Nebraska Business Entity Search: SOS Account Number, LLC and Trade Name Lookup

Six Search Options and a reCAPTCHA at the Nebraska SOS

The Nebraska Secretary of State’s Corporate & Business Search is “a free search of the Corporate and Business database for information on all entities, trade names, trademarks, and service marks,” where Certificates of Good Standing and copies of filed documents can also be ordered.

1. Under “Select Search Option,” pick Name Starts With (at least three letters), Name Keyword Search (Match All Words or Match Any Word), Name Sounds Like, Name Exact Match or Account Number.
2. Type the name in “Name:” or the number in “Secretary of State Entity Account Number:”.
3. Check the reCAPTCHA box, then click “Perform Search.”

Results can be sorted by Type of Business or Status and always list names alphabetically. Filed documents are sold as images at $0.45 a page, usually online within three business days of filing, and documents over 40 pages are not online at all. The office has announced a new filing and search system at business.nebraska.gov, expected before the end of 2026, which promises that “registered agent searches will be more accessible.”

The Nebraska Account Number Keeps Its Leading Zeros

Every entity, trade name and mark has a Secretary of State Entity Account Number. Older ones have seven digits, often starting with zeros that belong to the number; others have eight or ten digits.

A seven-digit number typed without its zeros, like 658200, is completed here to 0658200; eight and ten-digit numbers are left as typed.

Nebraska EIN or ID Number Lookup: Three Separate Numbers

The Account Number is the only public one. The Department of Revenue assigns a Nebraska State Identification Number when a business registers for sales or withholding tax, and the department’s site offers no lookup for it; the federal EIN comes free from the IRS and appears in no public state record. For another business’s EIN, see where to look for a company’s EIN.

Trade Names (DBAs) Sit in the Nebraska Registry Too

A Nebraska DBA takes the form of a trade name registration at the Secretary of State, and it shows up in the same search as corporations and LLCs, with its own Account Number and status. Registration costs $100 online or $110 on paper and lasts ten years; renewal opens six months before the term ends.

The applicant must publish the registration once in a newspaper where the business is located; “if proof of publication is not filed with the Secretary of State within the forty-five days, the registration shall be canceled.” A Nebraska trademark search runs in the same tool: state trademarks and service marks ($110, paper only) also last ten years. A state trade name “does not guarantee that a similar name has not been registered nationally” at the federal trademark office. Federal marks sit in a separate database, the USPTO trademark search.

Availability of a Nebraska Business Name: Ask in Writing

“To check name availability, you must submit a written request to the Secretary of State’s office” by email to sos.corp@nebraska.gov, by fax or by mail. The answer is “merely a complimentary, courtesy service” and no guarantee: the final decision comes when the filing arrives, and no name may match or be deceptively similar to one on record, registered trade names included.

Every LLC name includes LLC, L.L.C., LC, L.C., the words limited liability company, or limited company. Words such as Bank, Trust, Engineer, Architect, Cooperative and Olympic are restricted. Reserving a name costs $30 for 120 days. Filing a certificate of organization to form a Nebraska LLC costs $100 online or $110 on paper, and an LLC name check that includes trademarks goes further than the office’s reply. A new LLC must publish notice of its organization “three successive weeks in some legal newspaper of general circulation” near its designated office and file proof with the Secretary of State; corporations publish for three weeks too.

Odd Years for LLCs, Even Years and a Tax for Nebraska Corporations

A Nebraska LLC files a biennial report every odd-numbered year, from January 1 through April 1, starting with the odd year after its formation; it becomes delinquent June 16, and the paper fee is $30. Corporations report in even years by March 1, delinquent April 15, and pay an occupation tax with the report, from $26 up to $23,990 depending on paid-up capital.

A report missing at the delinquency date means administrative dissolution or, for a foreign entity, revocation. The window to reinstate is five years, by mail or in person only, for $30 plus the missed reports; after five years, late reinstatement costs $500, and a foreign LLC can’t reinstate but must apply for authority again. Due dates and forms for LLCs are in the Nebraska LLC biennial report guide.

Nebraska LLC Owners: Not on File With the State

Neither the certificate of organization nor the biennial report asks for members or managers, so a Nebraska LLC search shows the address and the agent for service of process, not the owners. Corporations are different: their officers and directors appear in the Officers list of the search above.

An agent for service of process must be a Nebraska resident or an entity allowed to transact business in Nebraska, and losing it can lead to administrative dissolution. Paid bulk lists of entities cost $15 per 1,000 records and leave out officer and agent names.

Active or Inactive, and the $6.50 Good Standing Certificate

The online Certificate of Good Standing costs $6.50, prints immediately and carries a verification ID that a bank or lender can check free on the Secretary of State website for 12 months. A paper certificate costs $10 and arrives by mail within two to three business days.

The search on this page labels each record Active or Inactive; Inactive covers dissolved, revoked, withdrawn or merged entities and expired trade names, without saying which. A dissolved entity “would no longer be in good standing.”

“Documents obtained online cannot be Apostilled or Authenticated”; for those, contact the office. Nebraska has no general business license.