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Registering an LLC in Utah is one online filing with the Division of Corporations, and it costs $59. The harder part for a Utah County owner is the order: name search first, state filing second, EIN third, city license last. This page walks through all four with the fees the state posts today.
To register an LLC in Utah, search your name on businessregistration.utah.gov, then log in with a UtahID and file a Certificate of Organization with the Utah Division of Corporations. The state fee is $59, and you need a registered agent with a Utah street address. After approval, get a free EIN from the IRS and apply for a city business license in Provo, Orem, Lehi or wherever your address sits.
Say you are opening a bakery on Center Street in Provo, or a cleaning company run out of a house in Lehi. The same sequence applies to both, and each step needs the one before it. The Division of Corporations is the state office that creates your LLC, and everything below goes through its online system unless noted.
The Division's own business name page points you to businessregistration.utah.gov for the name availability search. Your name has to be distinguishable from the entities already on the Division's records, and the Division's name policy applies that standard to LLCs, corporations and DBAs alike.
The LLC name also has to carry a designator. The Division's formation page lists "Limited Liability Company," "Limited Company," "L.C." and "L.L.C." Most owners use LLC.
If you are not ready to file, a name reservation holds the name for 120 days and costs $22. It is not required before you file, so skip it if you are filing this week. Search the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database separately, because the state search only covers its own records, and a name the state accepts can still collide with someone's federal trademark.
Check the domain name and the Google Business Profile name at the same time. A name the state clears but you cannot get a website or a Maps listing for is better discovered before you pay the filing fee.
Go to the Division's Domestic Limited Liability Company page and click Get Started. You log in with a UtahID, and if you do not have one the system makes you create it at login. Then select Formations, Domestic, and Domestic Limited Liability Company. The online filing is a step-by-step flow, so you move forward with the Next button.
The Certificate of Organization needs four things: the LLC name, the principal office address, a registered agent, and the signature of an organizer. Members and managers are optional on the certificate, but at least one manager, member or other governing person has to appear on your first annual report.
The registered agent receives lawsuits and legal papers for the company, and the Division sends its mail there too. It needs a Utah street address, and the Division's online guidance says you can add yourself as the registered agent. If you do not want your home address on a public record, a commercial registered agent service is the alternative, and that service charges its own fee on top of the state's.
The state fee is $59, from the Division's Fiscal Year 2026 fee schedule, which the Division's formation pages still link to as its current schedule. Expedited processing is an extra $75 per filing. Fees are nonrefundable, so check the name and the address before you submit.
The state charges are small. A lawyer or accountant is the bigger cost if you bring one in, and that is a market price the Division does not set, so ask for quotes. Here is what the Division's fee schedule lists:
| Item | State fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Organization (LLC) | $59 | One-time, nonrefundable |
| Expedited processing | $75 per filing | Optional, added to the filing fee |
| Name reservation | $22 | Holds a name for 120 days, not required |
| Annual renewal (LLC) | $18 | Every year, filed online |
| Late renewal fee | $10 | Added on top of the $18 |
| Reinstatement of a lapsed LLC | $54 | Plus $18 for each missed year and a $10 delinquency fee |
| Assumed name (DBA) | $22 | Registers a trade name only; renews at $18 |
| EIN | $0 | The IRS says it never charges for one |
Apply for the EIN on irs.gov. The IRS says you never have to pay for one and warns against sites that charge. Its online application is open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern, and the responsible party needs a Social Security number or ITIN. Provo's city application asks every business for a federal EIN, so you will use the number again within weeks.
The Division describes an LLC as formed under a written agreement covering management, how interests are transferred and how profits and losses are split. That agreement is not one of the items on the Certificate of Organization, so you write it yourself and keep it with your records. If you have a partner, write it before you open the bank account. For a tax question such as how an LLC is taxed or whether to elect S corporation status, talk to a CPA.
The LLC does not authorize you to open the doors. Utah County only licenses businesses in unincorporated areas, so a business inside Provo, Orem or Lehi gets its license from that city. Each city asks to see proof you registered with the state. Go by the city on your lease, not the one in your mailing address.
Lehi has its own page in our Lehi business license guide. If you sell taxable goods you also need a sales tax account from the Utah State Tax Commission, and the county license guide lays out that order. An owner who will hold equipment or inventory should read the business personal property tax page before the first county notice arrives.
The Utah Valley University SBDC runs a Start a Business office at the UVU Business Resource Center, 815 West 1250 South in Orem. Advising is free, you book through its website or by calling 801-863-8230, and it is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Its advisors cover business plans, start-up help, tax planning and finance. Bring your name, a rough budget and a list of questions, and ask whether an LLC or a sole proprietorship fits your situation before you file.
The state will not send you customers. A new LLC with a license needs a Google Business Profile first, since it costs nothing. After that, our comparison of Utah County advertising options sets each paid channel next to its published price.
One of those options is ours. Provo FOMO is a local newsletter with 3,100+ subscribers, and we sell sponsor spots in it, so weigh this as coming from a seller. On our advertise page, The Neighbor mid-issue mention is $249 a month and The Closer, the last spot in the issue, is $299 a month, with a single Closer placement at $99. We estimate about 4,500 opens a month, and you get a click report after each run. It fits an owner who wants Utah County neighbors to hear about a new storefront or service. It does not fit one whose customers search Google for an emergency plumber, which is a job for Google Search ads.
