Sunbiz LLC Search: How to Look Up Any Florida Company (and Actually Read the Results)

To look up a Florida company, go to search.sunbiz.org, choose Search by Entity Name, type the business name (or part of it), and click the result. That’s the whole mechanic of a Sunbiz LLC search — it’s free, there’s no account, and it takes about fifteen seconds. The hard part is the next screen: a dense block of codes, dates, and abbreviations that most people skim past. That page is a public filing history, and if you know how to read it you can tell whether an LLC is current, who has authority to sign for it, whether it has ever been administratively dissolved, and whether the person selling you a business actually controls it.

This walkthrough covers the search itself, every field on the detail page, and how to use that record as real due diligence.

Running a Sunbiz LLC search: the four ways to find a record

Sunbiz is the public filing portal of the Florida Division of Corporations, a division of the Florida Department of State. Its search tool gives you several entry points, and picking the right one saves a lot of time:

• Entity Name — the default. It’s a “begins with” search, so typing Palm Coast returns everything starting with those words in alphabetical order, not every company containing them. If you don’t know the exact opening words, search the most distinctive single word you are sure about and scroll.
• Officer/Registered Agent Name — search a person’s last name and see every Florida entity that lists them as a manager, authorized member, officer, or registered agent. This is the most useful search on the site and almost nobody uses it. Enter a seller’s name here before you buy their business.
• Registered Agent Name — narrower version of the above, agents only.
• Document Number — the state’s permanent ID for the entity, e.g. L21000123456. If you have it, use it; names change, document numbers don’t.
• FEI/EIN Number — searches by federal tax ID, useful when you have a W-9 from a vendor and want to confirm the legal entity behind it.

There’s also a separate Fictitious Name Search for DBAs. A trade name on a truck or storefront is often not the legal entity name, so if the entity search comes up empty, search the fictitious name registry next — it will show you the registered owner behind the trade name.

One note before you start: the prefix on the document number tells you what kind of entity you’re looking at. L is a Florida LLC, M is an out-of-state (foreign) LLC registered to transact business in Florida, P is a Florida for-profit corporation, N is a Florida not-for-profit, and F is a foreign corporation. If you think you’re buying an LLC and the record starts with P, you’re buying corporate stock instead, and the deal documents are completely different.

Reading the record: what every field actually means

Open any LLC record and you get the same layout. Here’s what each block tells you and what to look for:

Field on the Sunbiz record	What it means	What to watch for
Document Number	Permanent state ID assigned at filing	Prefix reveals entity type; year digits reveal true age
FEI/EIN Number	Federal tax ID reported on the last annual report	”NONE” or “APPLIED FOR” means no EIN was ever reported — common for dormant shells
Date Filed	When the Articles of Organization were accepted	Compare to the “established in” date on the company’s website
Effective Date	Optional date the LLC’s existence began, if different	A January 1 effective date usually means a delayed-effective filing
State	State of organization	”FL” for domestic; foreign LLCs show their home state
Status	ACTIVE or INACTIVE	INACTIVE means the entity is not in good standing — see below
Last Event	The most recent filing or state action	The single most informative field on the page
Event Date Filed	When that event occurred	A recent REINSTATEMENT tells a story
Principal Address	Business street address of record	Must be a street address, not a PO box
Mailing Address	Where the state sends notices	If this is a dead address, the owner may never have seen the annual report reminder
Registered Agent Name & Address	Who accepts service of process in Florida	A former partner or ex-spouse still listed here is a red flag
Authorized Person(s) Detail	People with authority to sign filings	Title codes: MGR (manager), MGRM (managing member), AMBR (authorized member), AP (authorized person)
Annual Reports	Year-by-year list of reports filed	Gaps are the whole point — see below
Document Images	Scanned PDFs of every filing	Free to view and download

Status, “Last Event,” and annual report gaps

Three fields together tell you the compliance story, and they need to be read as a set.

