Applying for a Louisiana certificate of authority without a service

You need the entity's exact name, its formation date, the street address of each office, the names and addresses of the members, managers, directors or officers, and the Louisiana street address and name of the registered agent. You also need a notary, a payment method and a printer, since the paper route wants two copies.

The Commercial Division lists its forms on a published page. An LLC downloads Form 972, and a corporation or nonprofit downloads Form 326. Use the current revision; the current copy carries the mark 10/26.

The signer, a member or manager of an LLC or an officer of a corporation, swears the main block. The registered agent swears the acceptance block. The two can see a notary at different times, but both blocks have to be sworn on both copies. The form carries a note that Louisiana notaries must also print a name together with a notary or bar roll number.

The mailing address is Commercial Division, P. O. Box 94125, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125. The office is at 8585 Archives Ave., Baton Rouge, LA 70809. A note on the form says owners in Ascension, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Livingston, Orleans, Ouachita, Rapides, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Terrebonne are required to file the business documents the portal accepts through geauxBIZ. Name your parish when you order and we set up the package for the matching route.

Pay the Secretary of State by check or money order; cash is refused. A 24-hour rush adds $35 and a 2 to 4 hour rush adds $60. Card payment costs $5 extra, and a returned check costs $25, so a clean check matters on the paper route.

An entity that already works in Louisiana applies the same way as one that has not started, and the state may still bill back fees and taxes for the unauthorized years.

You pay the state fee and any rush tier. Expect the formation state's price for the certificate, a possible notary charge and an outside agent's fee. You save $199 and spend your own time. The fee page has totals.

The certificate comes back with the filed application attached, and the filing stamp carries the date that sets your annual report anniversary. Read the entity name, agent and registered office against your instructions, store the papers with the other corporate records, and calendar the anniversary.

Mail the package with tracking, and keep a complete copy of everything inside the envelope, including the transmittal page. If you file online, save the confirmation. The certificate that comes back is the formal proof, but a copy of what you sent shows what the state received if there is a question about dates.