North Carolina Business Entity Search at the NC Secretary of State

NC SOS Business Search: Company, SOSID, Official or Agent

To check whether a business is registered in North Carolina, the NC Secretary of State business search needs no account. Its Search for list offers Company By Name, Company by Secretary of State Identification Number (SOSID), Company Officials and Registered Agents, and the registry holds corporations, LLCs, partnerships and other business entities.

Step 1: Company By Name for a Corporation or LLC

To look up a corporation or LLC by name, keep Company By Name; Company by SOSID takes the 7-character number instead. Company Officials and Registered Agents switch to a person or organization search, with Last, First and Middle fields for an individual. The same page links to a separate search of assumed names, North Carolina’s DBAs.

Step 2: Choose How the Words Match

The Words list sets the match: Starting With, the default, All, Any or Exact Match. The results header repeats the choice and the count, as in BRD Search: Records Found: 32 for Duke Energy.

Step 3: Open a Result With the Plus Sign

Each result reads name and SOSID, then status and organization type; the plus sign opens the legal name, previous legal names, date formed and citizenship. Former names appear to be searchable too: Duke Energy also returns companies that once carried the name. A SOSID search can return two lines under one number: when a corporation converts to an LLC, the old record stays listed as Converted.

Step 4: More Information and View Filings

More information opens the company’s profile: status, citizenship, date formed, registered agent, registered office, mailing and principal office addresses, and the officials. View Filings lists every filing with its document number and a View Filing (PDF) link, from the articles of organization or articles of incorporation to the latest annual report. Lists of new businesses, dissolutions and suspensions can be pulled free by date range from the division’s reports and listings.

Who Runs an NC Company: Company Officials and Officers

North Carolina publishes who runs a company. Every annual report lists the names, titles and business addresses of an LLC’s principal company officials or a corporation’s principal officers (N.C.G.S. 57D-2-24 and 55-16-22), and the profile shows them free, under Company officials for an LLC or Officers for a corporation.

A company official can be another business: Duke Energy Corp. appears as a member of Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC. The Company Officials search finds the companies that list a person or business as an official, and the articles of organization, in View Filings, can name the organizer and initial members. Officials are changed through an annual report or an amended one, and removing one requires a notarized statement of dissociation.

The Registered Agent and Its Office

Every North Carolina company keeps a registered agent, a North Carolina resident or an authorized business entity, at a registered office with a street address in the state; the separate registered mailing address can be a P.O. box. A change of agent or office is due within 60 days, costs $5, and an agent can sign up for free email notices when a client company files something or its status is about to change.

Active/Not Current: the April 15 Report and What Follows

Every North Carolina LLC files an annual report by April 15 of each year after the year it was formed, for $200 ($203 online by card, $202 by ACH). A business corporation pays $25 on paper or $18 online plus a $3 card fee, due on the 15th day of the fourth month after its fiscal year ends; the record’s Fiscal month field shows when the fiscal year ends, which sets the date. A company behind on a required filing shows Active/Not Current.

The report is due whether or not the company did any business that year. LLCs that file annual reports online have them recorded almost immediately; on paper it can take up to 180 days. Professional corporations and PLLCs, nonprofits and limited partnerships don’t file one, and a business more than 50% owned by a deployed service member can file an Affidavit of Deployment before deploying and report 90 days after the deployment ends. April 15 is the deadline; the North Carolina LLC annual report guide covers the filing.

A company that doesn’t fix the problem within 60 days of a Notice of Grounds is administratively dissolved, and a foreign company is revoked. Reinstatement costs $100, LLC or corporation alike, and takes effect as of the date of the administrative dissolution; the name stays protected for five years after an administrative dissolution, and for 120 days after a voluntary one.

Suspended by the Department of Revenue

A separate suspension is triggered by the Department of Revenue when a return or payment is 90 days late: the Secretary of State suspends the articles, acts performed while suspended are invalid, and a company both suspended and dissolved must clear the suspension with the Department of Revenue first (N.C.G.S. 105-230).

Letters offering to file the annual report for more are a known scheme: the Secretary of State’s misleading mailing alerts name Business Filing LLC, which sought $154 in 2026, and a company asking $499.89 in 2023, against the $200 or $25 filed directly.

Certificate of Existence: $15 on Paper, $10 Electronic

The Certificate of Existence, called a Certificate of Authorization for a foreign company, is conclusive evidence that the company exists or may do business in North Carolina. It costs $15 on paper or $10 electronic, plus $1 a page, and ordering one requires a Secretary of State online account. A certificate’s number can be checked on the division’s page. The Secretary of State has warned about mailers charging $82 for the same certificate.

What the SOSID Is For, and Where the EIN Isn’t

An NC EIN lookup can’t be done in the business registry: the Secretary of State issues no EIN, and no profile shows one. The SOSID does other work: the NC Department of Revenue (NCDOR) asks for it when a registered company signs up for state taxes on Form NC-BR, along with the EIN for withholding.

The IRS, not the state, issues an EIN and confirms a lost one; to find another company’s, start with documents that list an EIN. A business license lookup isn’t part of this search either: no profile shows a license. Professional privilege licenses ended on July 1, 2024; the Department of Revenue still requires them only for loan agencies, pawnbrokers and check cashers.

Checking an NC Business Name and Reserving It

An NC business name search goes through that Company By Name search, and the law sets the bar: the name must be distinguishable upon the records of the Secretary of State from existing corporations, LLCs, partnerships and reserved or registered names (N.C.G.S. 55D-21). An LLC’s name must include limited liability company, L.L.C. or LLC, or a listed combination such as ltd. liability co.; a corporation’s needs corporation, incorporated, company or limited, or corp., inc., co. or ltd. (N.C.G.S. 55D-20).

Reservations run 120 days with no renewal: $10 for an LLC name, $30 for a corporation’s. A missing entity ending is the first reason the division lists for rejecting a formation. Clearing the registry doesn’t clear trademarks, which is part of vetting an LLC name against trademarks.

North Carolina DBA Search: Filed With the Register of Deeds

A North Carolina DBA, an assumed business name, is filed with the register of deeds of one county where the business operates, not with the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State keeps a statewide database of those filings, searchable by assumed name, SOSID or the real person who owns it, with a filter by county; older filings are searched at the register of deeds, which also issues certified copies.

An assumed business name gives no exclusive right, and changes must be filed within 60 days. An LLC or corporation needs one only to operate under a name other than its registered one.