Washington Business Entity Search: CCFS Corporation Search by Name or UBI

CCFS, Where a Washington Company Lookup Starts

The Washington Secretary of State’s corporations search is the “Corporation Search” of CCFS at ccfs.sos.wa.gov, by business name or UBI number. Advanced Search adds business type, status, formation dates, and a registered agent or governor, with a CSV export.

Step 1: Find the Company by Name, in the Singular

The Secretary of State’s own advice is to “avoid pluralization when entering a business name,” and to narrow the search after a “null” or “no value found” message. Results list the business name, UBI#, business type, principal office address, registered agent and status, with dissolved and terminated companies in the same list.

Step 2: Business Information, Then Filing History

Clicking a result opens its Business Information page: status, principal office, Expiration Date, Period of Duration, Nature of Business, registered agent and governors. Filing History lists each filing and each notice the state sent, with a free View Documents link; “Documents printed from a filing history are not certified copies.”

A CCFS record can’t be linked directly, so the box on this page links to the CCFS home page. A company that has been inactive for a long time may no longer be in CCFS; the state points to the Washington State Digital Archives for older records.

What the 9-Digit UBI Number Identifies

Every Washington business carries one nine-digit Unified Business Identifier, “used to identify persons engaging in business activities in the state of Washington.” The Department of Revenue, the Business Licensing Service and the Secretary of State all use it, as do Employment Security and Labor and Industries for employers. CCFS shows it in three groups: 600 611 109.

The Department of Revenue notes that a UBI “is sometimes called a tax registration number, a business registration number, or a business license number.” It is not the federal EIN, and the 10-digit Filing Number in a filing history identifies one filing, not the company. A legal entity such as an LLC or a corporation gets its UBI when it registers with the Secretary of State; a sole proprietor gets one from the Business Licensing Service.

Governors Are the Public Names Behind a Washington LLC

“In Washington State, members of an LLC are considered governors of the LLC,” and every officer, director and manager is listed as a governor in the annual report. Looking up a Washington LLC therefore shows who runs it: the Governors table gives each first and last name, or a company name.

The box shows the same governors, and its Person tab finds companies where a name appears as governor, incorporator or registered agent. Operating agreements aren’t filed, and ownership changes aren’t recorded; the annual report only asks whether 16 ⅔ percent or more of the ownership changed hands in the past 12 months, a question for the Department of Revenue.

A registered agent needs a physical Washington address, never a PO box or PMB, and a company can be its own agent. Commercial registered agents appear on a public list linked from the CCFS search page.

What “Delinquent” Means on a Washington Record

“A ‘delinquent’ status means the business entity has failed to file its Annual Report.” A Washington company then has 120 days from the notice date to file it and return to Active; a foreign company has 90. The Expiration Date on the record is that report’s deadline, not the end of the company.

Proof of good standing in Washington is a Certificate of Existence, $20 as an instant PDF from a CCFS account and issued only to an Active company.

$70 Every Year: The Washington Annual Report and Its Month

Every Washington LLC and for-profit corporation files an annual report with the Secretary of State for $70, due “by the last day of the month in which the business was originally formed or registered.” A Delinquent company pays an extra $25.

It can be filed up to 180 days before the Expiration Date, which stays the same, and the Express Annual Report needs no login when a previous report is on file. The state mails and emails a notice 60 days ahead, but a missed notice doesn’t excuse a missed report. The report goes to the Secretary of State, not through the Business Licensing Service: “Annual reports must be filed directly with the Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division,” the Department of Revenue says. The filing steps are in the Washington LLC annual report guide.

Five Years to Reinstate, for $140 Plus Every Missed Report

A Washington company can be administratively dissolved when its report is more than 120 days late or it has no registered agent for 30 consecutive days (RCW 23.95.605). It can reinstate within five years for $140 plus all delinquent annual report fees, and the reinstatement relates back to the date of dissolution; a foreign company requalifies for $180 plus the missed fees.

What Makes a Washington Business Name Distinguishable

A Washington business name must be “distinguishable on the records of the secretary of state” from any company that isn’t administratively dissolved, and from reserved and registered names. Entity endings, “the” and “and,” punctuation, capital letters, symbols, abbreviations and plurals don’t count as differences (RCW 23.95.300).

There is no official availability tool: “Name availability is determined at the time the submission is reviewed.” Reserving a name costs $30 by mail or at the counter only, lasts 180 days and can’t be renewed. A trademark registered with the state doesn’t stop anyone from filing a business under the same name, so a trademark check on a Washington name belongs before forming a Washington LLC.

Department of Revenue Business Lookup: Licenses and Trade Names

Washington records trade names (DBAs) at the Department of Revenue (DOR), not the Secretary of State: $5 per name, registered “indefinitely until the owner requests that it be canceled,” with no protection against others using it. The Department’s Business Lookup searches general licenses, tax accounts, owners and officers, trade names and reseller permits.

A DBA search in Washington runs in the Business Lookup’s Trade name mode; a “No matches were found” result only means the name isn’t registered, not that nobody uses it.

The Department’s Business Licensing Service also issues Washington’s state business license. An LLC files with the Secretary of State first, waits one business day, then applies: $50 to open a business, about 10 business days online. The license renews each year only when it carries state or city endorsements; the annual report is a separate deadline.

State trademarks are searched separately, in CCFS’s Trademark Search, by owner, text or UBI.

EIN Lookup in Washington Works Only for Charities

“This office does not issue an EIN and therefore cannot provide this number upon request,” the Secretary of State says, and no LLC or corporation record shows one. Nonprofits are the exception: they report their FEIN, and the Charity/Fundraiser/Trust Search in CCFS can be searched by it.

For an LLC or corporation, the IRS-assigned EIN has to come from the company’s own paperwork; the places a company’s EIN shows up are covered separately.

How to Spot a Fake Secretary of State Notice

“The Corporations and Charities Division does not send text messages,” and it takes payment only through CCFS or by mail to PO Box 40234 in Olympia. The state’s checklist flags notices from outside a .gov address, fees above its own ($70 for a for-profit annual report), a QR code, or words like “Final Notice.” A free CCFS account adds a Subscription that notifies the subscriber whenever something is filed for the company.