Utah Business Entity Search: Companies, DBAs and Principals

How to Look Up an LLC in the Utah Business Search

Pick Starts With, Contains or Exact Match, then fill one of six fields: Name, Entity Number, Domicile Name, Assumed Name, Principal Name or Registered Agent Name. The Search button stays grayed out until the Cloudflare “Verify you are human” box is checked, and opening a record asks for a second check.

Under Advanced Search Options, the list can be cut down to one entity type (Assumed Name (DBA) and Commercial Registered Agent are among them), to Utah or foreign entities, or to one status and status reason. Results show 25 rows per page, each with the name, filing date, status and status details, type and entity number. One name can appear several times, active and inactive, so the number and status matter more than the name. Old links to secure.utah.gov/bes now redirect to the new system.

The Division’s help pages call this the Business Entity Records search. Clicking a name opens the record with its principals and its Filing History, where filed documents can be viewed and downloaded free of charge for now. The Division has announced $1 to $3 fees for principal searches once the new platform is fully built.

One Different Letter Can Clear a Utah Business Name

A new Utah LLC name must be distinguishable from every name on the Division’s records, including DBAs, name reservations and state trademarks. One different word, letter or numeral is enough; the entity ending, “the”, “and”, “a”, “plus”, punctuation, capitals and singular or plural forms are not (Utah Code § 48-3a-108).

The Division’s own examples: The Bookstores and The Bookstore, or The Side Walk and The Sidewalk, are the same name, while Capital Builders and Capitol Builders, or Windows Wash and Wash Windows, are different. Bank, trust and related words need approval from the Department of Financial Institutions. The Division’s Name Availability Search previews a name but doesn’t hold it; a reservation does, for 120 days, for $22. Approval gives no exclusive right to geographic or generic words in the name (§ 48-3a-108(7)); a trademark search before filing covers what the Division doesn’t check.

Utah’s $18 Yearly Renewal and What a Missed One Does to the Status

Every Utah corporation and every limited liability company files an annual renewal, also called the annual report, during the month of its registration anniversary: $18, plus $10 if late, under the Division’s fee schedule. The search shows a status (Active, Inactive, Cancelled or Pending) with a detail such as Current or Administratively Dissolved.

The Division sends three postcards to the registered agent: a renewal notice about 60 days before the anniversary, a delinquency notice, then an expiration notice that also goes to the principal office and one principal. A dissolved LLC can’t do business except to wind up, but it keeps its name for five years.

Back to Active Status: Utah Reinstatement

Reinstatement is filed online and costs $54, plus $18 for each missed renewal and a $10 delinquency fee, so an LLC that missed two renewals pays $54 + 2 × $18 + $10 = $100 under the fee schedule’s note. It takes effect as of the dissolution date (Utah Code § 48-3a-709). Foreign entities and DBAs cannot reinstate, and a corporation’s Utah taxes are checked with the Utah State Tax Commission first.

QR-Code Letters That Copy the Renewal Page

In July 2025 the Division warned about letters with QR codes leading to a site that copies the state’s registration page and charges $175 for a renewal the state bills at $18. Renewals start at the Division’s own portal, and suspicious mail can be reported to corpucc@utah.gov.

Utah Business License Search and Certificates of Existence

Utah’s business license comes from the city, town or county where the business operates, after registration with the Division. Professional licenses are checked in the Division of Professional Licensing’s Licensee Lookup and Verification System.

Proof that a company exists is a Certificate of Existence, ordered online with a UtahID: $12 for the regular one-page version, $20 for the long form that lists filed documents. Anyone can check a certificate by its number in the Certificate Search. The Utah State Tax Commission issues a separate letter of good standing for tax purposes.

Principals, Registered Agents and DBAs Share One Search

The record lists principals (managers, officers, organizers), not necessarily every owner: a renewal only has to name one governing person (Utah Code § 48-3a-212). The Principal Name field finds every entity linked to a person.

Registration records are public under Utah’s records law (GRAMA), and the Division lets a business give a business address instead of someone’s home address. A listed principal is what the filer entered: the Division doesn’t investigate filings, and only a court order reverses a fraudulent one.

Utah DBAs are filed with the Division, not a county clerk, so they sit in the same search (Assumed Name field), and the record names the owner that Utah Code § 42-2-5 requires. A DBA lasts three years, costs $22 to register and $18 to renew, and an LLC trading under its own name needs none.

Utah Entity Numbers: What the Four-Digit Ending Shows

A Utah entity number is a run of digits, a dash and a four-digit code (14663456-0160). The Division’s help pages don’t explain the codes; the ones below appear next to each type in the results.

The tool above accepts the number with or without its ending.

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