State forms · Washington · Certificate of Formation (rev. 6.2025)
Washington Certificate of Formation for an LLC
The Certificate of Formation is the document that creates a Washington limited liability company under RCW 25.15, filed with the Secretary of State's Corporations and Charities Division under the filing rules in RCW 23.95. Washington calls it a certificate rather than articles of organization. The current paper form was revised in June 2025, and the same questions are asked on screen in the Corporations and Charities Filing System (CCFS), where almost all Washington LLCs are formed. The online version is titled Certificate of Formation with Initial Report, because the first report can be filed in the same session.
Two rules shape the Washington filing. The registered agent's consent is required for every type of agent, as a signature on paper and as an affirmation online, and a noncommercial agent needs a Washington street address and an email address. And the people forming the company, whom Washington calls executors, go on the record by name and address, while the people running it, the governors, go on the Initial Report, due within 120 days if it is not filed with the certificate.
Updated November 1, 2026. Facts checked October 2026.
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Form Your Washington LLCCertificate of Formation at a Glance
- Form
- Certificate of Formation (rev. 6.2025)
- Filing portal
- Corporations and Charities Filing System (CCFS)
- Filed with
- Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division
- State fee
- $200
- Typical state processing
- About 3 working days with expedite; the state publishes no standard time.
- State expedite tiers
- Expedite
- Facts checked
- October 2026
The state fee is Washington's own charge and is the same whether you file the Certificate of Formation yourself or we file it for you. Processing figures are what the Washington Secretary of State publishes and are not a promise of when a filing is approved; the state's expedite tiers are listed by name, with their amounts in the facts box on the Washington LLC page.
Below: every field in the order the form asks it, who the filing puts on the public record, whether the registered agent signs, the reasons Washington returns it, and what the state expects after it is filed.
What Certificate of Formation Asks For
- 1.Unified Business Identifier (UBI)Whether the business already has a UBI from the Department of Revenue, Labor and Industries or the Employment Security Department. If not, the Secretary of State issues one when the certificate is filed.
- 2.Name of the limited liability companyMust contain Limited Liability Company, Limited Liability Co., L.L.C. or LLC and be distinguishable from the names on the Secretary of State's records. If the name was reserved, the reservation number goes here.
- 3.Duration and effective datePerpetual unless a term is given, and effective on the date of filing unless a later date is chosen.
- 4.Registered agentA commercial registered agent is selected by searching the state's list. A noncommercial agent, including an owner serving for the company, is entered with a Washington street address and an email address, typed twice. A mailing address is optional.
- 5.Consent to serve as registered agentRequired for all types of agent. On paper the agent signs the consent; on CCFS the filer affirms that the agent has consented to the appointment.
- 6.Principal officeA physical street address, which may be outside Washington, with an email address for the company's notices. A PO box or private mailbox is not accepted.
- 7.ExecutorsThe name and address of each person forming the company. A filing service can be the executor but must give its address.
- 8.Initial Report (optional at formation)The report can be filed together with the certificate; it then requires the names of the governors, individuals or entities, and the nature of the business from a drop-down list or a short description. Deferred, it is due within 120 days and carries its own filing fee.
- 9.Authorized person and attestationThe person submitting the filing types a full name as the signature and attests that the information is true; under WAC 434-112-075 the typed name is the signature.
Who Is on the Washington Record
Who appears on the form
Executor(s) name and address; registered agent; governors on the Initial Report.
Does the registered agent sign the Certificate of Formation?
Yes. 'Consent to Serve as Registered Agent - REQUIRED FOR ALL TYPES' (paper signature; online consent affirmation).
From our audit of Washington's official form and statutes, checked October 2026. Everything entered on a filing becomes public record once the state files it.
Why Washington Rejects It
- A name that is not distinguishable from an existing Washington entity, or that lacks one of the accepted endings.
- A noncommercial registered agent without a Washington street address or an email address, or a filing with no consent from the agent.
