According to the naming rules, all business owners must conduct a Georgia Secretary of State business search prior to formally forming their LLCs in Georgia.
Our team has assembled this guide in order to help you check the Georgia LLC name availability of your choice. Along with adhering to Georgia’s Secretary of State’s guidelines, you must guarantee that the Georgia LLC name you come up with is only used by your company.
1. Discover the Guidelines for Naming Your LLC
We recommend that you double-check that your LLC name satisfies the state’s standards before finishing your Georgia business entity name search.
The first and most important step in organizing your LLC is to choose a distinctive business organization name. Make certain that the name you choose complies with Georgia’s regulations for creating a limited liability business.
In summary, the following are the naming requirements:
- You must include the abbreviations (LLC or L.L.C.) or "limited liability company" in the name of your entity.
- When naming your company, it is critical to prevent generating confusion between your LLC and official agencies such as the Treasury.
- You may be required to file additional documentation or seek the services of a licensed expert, such as a lawyer, if you wish to incorporate prohibited phrases in your company name, such as Bank or Attorney.
For more information, read the full entity naming guidelines list in Georgia here.
2. Conduct a Georgia LLC Name Search
Make sure to check with the Secretary of State before submitting your name reservation request. To validate the availability of your selected name, visit the Georgia Business Search.
To carry out an effective Georgia LLC lookup, enter the desired name, remove identifiers such as “LLC,” and leave all other boxes blank. In addition, it will return any entities with names that seem to be similar. If your company name is made up of many words, you may limit your search to the first two words to guarantee that you find all potential comparable names.
To avoid rejection, we suggest that you perform an extensive search before submitting your papers.
What To Do If Your Preferred Name Is Unavailable
Your selected name was determined to be in use after completing a Georgia LLC name search and checking the Business Entity Records. So, what should you do next?
If your LLC is already registered in Georgia, your only choice is to create a new legal name. Remember that your company name should not appear to be similar to the one you picked previously. Then, once you’ve chosen a legal business name that complies with the Secretary of State’s naming regulations, reserve it.
For international LLCs, this stage may become progressively difficult.
Although your LLC may be recognized in other states by its original name, due to Georgia’s naming restrictions, you may need to come up with a new name.
3. Choose a Web Domain Name
Finding an appropriate web domain name that fits your selected business name is another consideration before incorporating an LLC. This is a minor but crucial step. You must ensure that potential clients may easily find your company in only a few clicks.
You may also look through the available domain names on domain registrars like GoDaddy for a URL that complements your selected LLC name.
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4. Reserve Your Georgia LLC Name
All LLC name inquiries and requests are handled by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Corporations Division. Business names can be reserved for a period of 30 days. There is no renewal procedure if you have yet to incorporate your company organization under the reserved name when the reservation expires, but you can reserve the name again.
You must complete an application online or by mail to reserve a company name. Moreover, a filing fee will be applied when you reserve your desired business name. The Secretary of State of Georgia makes all the associated checks. It is important to note that in order to reserve a name online, you must first register an account with the Georgia Corporations Division.
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Additional Considerations
While reserving an LLC name in Georgia is concise, there are other aspects to consider when choosing a name for your business. Before deciding on an LLC name, we recommend conducting a trademark and social media check to see if it is available for use online. As a result, this step will help you ensure that you are eligible to use your selected company name.
Trademark Search
To avoid potentially costly disputes, perform a trademark search before registering your business name and associated phrases or insignia. The fact that another organization has trademarked your preferred company name does not prevent you from utilizing it.
However, in order to prevent unintentionally infringing on anyone’s intellectual property rights, it is necessary to establish who is using the name, what industry they are in, and where they are located.
In brief, the following steps should be taken:
- Conduct a trademark search in Georgia to see whether another firm in your state is already using your company’s name or any associated slogans, logos, or other identifiers.
- Search the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s digital records for any federally registered trademarks that seem similar to your business name.
Social Media Search
While it is critical to pick a web domain name that fits your company name, it is equally crucial to ensure that it is available on all social networking sites. You may search for your company’s name on all major social networks and use tools that will help you scan all social networks at once, such as Namecheckr.
Conclusion
Before forming an LLC, you must conduct a Georgia LLC search. The name you choose should be legal and distinctive from the other firms in the state.
After you have finished the Georgia Entity Search and selected your company name, you may need to select a web domain name that corresponds to it in order for potential clients to discover your business online.
You may distinguish yourself from the competition simply by completing the Georgia LLC name reservation form. Securing your ideal Georgia LLC name might assist you in moving forward with the formation of your company.
To create an LLC in Georgia, consider the steps below:
- Come up with your Georgia LLC name. Prior to actually completing your paperwork, ensure that your legal name satisfies Georgia’s Secretary of State’s naming regulations.
- Assign a registered agent. In Georgia, every limited liability company must have an agent who administers the serving of process; this can be a person or a business that takes legal papers on behalf of the business.
- Get a business license. To operate a business in Georgia, you must first get a general business license from the city or county. LLCs with employees must additionally get a Georgia state taxpayer identification number as well as workers’ compensation insurance.
- File articles of organization. Your Georgia LLC is not officially formed until you file your articles of organization. The articles of organization provide fundamental formation and contact information for your firm and allow it to operate in the state. You can file the articles of organization online or by mail, along with a $100 filing fee.
- Draft an operating agreement. Although an operating agreement is not required in Georgia for LLCs, you should consider it an important step. An LLC operating agreement specifies each owner’s rights, obligations, and profit and loss shares in an LLC.
- Pay state taxes. Each business owner must pay Georgia income taxes on his or her share of the company’s profits. Businesses in Georgia employing workers should also be prepared to pay payroll taxes. On the first $9,500 in salary, the Georgia payroll tax rate now varies from 0.04 percent to 8.1 percent.
- Submit an annual registration report. LLCs must file an annual registration report with the Secretary of State. The purpose is to ensure that your business information is up to date. The annual registration report is required between January 1 and April 1 of each year.
It is critical to have a business name that follows the naming guidelines established by Georgia’s Secretary of State. As a result, your LLC’s name must include the following:
- Limited Liability Company
- LLC or
- L.L.C.
It is best not to use terminology that suggests the organization was created for a reason other than the one specified in its articles of organization.
You must file a completed Articles of Amendment to Articles of Organization if you wish to modify the name of your Georgia LLC. You will need to file this with the Secretary of State’s Corporations Division, either by mail or in person, along with a $20 fee.
To see if your selected name is already in use, visit the Secretary of State’s online business search. This is solely for research purposes and is not intended to be an official name availability search.
- The major expense of forming an LLC is the $100 filing fee for your LLC’s Articles of Organization with the Georgia Corporations Division online.
- The annual registration fee costs $50.
- A Georgia foreign LLC registration costs $225.
- To submit a Georgia LLC name reservation form, the cost is $25 if you submit it online; if you file by mail, the fee is $35.
- Filing a DBA name costs $170.
Georgia doesn’t require this step, but it is recommended in case your new product, brand, or service doesn’t match your Georgia LLC name anymore. Naming concerns are handled by the Secretary of State.
In the state of Georgia, if a company wants to do business under a different name, it must register for a DBA. This applies to partnerships, incorporated businesses, and limited liability companies.
What's Next?
Now that you have your entity name, it's time to take the next steps to establish your Georgia LLC. Check out our full guide on how to form an LLC in Georgia, where we can guide you every step of the way.
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