Kansas — statewide
Kansas Secretary of State, Business Services Division
In short
Kansas Secretary of State, Business Services Division issues 6 permits we publish for Kansas — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization (LLC)only if it applies to you | Kansas Secretary of State, Business Services Division | $90 one-time filing | perpetual, but an information report is due every two years | 2026-09-04 |
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | Kansas Secretary of State, Business Services Division | $85 filed online; $90 on paper | perpetual, but an annual report is due every year | 2026-09-04 |
| Electrical, Plumbing and HVAC Contractor Licensing — Local Option under K.S.A. 12-1526 and 12-1542 (Kansas)only if it applies to you | Kansas Secretary of State, Business Services Division | No fee | set locally, where a local government chooses to license at all | 2026-09-04 |
| Corporation Annual Reportonly if it applies to you | Kansas Secretary of State, Business Services Division | $53 filed online; $55 on paper | annual — due within three and a half months of the close of the entity's tax year, commonly 15 April | 2026-09-04 |
| LLC Information Reportonly if it applies to you | Kansas Secretary of State, Business Services Division | $90 filed online, every two years; $110 on paper | biennial — an entity formed in an even year files in each succeeding even year, and the same pattern holds for odd years | 2026-09-04 |
| General Business License — Kansas Business Portal Positiononly if it applies to you | Kansas Secretary of State, Business Services Division | No fee | not applicable | 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
Articles of Organization (LLC)
Ninety dollars on paper. A for-profit corporation costs the same $90 on paper but genuinely saves five dollars filing online, at $85 — the LLC's own current fee schedule does not show a matching online discount, so budget on the $90 figure rather than assuming the corporation's online saving carries over.
Articles of Incorporation
Eighty-five dollars online, $90 on paper. A nonprofit corporation is far cheaper at a flat $20 either way. Where an LLC files an information report every other year, a corporation files an annual report every single year — see that record for how the two obligations actually compare.
Electrical, Plumbing and HVAC Contractor Licensing — Local Option under K.S.A. 12-1526 and 12-1542 (Kansas)
Kansas Statutes sections 12-1526 and 12-1542 address 'any county or city requiring the licensure' of electricians or HVAC contractors, making licensing of these trades a local option — a city or county may choose to license electricians, plumbers or HVAC contractors, or may choose not to — so there is no state license fee for them, and those sections set no state framework for general contracting. What the state does impose is a reciprocity rule: wherever a local government does require a competency exam for one of these trades, it must accept a certificate earned in any other Kansas city or county without making the holder sit a further exam. Roofing is the one exception with a genuine statewide credential — see that record.
Corporation Annual Report
A corporation files this every year, at $53 online or $55 on paper, tied to the close of its own tax year rather than a shared calendar date — for a calendar-year filer that lands around 15 April. Missing it adds a flat $75 penalty, and there is roughly a three-month grace period after the due date before the entity forfeits its standing; once forfeited, it cannot file any other document with the Secretary of State until every overdue report is filed and the entity is formally reinstated.
LLC Information Report
Kansas calls this an information report rather than an annual report, and prices it in a way that looks backwards at first glance: an LLC pays $90 online against a corporation's $53, yet files only every other year rather than every single year — costing more per filing but roughly the same over time. Whether an entity lands on the even-year or odd-year cycle is set by the year it was originally formed. The same $75 late penalty and roughly three-month grace period before forfeiture apply here as to a corporation's annual report.
General Business License — Kansas Business Portal Position
The state's own business portal, KSBiz, organises licensing by industry-specific starter kit rather than by one shared license — its auto repair kit, for example, says starting such a shop 'only requires the business to complete the steps under Start a Business' — and the Secretary of State handles only entity registration for an LLC, corporation, LP or LLP; a sole proprietor or general partnership need not register with that office at all. On that structure there is no state general business license fee.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Kansas — statewide
- Phone
- (785) 296-4564
- Website
- sos.ks.gov/
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.
- Kansas Business One Stop — auto repair shop starter kit, stating no state license is generally requiredState of Kansas · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Kansas Secretary of State form AI — corporation articles of incorporation feesKansas Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Kansas Secretary of State form AR — corporation annual report feeKansas Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Kansas Secretary of State form ILC — LLC information report fee, filed bienniallyKansas Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Kansas Secretary of State form LAO — LLC articles of organization feeKansas Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Kansas Statutes section 12-1526 — local electrician licensure with statewide reciprocity of the certificateOffice of Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Kansas Statutes section 12-1542 — local HVAC contractor licensure with statewide reciprocity of the certificateOffice of Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Kansas Statutes section 17-7509 — the $75 penalty for a late business entity information reportOffice of Revisor of Statutes · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Other Kansas statewide offices
Kansas jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.