Indiana Certificate of Authority / Self-filing guide
How to file for Indiana authority yourself, without a service
You can file the Indiana Foreign Registration Statement yourself for $105 online, and for many owners that is the sensible choice. The work comes down to a certificate from the home state, an agent in Indiana, an INBiz login.
The do-it-yourself route in brief
- Where
- INBiz, the Secretary of State's online filing system
- Account
- INBiz uses an Access Indiana account for login
- Fee
- $105 online, $125 on paper
- Needed first
- A home certificate dated in the last 60 days, and an Indiana agent
- Office hours
- Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with walk-in service and priority service by appointment
Stage one: write the facts on one sheet
Put the following on a single page: the legal name as the home state spells it, what kind of entity it is, where and when it was formed, where its main office stands, and the agent's name and Indiana address. For an LLC add whether managers run it. For a nonprofit add whether it has members and which benefit category it would fall in. One sheet makes the screens go quickly.
Stage two: request the home certificate
Go to the business filing office in the home state and ask for a certificate of existence, sometimes labeled good standing. Because Indiana counts a certificate older than 60 days as stale, make this the last preparation, not the first. Download the PDF or ask for a paper original, depending on what the home office offers, and check that the name matches your sheet.
Stage three: lock in the agent
Ask the agent for the street address they will use and ask them to agree to serve. A friend with an Indiana business, a lawyer or a professional agent company can serve. A box at the post office is not enough, because the statute speaks of a street address. The agent is the first person a lawsuit reaches, and the entity has to give the agent a contact person's details.
Stage four: create the login
INBiz signs people in through an Access Indiana account. Set one up from the INBiz start page with an email address you will keep for as long as the registration lasts, since reminders and notices land there. The refreshed site also works on a phone or tablet.
Stage five: enter the statement
Choose the foreign registration filing and key in the facts from your sheet. Upload the home certificate where the system asks for it. Match each entry to the statutory lines on the LLC form page. The entity signs the statement, and if someone else submits it, that person has to take reasonable steps to identify the entity's representative. Read the whole summary before you continue, because the Code gives no refund once a filed record is corrected.
Stage six: pay and keep the proof
The portal fee is $105. INBiz takes Apple Pay and Google Pay and can hold more than one payment method. Save the confirmation page as a PDF and keep the email. Then set a reminder for the first business entity report, two years out, in the month that matches the entity's creation date. A report can be filed up to ninety days before its month. If it goes unfiled, the office sends reminders and, after five months, dissolves the business administratively.
Where first-timers stall
- The home certificate lapses between the day you order it and the day you file.
- The agent has not actually agreed.
- The company name carries a different suffix from the certificate's.
- A manager-managed LLC leaves the manager question blank.
- The filer lists a mailbox address and misses the disclosure that goes with it.
- The login is made with a throwaway email that is closed later.
Is paper worth a thought?
It costs $125, which is $20 above the portal price. A reason to choose it is an owner who cannot create an online account. In that case mail the statement to the Business Services Division at Business Services Division, 302 W. Washington Street, Room E018, Indianapolis, IN 46204, with payment and the original certificate.
How big the job really is
For one plain LLC the work is a certificate request, one conversation with an agent and the filing. The risk lies in timing and small mismatches, not in difficulty. If you are registering several entities, or the deadline is tight, or the facts are unusual, paying for preparation can spare you a second attempt.
Reminders to set before you close the tab
Before leaving the browser, set three reminders: the report month, two years out for a for-profit entity; a yearly check that the agent's address is still right; and a prompt to ask whether the company still works in Indiana. The last one tells you when to withdraw.
Bringing in a lawyer or accountant
Doing it yourself does not mean doing it alone. A lawyer can decide whether you must register at all, and an accountant can say whether Indiana tax applies. Either can read your draft statement in a few minutes. Our page on needing a certificate of authority gives them the Code's list to work from.
When INBiz asks for something you do not have
If a screen asks for a detail that is not on your fact sheet, stop and look for it before guessing. A wrong formation date or a misspelled name can mean a correction filing later, and the fee is not refunded when a record is corrected. If a field is unclear, send us the question before you submit.
A sample week for a first-timer
Monday: write the one-page fact sheet and search the company name on INBiz. Tuesday: call the lawyer or agent company and ask for their Indiana street address and consent. Wednesday: create the Access Indiana login. Thursday: order the home certificate. Friday: when the certificate arrives, enter the statement, upload the document and pay. The sequence keeps the certificate young at the moment of filing.
Proof of what you filed
Keep three things from the day of filing: the confirmation screen saved as a PDF, the email the system sends, and the downloaded copy of the statement as submitted. If a bank or customer asks for evidence later, they show what was filed and when. The state's business search then shows the entity's status as the office records it.
Or hand it over
If you would rather not, we prepare the statement, time the certificate, record the agent and file, for $199 plus the state's fee.
The self-filing route in six steps
Gather the facts
Name, type, home state, formation date, office, managers.
Order the certificate
Dated within 60 days of filing.
Confirm the agent
Street address in Indiana and consent.
Create the INBiz login
An Access Indiana account with a lasting email.
Complete and pay
$105 online.
Calendar the report
Two years out for a for-profit entity.
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.
Questions from people filing alone
Is a lawyer required to file?
No. The statement is administrative.
Can I file from my phone?
The refreshed INBiz site works on a phone or tablet, according to the Secretary of State's FAQs.
What if I make a mistake?
A filed record can be corrected, but the fee does not come back.
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.
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 Secretary of State, New INBiz platform FAQs
- Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division contact page
- Indiana Code 23-0.5-4, registered agent of entity
- Indiana Code 23-0.5-9, fees
- 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.