- A principal office given as a PO box or a private mailbox.
- An executor listed without an address.
- An Initial Report chosen for filing with the certificate but left without governors or a nature of business.
- The attestation left incomplete.
A rejection costs days, sometimes a second fee, and in a few states the name you wanted. Our name check and field review happen before the form goes to Corporations and Charities Filing System (CCFS), which is most of what you pay us for.
After the State Files It
- The Secretary of State issues the company's UBI on filing and the filed certificate is available in the CCFS account. The state publishes no standard processing time. Washington sells one expedite tier; the fee is in the facts box on the Washington LLC page.
- If the Initial Report was not filed with the certificate, it is due within 120 days and carries its own small state fee. It names the governors and the principal office.
- Most operating companies also need a state business license through the Department of Revenue's Business Licensing Service: required once gross income reaches $12,000 a year, when the company hires within 90 days, collects sales tax, uses a trade name or needs city or state endorsements.
- Every year, by the last day of the anniversary month, the LLC files an annual report with the Secretary of State on CCFS; it can be filed up to 180 days early. A report filed after the due date carries a $25 delinquency fee.
- Washington has no newspaper publication requirement for a new LLC.
More on filing in Washington: Washington LLC filing through Corporations and Charities Filing System (CCFS).
Once the company is approved, the Annual Report is Washington's recurring filing: file the Washington Annual Report online, or have it filed for you.
Certificate of Formation Questions
Is it a certificate of formation or articles of organization?+
Washington uses Certificate of Formation for the document that creates an LLC under the Washington Limited Liability Company Act (RCW 25.15); articles of organization is the name most other states use for the same thing. On CCFS the filing is titled Certificate of Formation with Initial Report, since the Initial Report can be filed in the same session. Corporations in Washington file articles of incorporation, which is a different document.
Can I file the certificate on CCFS myself?+
Yes. The Corporations and Charities Filing System at ccfs.sos.wa.gov is open to anyone with an account, and the state's fee is the same whether you file there or we file for you. The online total includes the Secretary of State's online processing charge on top of the statutory filing fee. Paper certificates can be mailed to the Corporations and Charities Division in Olympia.
Does the registered agent consent on the form?+
Yes, for every kind of agent. The paper certificate has a Consent to Serve as Registered Agent block, marked required for all types, which the agent signs. On CCFS the filer affirms that the agent has consented, and a noncommercial agent must also provide an email address, which the state uses for notices.
When is the Washington annual report due?+
By the last day of the company's anniversary month, every year starting the year after formation. A company formed in May 2026 files its first annual report by May 31, 2027, and CCFS accepts it up to 180 days before the due date. A report filed late carries the state's $25 delinquency fee. We file Washington annual reports as well; the Washington annual report page has the details.
Who appears on the Washington public record?+
The executors who form the company, by name and address; the registered agent, with the registered office address; and the governors, the people who manage the company, once the Initial Report is filed, which can be at formation or within 120 days. Members who are not governors are not listed. A filing service can be the executor, and a registered agent company can be the agent, which keeps an owner's home address off the certificate itself.
What is a UBI number?+
The Unified Business Identifier, a nine-digit number Washington uses across its agencies for one business: the Secretary of State, the Department of Revenue, Labor and Industries and the Employment Security Department all key their records to it. A business that has already registered with one of those agencies enters its existing UBI on the certificate; a new company receives its UBI from the Secretary of State when the certificate is filed and uses it on the business license application and the annual report afterward.
What is the Initial Report?+
A short filing that names the company's governors, the people or entities who manage it, and gives the principal office and the nature of the business. On CCFS it can be completed together with the certificate, which is why the online filing is titled Certificate of Formation with Initial Report. Filed separately, it is due within 120 days of formation and carries its own state fee. It is distinct from the annual report, which comes due every year by the end of the anniversary month.
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