Status is binary on Sunbiz: ACTIVE or INACTIVE. ACTIVE means the entity exists on the state’s records today. It does not mean the current year’s annual report has been filed — an LLC that hasn’t filed by May 2 is still ACTIVE on Sunbiz while it racks up a late fee.

Last Event is where the detail lives. Common values and what they mean:

• LC AMENDMENT — Articles were amended (name, management structure, or address change filed as an amendment).
• ADMIN DISSOLUTION FOR ANNUAL REPORT — the state dissolved the LLC for failing to file. Under Florida’s reporting scheme, the $138.75 annual report is due May 1 (filing opens January 1), a $400 late fee attaches after May 1, and an LLC still unfiled by the fourth Friday of September is administratively dissolved. This event is the fingerprint of that September deadline being missed.
• REINSTATEMENT — the LLC was dissolved and brought back. Reinstating requires a reinstatement filing plus the past-due report fees; check Sunbiz for current amounts. A reinstatement isn’t fatal, but it means there was a window when the entity technically did not exist.
• VOLUNTARY DISSOLUTION — the owners closed it on purpose.
• CONVERSION or MERGER — the entity changed form or absorbed/was absorbed by another. If you see this, pull the document image. Conversions carry liabilities forward, and you need to know what the predecessor entity was.
• CROSS RF (cross reference) — the record is linked to another filing, often a name change or merger counterpart.

Annual Reports appears as a short table of years with filing dates. Read it like a pulse chart. A clean LLC shows one report per year, most filed between January and April. What you’re looking for:

1. Missing years. A gap followed by a REINSTATEMENT means administrative dissolution happened.
2. Chronic late filings. Reports consistently dated in June, July, or August mean the owner paid the $400 late fee repeatedly — a tell about how the rest of the back office is run.
3. A changed FEI/EIN between reports, which can indicate the business was restructured.
4. Shifting authorized persons. Annual reports are the only place ownership-adjacent changes show up, because Florida LLCs don’t file ownership changes separately.

Every deadline and dollar figure behind those events is laid out on our Florida LLC fees and deadlines reference, which is worth bookmarking if you’re responsible for keeping an entity current. If you’d rather not track May 1 yourself, our annual report filing service handles the filing and the reminder for $199/yr.

Document images: the filings themselves

At the bottom of every record is a list of scanned PDFs — Articles of Organization, every amendment, every annual report, registered agent resignations, dissolutions, reinstatements. They’re free. Download them.

The original Articles of Organization tell you the formation date, the original registered agent, and whether the filer named managers. The signed annual reports show exactly who certified the filing each year and from what address. Registered agent resignation filings are quietly revealing — an agent who resigns mid-year often did so because they weren’t being paid or the relationship ended badly.

If you need something official rather than informational — for a bank, a lender, or a closing — Sunbiz sells certificates of status and certified copies. Those cost a small fee listed on the site; the free PDFs are uncertified and won’t satisfy a lender.

What a Sunbiz search will not tell you

This is where most people over-trust the record. Sunbiz shows filings with the Division of Corporations, nothing else. It does not show:

• Ownership. Florida LLCs file no member list. “Authorized Person” is a signing authority, not proof of equity. Membership interests live in the operating agreement, which is a private document the state never sees.
• The operating agreement itself, capital accounts, or profit splits.
• Debts, liens, or judgments. Check the Florida Secured Transaction Registry for UCC filings and the county clerk of court for judgments and liens in every county where the business operates.
• Tax standing. Sales tax and reemployment tax accounts are with the Florida Department of Revenue, not Sunbiz.
• Licensing. Florida has no general state business license, but county and municipal business tax receipts are common and some trades are licensed by the state (contractors, cosmetology, real estate, and others). Requirements vary by county and city — verify with the local tax collector and the relevant board.
• Lawsuits. Use the county clerk’s docket search and federal PACER.

Treat Sunbiz as the skeleton. Everything else is flesh you have to go get.

Due diligence before buying a Florida business

Before you sign an asset purchase agreement or a membership interest purchase, run this sequence. It takes twenty minutes and it has saved people from buying entities they couldn’t legally be transferred.

