Indiana certificate of authority
The Indiana certificate of authority, and the filing that gets it
Indiana asks $105 online or $125 on paper for the statement that lets a foreign company do business. We handle it.
- $105Indiana fee (online)
- 4LLC, Corporation, LP, Nonprofit
- 4What comes back
What comes back
- IndianaRegistration recordThe state's confirmation that your entity is on its books.
- IndianaFiled statementA copy of what we submitted, for your minute book.
- IndianaAgent entryOur name or your own agent, recorded for Indiana.
- IndianaReport monthThe month the first business entity report is due.
To get what most people call a certificate of authority in Indiana, a foreign LLC or corporation hands the Secretary of State its Foreign Registration Statement, and the price is $105 through INBiz or $125 by post. Indiana's own paperwork uses the word registration, not certificate, although its penalty clause still mentions authority. We prepare and file the statement for $199, and we keep the follow-up dates for you.
This site explains the translation from the term you searched to the paper you need, what you must gather first, what comes back, and what to do in the years afterward.
- The packet checked before filing
- Two prices shown, online and paper
- Indiana agent on request
In your order
The right paper, whatever you searched
People look for a certificate of authority. In Indiana the filing is the Foreign Registration Statement, and we prepare that.
Fees with no surprises
$105 online, $125 on paper. Our own fee sits on a separate line.
A fresh home certificate
Indiana looks for one issued within 60 days of filing, so we time the request.
An agent on an Indiana street
We can serve as your Indiana agent, or you can keep the one you have.
Corporations too
The same statement serves a corporation, with the extra questions a corporation answers.
Plain answers
Ask us what a line on the statement means and the preparer replies.
How an order runs
Tell us about the company
Exact name, entity type, home state, date of formation, principal office, and whether managers run it.
We date the home certificate
Indiana wants one issued within 60 days of filing, so we request it close to the filing day.
Choose the Indiana agent
Pick ours or name the one you use today.
We submit on INBiz
The statement goes to the state electronically at $105.
You get the record
We pass on what the state returns, plus the month your first report is due.
The Indiana filing in six lines
- Name of the paper
- Foreign Registration Statement
- Printed edition
- State Form 56369
- Agency
- Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division
- Cost via INBiz
- $105, made of $75 plus $30 enhanced access
- Cost by post
- $125
- Companion document
- A certificate of existence from the company's home jurisdiction, dated in the 60 days before the filing
- Later
- A business entity report at $31 online, filed in alternate years by a for-profit company
- Turnaround
- Ask us for current timing
Is a certificate of authority the same thing as Indiana registration?
For practical purposes, yes. Many states issue a document with that name to a company from elsewhere. Indiana's code takes a different path: a foreign entity delivers a statement of registration and the office files it. The penalty section, though, describes the offense as transacting business without a certificate of authority, so the older label has not vanished from the law. When a bank, a landlord or a county asks an Indiana business for a certificate of authority, the registration is what answers.
What each Indiana filing costs
| Filing | Amount |
|---|---|
| Getting registered, for-profit entity | $105 online or $125 on paper |
| Getting registered, nonprofit corporation | $20 online (statutory) or $75 on paper |
| Changing a name, address or jurisdiction | $20 online (statutory) or $30 on paper |
| Leaving the state | $20 online (statutory) or $30 on paper |
| Staying current, for-profit entity | $31 online or $50 by mail, every second year |
| Swapping the registered agent | Nothing to the state |
The fee page explains how the online registration figure is built and where the amounts for amendments and withdrawals are statutory only.
Which Indiana paper belongs to which kind of company
An LLC and a business corporation both file the Foreign Registration Statement. A nonprofit corporation files the same statement with two extra answers. Limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships are handled case by case on this site, so ask us before ordering one. Whatever the entity, the home certificate, the agent and the report that follows work the same way.
Three things that surprise first-time filers
The first is the word itself: there is no Indiana form called a certificate of authority. The second is that online filing costs $20 less than paper even though an extra access fee is added to it. The third is the follow-up. A registration is not a one-time purchase, because a report comes due about every second year and an unpaid one can end the registration.
Do you have to get it?
Indiana's rule is simple to state: register before you start doing business here. Where it gets hard is deciding when you have started. The Code names twelve kinds of activity that are outside the rule and admits the list is open-ended. Our page on needing an Indiana certificate of authority walks through the list, the thirty-day limit for a single deal, and the scenarios that sit near the line, such as a remote employee or a rented storeroom.
