South Dakota Certificate of Authority › Do it yourself
Get a South Dakota certificate of authority without a service
Owners can get a South Dakota certificate of authority without our help. The online system takes the information, charges $750 to a card and processes the filing immediately. Below is the order of the work, what to have ready and where self-filed applications tend to stall.
Know which application is yours
An LLC files the application for a certificate of authority for foreign limited liability companies. A corporation files the foreign business corporation version, which also lists officers and directors. The two are on different pages of the Secretary of State's forms area, and the online tool offers the matching filing.
Make a list before you start
Pull together the company name spelled the way the home-state records spell it, the home jurisdiction, the principal office's addresses, the agent's details, the home certificate and a card. A corporation also needs the date of incorporation, the duration and the names and addresses of its officers and directors.
Check the name on the state's search
The Secretary of State publishes a name availability search. An LLC name has to be distinguishable on the Secretary of State records from every corporation, limited partnership or company organized or authorized in the state, every reserved or registered name, and every fictitious name approved for a foreign company and carry 'limited liability company', 'limited company', or one of the abbreviations L.L.C., LLC, L.C. or LC (limited may be written Ltd. and company Co.). If it fails, the company files under an alternate name.
Choose and confirm the agent
You will enter a commercial registered agent by name; or, with no commercial agent, a noncommercial registered agent by name and address, or the title of an office whose holder will receive service together with that person's business address. If the agent is someone you know, confirm in advance that the person will serve, because naming an agent affirms that. Use a street address; the state will not take a P.O. box alone.
Request the home certificate
The home-state office issues a certificate of existence, or a record of similar import, signed by the Secretary of State or other official who keeps the company's public filings in its home state or country for an LLC, or a one-page original certificate of existence, or a document of similar import, authenticated by the official who keeps the corporate records in the home state or country for a corporation. Fees and speeds vary by state. Delaware prices a good standing certificate at $50, and Wyoming at $0.
Open the online tool
Business Services Online has a register-a-business tool for entities that are not yet on the South Dakota record. Pick the foreign filing for your entity type and work through the questions. The tool assembles the application from your answers.
Pay by card or print
Cards accepted online are Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express. If you would rather mail it, the tool can print the finished form to sign and send in, and that costs $15 extra. Paper goes to Secretary of State, 500 East Capitol Avenue, Suite 204, Pierre.
What to expect on timing
The state handles an online filing immediately. New paper filings take one to three business days on average. Anything the state expedites costs $50.
Where self-filed applications stall
The state keeps a checklist of what goes wrong with foreign filings: a certificate of good standing that is not enclosed, a missing South Dakota registered agent or agent address, an unsigned filing, an incorrect or missing fee, and a corporate name that is not available for use in the state.
Corporation-specific steps
A corporation has extra work: it lists the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and directors, marks which officers also sit on the board, and picks one of three agent routes. Its certificate must be the original, one-page kind. The form is signed by an authorized person with a printed name and title.
Nonprofits and partnerships
The state has its own filings for these entities, at $125 each to apply. Online filing covers domestic and foreign LLCs, business corporations and nonprofit corporations, so ask us before you order if your entity is a partnership.
Records to request
A filed document can be copied for $2 a page; a certified copy adds $15 to that. A name can be held for $25 if the rest of the papers are slow to arrive.
Keep the paper trail
Save the certificate of authority and the receipt, and write down the Secretary of State business ID. The annual report tool asks for it.
Checking your work
Before you pay, read the screen back against the home certificate: the exact name, the jurisdiction, the addresses and the agent.
What comes next
The first yearly job is the annual report, $55 online for an LLC and $55 for a corporation. The second is keeping the agent current: a change goes to the state within 30 days.
Printing and mailing
If you choose paper, the online tool builds the form and prints it. Sign it, add the home certificate and the fee, and send it to Secretary of State, 500 East Capitol Avenue, Suite 204, Pierre. On paper, the state can require an exact or conformed second copy. Expect the surcharge of $15.
A one-evening plan
If the name has cleared, the agent has agreed and the home certificate is on your desk, the online work fits in one sitting: choose the filing, answer the questions, review the screen against the certificate and pay. The state then processes the filing immediately.
If the state returns the filing
An application is filed unless it falls short of the filing requirements. If yours is returned, fix the point the state names, whether name, certificate, agent, signature or fee, and file again.
When doing it yourself makes sense
The online route suits owners who have a clean name, an agent in place and a home certificate on hand. It also suits anyone who wants to see each screen. The cost is your time and the state's $750, with no preparation charge.
When a preparer helps
If the name is unclear, the entity is not an ordinary LLC or corporation, or we take on the checking and the filing for $199.
A self-filed South Dakota certificate of authority, step by step
Pick the filing that matches your entity
LLC or corporation.
Run the name search
Settle the name or an alternate.
Line up the registered agent
Someone who has agreed to serve, at a South Dakota street address.
Request the home certificate
Ask the office that keeps your company records.
Work through the online screens
Then pay by card.
Store the certificate and business ID
You need the ID for the annual report.
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.
Self-filing questions
Is there an online option?
Yes, through Business Services Online, at $750.
Can I mail it?
Yes, for $15 extra.
Do I have to hire anyone?
No.
Does it matter who signs?
An authorized person signs for the company.
Can a corporation file this way too?
Yes, with the corporation filing and its officer and director list.
Where do I see the due date for the first annual report?
In the state's business search tool, with your business ID.
Pricing
Get your South Dakota certificate
+ $750 state filing fee
- An application for your type of entity, drafted from your replies
- The home-state certificate, requested to arrive with the filing
- A South Dakota agent supplied by us, or one you pick
- A copy of the certificate of authority once the state issues it
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
$199
Request my certificateThe $750 shown is the LLC fee, paid to the Secretary of State and itemised on its own line. Other entities pay their own state fee, listed on the fees page. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Sources
- SDCL 47-34A-212, limited liability company fees
- South Dakota Secretary of State, filing fee schedule
- SDCL 47-1A-122, business corporation fees
- South Dakota Secretary of State, corporations FAQ
- SDCL 47-34A-1001 to 47-34A-1009, foreign limited liability companies
- SDCL 47-1A-1501 to 47-1A-1532, foreign corporations
- South Dakota application for certificate of authority, foreign business corporation
- South Dakota Business Services Online, register a business instructions
- South Dakota Secretary of State, business services
- SDCL 47-34A-105, limited liability company names
- SDCL chapter 59-11, Model Registered Agents Act
- Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule (PDF)
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division fee schedule
- South Dakota Secretary of State, foreign business corporations guide
- SDCL 1-8-12, fee for expedited service
- South Dakota Business Services Online, annual report instructions
Ready for your South Dakota certificate?
Name your entity type and we draft the matching application.