1. Confirm the exact legal name and document number match the purchase agreement letter-for-letter. “Gulf Coast Roofing LLC” and “Gulf Coast Roofing of Florida LLC” are two different entities with two different liability histories.
2. Verify status is ACTIVE and read Last Event for dissolution or reinstatement history.
3. Read the full annual report list for gaps and chronic lateness.
4. Check whether the current year’s report is filed. If it’s April and the report isn’t in, that $138.75 obligation — plus a $400 late fee after May 1 — follows the entity, not the seller.
5. Open the Articles and every amendment. Note whether the LLC is manager-managed or member-managed; under the Florida Revised Limited Liability Company Act (Chapter 605, Florida Statutes), that distinction governs who can bind the company.
6. Run an Officer/Registered Agent Name search on the seller. You’ll find their other entities — including the ones they didn’t mention, and the ones that were administratively dissolved.
7. Compare the Authorized Persons to the people at the table. If someone with signing authority isn’t in the deal, find out why.
8. Search fictitious names registered to the entity. Trade names are registered separately and expire; an expired DBA means the sign out front has no registration behind it.
9. Run a UCC search on the exact legal name for equipment liens and blanket security interests.
10. Check for CONVERSION or MERGER events and pull those documents.

If the seller’s answer to any of this is “the state doesn’t really track that” — they’re half right, and that’s exactly why the private documents matter more than the public ones.

Using the same search to check name availability

If you’re forming rather than buying, the entity search doubles as a name check, with one important caveat: Sunbiz’s search engine is looser than the state’s acceptance standard. A Florida LLC name must be distinguishable on the records of the Division of Corporations, and differences in entity suffix, punctuation, capitalization, articles like “the” or “a,” and singular versus plural generally do not make a name distinguishable. “Sunshine Pools LLC” and “Sunshine Pool, L.L.C.” are a coin flip.

Search broadly, check variations, and remember that Sunbiz availability is not a trademark clearance — a name can be free at the state level and still infringe a federal mark. For the full sequence from name check through EIN and bank account, use our free 10-step Florida LLC startup checklist.

Formation itself runs $125 to the state — a $100 filing fee plus the $25 registered agent designation — with online filings typically processed in 3–5 business days. Florida offers no paid expedite, so anyone promising a one-hour state turnaround is describing their own submission speed, not the state’s. (Our Pro plan at $254.99 does same-day Sunbiz submission, which moves the clock up on our end only.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I see who owns a Florida LLC on Sunbiz? No. Florida LLCs don’t file member lists, so the “Authorized Person(s)” names are signing authorities who may or may not be owners. Actual ownership is governed by the operating agreement, a private document you’d need to request directly.

My LLC shows ACTIVE but I haven’t filed this year’s annual report — am I fine? Not quite. The entity stays ACTIVE while the report is outstanding, but a $400 late fee applies after May 1 and the LLC is administratively dissolved if it’s still unfiled by the fourth Friday of September. Check the Annual Reports list on your record to confirm which years are actually on file.

How long does it take for a new filing to appear in a Sunbiz search? It appears once the Division of Corporations processes it, generally within the 3–5 business day online processing window. Until then, the name isn’t reserved and isn’t searchable, which is why two people can occasionally submit similar names in the same week.

What does “ADMIN DISSOLUTION FOR ANNUAL REPORT” mean for a company I’m buying? It means the state dissolved the entity for non-filing at some point. If the record also shows a REINSTATEMENT, it’s back — but ask what happened during the gap, because contracts signed while an entity was dissolved can raise authority questions.

Does the registered agent on file have to be a company, or can it be me? It can be you, as long as you have a Florida street address (not a PO box) and are available during business hours — that address becomes public on Sunbiz. Many owners use a commercial agent instead for privacy; our Standard plan includes a year of registered agent service and renews at $99/yr.

This article is general information about public records and Florida filing procedures, not legal advice; consult a licensed Florida attorney or CPA about your specific situation.