Pennsylvania Certificate of Authority · Filing without us
Filing a Pennsylvania certificate of authority without us
Any entity can file for itself: the paperwork is two forms, DSCB:15-412 and the docketing statement, signed and sent in with $250. This page sets out a checklist by entity type, the two ways to file and the places where self-filed packages go wrong. If you prefer to hand it over, order the filing at $199.
Checklist by entity type
| Entity | Have ready | Do extra |
|---|---|---|
| LLC | Home name, formation state, offices, signer, federal number | Answer item 8; check for professional services |
| Business corporation | Home name with a corporate designator, officers' signer, federal number | Publish notice in two newspapers |
| Nonprofit corporation | Home name, signer, federal number | Publish notice in two newspapers |
| Limited partnership | Home name, signer, federal number | Nothing beyond the statement |
| Limited liability partnership | Home name with its designator, signer, federal number | Plan for the certificate of annual registration |
The federal number can be obtained from the IRS online straight away if the entity has none.
Check the name first
Search the Department's records before drafting anything. The name must carry the designator that fits the entity type and must not duplicate a name already on file. An LLC's name needs the term company, limited or limited liability company, an abbreviation of one of those terms, or words of like import used in the home state. When the name fails, plan to use an alternate in item 2A, which every later filing must then repeat.
Settle the office
Take a Pennsylvania street address if the entity has one. If it has none, sign up a commercial registered office provider and write that provider and the county into item 5(b). Naming one with no contract in place can lead to civil and criminal penalties. A box number on its own is refused.
Filing online
Online filing is at corporations.pa.gov. Annual reports and later changes run through the portal at file.dos.pa.gov, where you open an account and search for your entity.
Filing on paper
Print the statement and the docketing statement, fill both in clearly in black or blue-black ink, sign them, and post them with the fee to P.O. Box 8722, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8722. Use a check or money order payable to the Pennsylvania Department of State. Cash and cards are refused, and a check must be pre-printed with your details, signed and less than six months old. The top block takes a return address.
Speeding it up
Same-day, three-hour and one-hour handling cost $100, $300 and $1,000 over the filing fee, with the request due in by 10:00 a.m. for same-day, 2:00 p.m. for three-hour and 4:00 p.m. for one-hour handling. A paper filer encloses a request form; a request that arrives by mail is not taken.
Where self-filed packages go wrong
These slips cause returns: only a box number for an address, a name that lacks the right designator or sits too close to one on file, a check that fails the rules, no docketing statement, and a backdated effective date. A rejected filing keeps its fee.
Afterwards
Record the filing date, keep the filed copy with the entity records, and diary the annual report date for your type of entity. The Department posts each entity's compliance status on its public business search.
Doing the annual report yourself
Reports are filed online. Open a portal account, sign in, look the entity up through business search and open its annual report form; no PIN is needed. The details entered must be accurate on the filing date, and the approved form plus an acknowledgement letter can then be downloaded.
Costs you carry yourself
The state fee is $250. Add a faster tier if you buy one, newspaper charges if the entity is a corporation or nonprofit, and a provider's fee if you use one. The annual report is $7.
A worked example for an LLC
A Michigan LLC with two members is opening a store in Lancaster. The owner confirms the name carries LLC, searches the Department's records, takes the store address as the Pennsylvania office, completes the statement with Michigan in item 3, answers no in item 8, signs, completes the docketing statement with the store manager as the tax contact, and mails both with a pre-printed check for $250. The annual report goes in the calendar for September 30.
A worked example for a corporation
A Florida corporation selling to Pennsylvania hospitals signs with a provider, writes the provider and county into item 5(b), pays $250, and runs the newspaper notice (two newspapers of general circulation, one of them a legal journal if possible). It files the proofs in its minute book and diaries its report for June 30.
Sample answers for the commonly confusing items
| Item | Typical situation | Sample answer |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Name taken in Pennsylvania | Home name in item 2, new name in item 2A |
| 4A | Home state requires no separate office | Leave it empty |
| 5 | No Pennsylvania address | (b) provider name and county |
| 6 | Company formed without series | May not have series |
| 7 | Work starts next month | The start date, with an hour if you want one |
| 8 | LLC offering ordinary services | Not a restricted professional company |
Leaving 4A blank is correct when the home state does not require an office, and the other answers follow the instructions.
The first 30 days after you file
Check that the filed copy arrives, record the date, add the annual report to the calendar for your type of entity, and keep the filing date with the entity records. If you hold the registered office yourself, make sure someone opens mail at that address.
When a self-filed package is rejected
The Department returns the package with the reason. Fix only the named point, resubmit with a new fee, and check the name rule again if the name was the issue. The first fee is not refunded, so a second attempt costs $250 again.
If your entity is a nonprofit
Nonprofit corporations use the same statement, pay $250 to register and publish the same newspaper notice as a business corporation. Their annual report costs $0. Their name may carry a designator but need not.
If your entity is a partnership
A limited partnership files the statement for $250. An LLP files for $250, and must plan for the certificate of annual registration each April 15, priced at $470 per general partner with a Pennsylvania residence or Pennsylvania organization.
A checklist to print
Name checked against Department records. Designator right for the entity type. Pennsylvania office chosen, with a contract if it is a provider. Federal employer number to hand. Signer identified. Check pre-printed and signed. Docketing statement completed. Notice booked with two newspapers if a corporation or nonprofit. Annual report date diaried.
Choosing to hand it over
Our service takes the drafting, the name check for your entity type and the submission off your list. Filing alone suits one entity that already has a Pennsylvania street address and a name that raises no questions.
Filing a Pennsylvania certificate of authority yourself
Check the name
Confirm the designator and that no similar name is on file.
Decide on the office
A street address, or a contracted provider and its county.
Draft both forms
DSCB:15-412 and DSCB:15-134A.
Newspaper notice if needed
Corporations and nonprofits only.
Sign and pay
Pay $250 by pre-printed check or money order.
File
Online at corporations.pa.gov or by mail.
Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year
$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Fees at a glance
Get Pennsylvania authority
+ $250 state fee
- Your Foreign Registration Statement, drafted from a short questionnaire
- The docketing statement filed alongside it
- A Pennsylvania registered office entry, ours or one you hold
- The filed copy sent back to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
$199
Pennsylvania
Get authority to operateThe $250 goes to the Department of State and appears on its own line. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Official sources
- Pennsylvania Department of State, fees and payments
- DSCB:15-412, Foreign Registration Statement, with instructions
- Pennsylvania Department of State, foreign associations
- Pennsylvania Department of State, annual reports
- Pennsylvania Department of State, commercial registered office providers
- DSCB:15-134A, Docketing Statement, New Entity
- Pennsylvania Department of State, certificates of annual registration
- 15 Pa.C.S. 412, foreign registration statement
- DSCB:15-415/417, Statement of Withdrawal of Foreign Registration, with instructions
Need to operate in Pennsylvania?
Tell us the entity type and we prepare the filing.