What goes in the packet
The statement is short, but it rests on a handful of papers and answers. Before you begin, collect the exact company name, the type of entity, the jurisdiction and date of its formation, the address of its main office, an Indiana street address together with the name of an agent willing to act, and the home-state certificate. An LLC adds a line on managers. A nonprofit adds two lines on members and character. The guide deals with each one in order.
Why the home certificate has a clock
On paper the law is relaxed: it asks for a certificate that the records officer where you were formed has authenticated, and accepts a similar document in its place. Indiana's instructions are stricter and call anything older than 60 days stale. If you order the certificate early and then wait on an agent or a signature, it can lapse before the filing goes in. That is why we order it late in the process.
The agent behind the filing
Every registered foreign entity has to keep someone in Indiana who can receive legal papers on its behalf. Indiana lets an individual, a general partnership, a domestic filing entity or a registered foreign entity serve, as long as the street address is in the state. Replacing the agent later is free. Our agent page covers consent, resignation and email service.
The report that follows
The registration is followed by a business entity report. A for-profit company sends it in alternate years during the month that matches its original creation date, for $31 online, while a nonprofit sends one annually. The biennial report page lists what the report contains and what a missed one can lead to.
What operating without it can cost
An unregistered foreign entity cannot pursue a claim in an Indiana court, though its contracts remain valid and it may defend a suit. The Code sets a civil penalty ceiling of $10,000 and lets the Attorney General seek an injunction. See the penalty page for the details.
Corporations and the other entity types
A business corporation uses the same statement and pays $105 electronically or $125 by post, adding the answers a corporation owes; the corporation form page lists them. Limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships and nonprofits are handled by hand here, so write to us if one of those is yours.
When the company leaves
Ending a registration takes a Statement of Withdrawal, priced at $20 online at the statutory rate; the withdrawal form page explains it. Companies formed in Delaware or Wyoming get their own walk-throughs: Delaware and Wyoming.
Two newer rules that may touch your filing
Two address rules arrived with this year's filing changes. A business that works entirely remotely may keep a residential address out of public view, and a filing that lists the address of a mailbox company has to carry a disclosure. If your main office is a spare room or a mailbox, say so when you order and we will fill in that line accordingly.
What you can expect to hold afterward
When the state accepts the statement, file away four things: the filing itself, the home certificate behind it, your agent's agreement to serve, and the month your first report is due. A customer or lender who asks whether your out-of-state company may operate in Indiana can be answered from the state's INBiz business search.
Is it worth paying for help?
The paperwork is small, and the do-it-yourself page walks you through filing it. What we add is a certificate dated at the right moment, an agent who has agreed, and the first report on a calendar.
Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year
$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Our fee and Indiana's fee
Get authority to operate in Indiana
Indiana
$199
+ $105 Indiana fee, filed online
- The Indiana Foreign Registration Statement, drafted from your answers (the state's paper form is State Form 56369)
- The home-state certificate requested so its date lands inside Indiana's window
- An Indiana registered agent: our office, or the agent you already have
- The filing submitted and the state's record sent to you, with your first report month
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Checkout shows our fee and the Indiana fee as two lines. Indiana charges less online than on paper. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Questions about the Indiana certificate of authority
What does an Indiana certificate of authority cost?
Registration costs $105 online and $125 on paper for a for-profit entity. We add $199 for preparing and filing.
Is there an Indiana form called a certificate of authority?
No. The filing is the Foreign Registration Statement, and the paper version is State Form 56369.
How old may the home-state certificate be?
The instructions treat anything older than 60 days at filing as stale.
Does it cost anything to change the registered agent?
No. A statement of change and a statement of resignation both carry no Indiana fee.
Can I file on paper?
Yes, for $125. The state describes filing through INBiz as the least expensive, simplest and fastest route.
How long does Indiana take?
Ask us about timing for your filing.
Does this make my company an Indiana company?
No. It stays a company of its home state and gains the right to do business in Indiana.
Do I need a lawyer?
The statement does not call for one. A lawyer is the person to ask when it is unclear whether your activity amounts to doing business.
Where this comes from
- Indiana Code, Title 23, Article 0.5 (Uniform Business Organizations Code)
- Indiana Administrative Code, Title 75, Article 8, business entity filing governance
- Indiana Code 23-0.5-5, foreign entities
- Indiana State Form 56369, Foreign Registration Statement
- Indiana Secretary of State, Business Entity Reports
- Indiana Code 23-0.5-9, fees
- Indiana Code 23-0.5-4, registered agent of entity
- Indiana Secretary of State, HB 1593 and HB 1666 filing process changes
Need authority to operate in Indiana?
Tell us where your company was formed and what it does here.