Missouri Business Entity Search: MO SOS Charter Number and LLC Lookup

MO SOS Business Search: Search for a Business Entity

The Missouri Secretary of State’s Search for a Business Entity at bsd.sos.mo.gov is free, and searching needs no account; filing and ordering copies or certificates on the same Missouri Business Filings portal require one. Its Search menu offers Business Name, Registered Agent, Name Availability and Charter No., and a name can be matched Starting With, by All Words, by Any Word or as an Exact Match.

Step 1: Fewer Words, No Punctuation

The state’s advice: “The least amount of information you can input during a search is best.” Corporate designations (inc., llc) and punctuation belong only in an Exact Match search. Leave Only Active Corporations unchecked to see dissolved companies. The search tool on this page also works best with one distinctive word; a long name is best checked in the state’s own search.

Step 2: Click the Name, Then the Filings Tab

To look up an LLC in Missouri, click its name in the results (Business Name, Charter No., Type, Status, Created, Registered Agent Name). General Information shows the registered agent and address, status, home state and duration; a corporation also shows its Renewal Month and Report Due date. The Principal Office Address tab keeps past addresses, and the Filings tab is the filing history, each line with a View Document link. To see a corporation’s Articles of Incorporation or an LLC’s Articles of Organization, open that tab; a new LLC’s articles appear there as a Creation line. Former names appear in the results marked “(previous name).” No tab lists officers or LLC members: a corporation names its officers and directors in its annual registration report, and the Secretary of State keeps no shareholder list.

The Missouri Charter Number Tells the Entity Type

To find a Missouri charter number, look at the Charter No. column of the search results or the front of the state’s annual report reminder. On the records seen, the format follows the entity type: eight digits for a Missouri corporation, LC for a Missouri LLC, FL for a foreign LLC, F for a foreign corporation, N for a nonprofit and X for a fictitious name.

Older LLC numbers have seven digits after LC and newer ones nine, so LC1492800 and LC001492800 are different numbers; the charter number has to be typed as shown, zeros included. The state itself suggests searching by charter number when possible.

Fictitious Names (DBAs) in Missouri: X Numbers and Listed Owners

Missouri fictitious names (DBAs) are registered with the Secretary of State within five days of doing business under them, for $7, and last five years. A Missouri DBA search runs in the state’s Search for a Business Entity, where each fictitious name has an X charter number and an Owners tab naming every owner, company or person.

“Failure to register your fictitious name is a misdemeanor under Missouri law,” yet registration gives no exclusive right: “There is no limit to the number of entities which may register the same fictitious name.” An expired name can’t be renewed late; “the business will be issued a new charter number” on a new filing.

Missouri LLCs File No Annual Report; Corporations Do

“Do limited liability companies have to file an annual report? No.” A Missouri LLC’s record reads Active with no report date. Corporations file an annual registration report: $15 online or $40 on paper, plus a $5 technology fee, with the due date shown as Report Due on the record. A Certificate of Good Standing, ordered online after logging in, carries a verification number anyone can check.

A late corporate report adds “a late fee of fifteen dollars for each thirty-day period,” and after 90 days the Secretary of State may dissolve the corporation. Reinstatement costs $55 and needs the Department of Revenue’s Certificate of Tax Clearance, “only valid for 60 days from the date of issuance”; the corporation then resumes “as if the administrative dissolution had never occurred.” What an LLC owes each year is covered in the Missouri LLC annual report guide.

Series LLCs Get Their Own Records by January 31, 2027

Under HB 2508, in force August 28, 2026, “each series shall be individually profiled, maintained, and searchable as a business entity” on the Secretary of State’s website by January 31, 2027, and a series can obtain its own certificate of good standing.

180 Days, Then Never Again: Missouri Name Reservations

Missouri’s LLC statute requires a name “distinguishable upon the records of the secretary,” containing LLC, L.L.C., LC, L.C., limited company or limited liability company. A reservation lasts 60 days, can be renewed twice, and ends for good at 180 days: “the reserving entity is prohibited from ever again reserving that specific name.”

To check whether a name is free, use the Name Availability mode of the state’s search; the state warns that “telephone name searches are only preliminary.” Reserving, with the Application for Reservation of Name (BE 1), costs $25. A voluntarily dissolved corporation’s name stays unavailable for one year. A fictitious name doesn’t block an LLC name. Before forming a Missouri LLC ($50 online, $105 on paper), run an LLC name check that goes beyond the state’s records.

Missouri Business Licenses: Local, Plus a State Sales Tax License

“Business licenses are obtained directly from the local governmental authority; the Secretary of State does not issue business licenses.” A seller must hold a Missouri Department of Revenue retail sales tax license “prior to making sales”; selling without one costs $500 for the first day and $100 a day after, up to $10,000.

Since August 28, 2018, a bond is no longer required unless the business is delinquent.

No EIN on a Missouri Record: Where the Number Lives

No Missouri business record shows an EIN. The IRS issues the federal EIN at no cost, and the Missouri Department of Revenue issues the state tax ID, the MOID, in its welcome letter; the public number on a record is the charter number. The Department warns that sites selling tax identification numbers “for fees of at least $37” charge for what “can only be obtained from the Department.” For another business’s EIN, see the sources that can give a company’s EIN.