | 2026-09-04 |
| Biennial Reportonly if it applies to you | Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division | $30 filed electronically or $45 on paper for an LLC, every two years; $60 flat for a corporation regardless of filing method | an LLC files between 1 January and 1 April of every odd year; a corporation files in the same window of every even year | 2026-09-04 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Certificate of Organization (LLC)
Fifty dollars to file a certificate of organization with the Iowa Secretary of State, the fee Iowa Code section 489.122 sets by statute; the same section charges $50 again to amend or restate the certificate later. A corporation costs the identical $50 to form.
Articles of Incorporation
Articles of Incorporation are filed with the Iowa Secretary of State by a business that chooses to organise as a corporation, and they can be submitted online through the office's Fast Track Filing system. The filing fee is $50 under Iowa Code section 490.122, the same as an LLC's certificate of organization, while a nonprofit corporation's articles cost $20. Expedited handling is optional, for a nonrefundable surcharge per document on top of the fee: $15 for five business days, $50 for two, $125 for the same business day or $200 for one-hour service. After formation, a profit corporation files a $60 biennial report with the Secretary of State between 1 January and 1 April of every even-numbered year, starting with the first even-numbered year after the year it incorporated.
Biennial Report
Iowa splits its filers onto two different calendars rather than one shared date — an LLC reports in odd-numbered years, a corporation in even-numbered ones, both within the same narrow window of 1 January to 1 April. Filing electronically genuinely saves an LLC money, $30 against $45 on paper; a corporation pays the same $60 whichever way it files. Missing the deadline gives sixty days to cure before the Secretary of State can begin administratively dissolving the entity, and Iowa Code section 489.709 sets out every step after that: the Secretary of State first serves written notice of the ground or grounds; if the company neither corrects the ground nor satisfies the Secretary within sixty days of that notice that the ground does not exist, the Secretary signs and files a certificate of dissolution reciting the ground and its effective date and serves a copy on the company; the dissolved company continues to exist only to wind up its affairs, and dissolution does not end its registered agent's authority.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Iowa — statewide
- Phone
- (515) 281-5204
- Website
- sos.iowa.gov/business
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Iowa Administrative Code 721, chapter 40 — biennial report fees for LLCsIowa Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Iowa Code section 489.122 — LLC filing fees, including the $50 certificate of organizationIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Iowa Code section 489.212 — the LLC biennial report filing windowIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Iowa Code section 489.708 — administrative dissolution after a 60-day cure periodIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Iowa Code section 489.709 — procedure for administrative dissolution: notice of the grounds, a further sixty-day opportunity to cure, and the Secretary of State's certificate of dissolutionIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Iowa Code section 490.122 — corporation filing fees, including the $50 articles of incorporationIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Iowa Code section 490.1621 — the corporation biennial report filing windowIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Iowa Secretary of State — business entity forms and fees, including Fast Track Filing online filing and the biennial report scheduleIowa Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Iowa Secretary of State — preclearance and expedited services, with per-document expedite surchargesIowa Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
Other Iowa statewide offices
- Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing
- Iowa Board of Veterinary Medicine
- Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Child Care
- Iowa Department of Revenue
- Iowa Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division
- Iowa Economic Development Authority, Business License Information Center
Iowa jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.