Best LLC Formation Services in Illinois

Illinois allows series LLCs. That is where most guides get the price wrong. Articles of Organization for a series cost $400, not $150. Each series you register needs its own certificate at $50. The annual report then becomes $75 plus $50 per series.

So the saving is real. It just arrives later than the pitch suggests. Two business lines are cheaper as two ordinary LLCs. The series pulls ahead at four lines on the yearly bill. It takes five to win on the filing fees. Our series LLC guide covers how the shield between series behaves.

The annual report is where Illinois takes the money. It is due in the 60 days before your anniversary month starts. The penalty does not land the next morning. It lands once you pass the first day of the second month after that. The charge is $100. Then $100 more for each further year you stay late. Let it run and the state mails a notice of delinquency. It dissolves the company 120 days after that notice. Reinstatement costs $200 on top of what you already owed.

Every number above is a state fee. A formation service charges its own price on top of them. Northwest quotes the two separately on its own Illinois page, the $150 that goes to the state and the fee for the work.

Illinois has no anonymous LLC. It helps to know which line exposes you. Form LLC-5.5 asks for the name and business address of every manager. It asks the same of any member with a manager's authority. The annual report asks for that list again every year. A registered agent service covers the registered office field. That is a different field, so it does not clear the manager line. A manager managed setup keeps passive members off it. One real person is always named.

1. Get your EIN from the IRS. It is free and takes minutes online. You need it before you open a business bank account or hire anyone. Our Illinois LLC guide walks the filing itself step by step.
2. Appoint a registered agent with a physical street address in Illinois. A P.O. Box will not do. Most formation services cover this for the first year. Our Illinois registered agent comparison covers what year two costs.
3. File your Annual Report in the 60 days before your anniversary month starts. The fee is $75, plus $50 for each series you have registered. Set a reminder 30 days early. The $100 penalty attaches quietly and then repeats every year.
4. Register with the Illinois Department of Revenue if you sell goods or services subject to sales tax. You can register online through MyTax Illinois. How Illinois taxes an LLC depends on how you are treated federally.
5. Check whether your city or county wants a local business license. Chicago asks for one for most commercial activity. No formation service handles it for you.
6. Skip the federal Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report. FinCEN exempted every company created in the United States. That rule landed on 26 March 2025. A final rule made that permanent on 14 August 2026. A domestic Illinois LLC now files nothing. Only companies formed under foreign law and registered here still report. A letter asking for a fee to file one is a scam, and FinCEN says so.

• Expedited processing - 24 hour service costs $100 on top of the $150 filing fee. The state takes expedite requests in person only, at its Springfield or Chicago counter. Online annual reports have no expedite option.
• A late annual report - $100 once you pass the first day of the second month after your anniversary month. That is not the due date. Then $100 more for each further year you stay late.
• Reinstatement after dissolution - $200, on top of every delinquent report fee and penalty you already owed.
• A series you forget to register - each one needs its own $50 certificate. Registering is not automatic. Each one in effect adds $50 to the annual report.
• Name reservation - $25 holds a name for 90 days. That only helps if you are not ready to file.