Tennessee LLC Articles of Organization

In this lesson, we will walk you through filing your Articles of Organization with the Tennessee Secretary of State.

This is the document that officially forms your Tennessee LLC.

Tennessee LLC Filing Fee

How much a Tennessee LLC costs will depend on how many LLC Members (owners) there are.

1-6 Members
If your LLC has between 1 and 6 Members, your LLC filing fee is $300.

For example:

• If you have 2 Members, your filing fee is $300.
• If you have 6 Members, your filing fee is $300.

More than 6 Members
If your LLC has more than 6 Members, you will add an additional $50 per member (on top of the $300) for each Member over 6.

For example:

• If you have 7 Members, your filing fee is $350 ($300 + $50).
• If you have 10 members, your filing fee is $500 ($300 + $50 + $50 + $50 + $50).

Tennessee Limited Liability Company Approval Time

The approval time for an LLC in Tennessee varies depending on how you file:

• If you file by mail, your LLC will be approved in 3-5 business days (plus mail time).
• If you file online, your LLC will be approved immediately.

LLC University® recommendation: We recommend filing your Tennessee Articles of Organization online. This is because it’s easier and has a faster approval time. Instructions for online filing are below.

However, if you aren’t very tech-comfortable, you can still file by mail.

You can file the LLC paperwork yourself or you can hire a company to do it for you. Check out Best LLC Services in Tennessee for our recommendations.

How to file a Tennessee LLC Online

Get started:

Visit the Tennessee Secretary of State Business Services Online.

Note: You don’t need to create an account to use the Business Services Online system. Simply click the Start button to begin your filing.

This page will walk you through filing the Tennessee Articles of Organization. Just follow along with our step-by-step instructions below.

Or if you’d rather watch a video guide, we walk you through the process here:

Form or Register a New Business

Business Entity Type

Select “Limited Liability Company” from the dropdown menu.

I attest that:

Click the box here to confirm that you understand business filings are public record.

Name

First, make sure your business name follows Tennessee statutory requirements. We explain the rules and how to check if your name is available in our article: Tennessee LLC Name Search.

Business Name

Business Entity Name
Enter (and confirm on the next line) your desired LLC name.

Make sure to include a permitted designator. In Tennessee, you can use the following:

• LLC (most common)
• L.L.C.
• Limited Liability Company

You can use a comma in your LLC name or you can leave it out. For example: Grand Olive Oil LLC and Grand Olive Oil, LLC are both acceptable.

Formation Locale

Select “Domestic Tennessee Business” to form a Tennessee LLC.

Business Type

Additional Designation
Most people are forming regular LLCs, and leave this set to “(none)“.

If you are starting a Non-Profit or a Professional LLC (PLLC), select that option instead. You’ll need extra documents (like non-profit certification or proof that you’re a licensed professional) if these apply to you.

Series LLC
A Series LLC works like a network of connected companies. However, they are much more complex. These are uncommon, and most people don’t check this box.

Click “Continue” to proceed.

Detail

Business Entity Properties

Period of Duration

In this section, you’ll tell Tennessee how long you want your LLC to exist.

We recommend leaving the dropdown menu on “Perpetual“.

This gives your LLC a perpetual (aka permanent) duration. This means your LLC will exist forever, until you choose to dissolve it.

Note: It’s very rare to specify an end date in your Articles of Organization filing (a date on which your LLC would automatically shut down). You can always dissolve your LLC by filing a simple form later.

Expiration Date
If you chose a duration that Expires, you’ll enter a date here. Otherwise, there’s nothing to do here.

Fiscal Year Close
For accounting and tax purposes, most small businesses run on the “calendar year”, which is January 1st to December 31st. That’s the same as your personal income taxes.

If that’s what you will be doing for your LLC, you can leave this set to “December” for your LLC’s fiscal year. (This is what most people do).

If your business runs on a different fiscal year, please enter that fiscal year end date instead.

Delayed Effective Date

• Learn More: What is the LLC Effective Date?

The LLC Effective Date is the date your LLC goes into existence. Think of it like the day your LLC is “born”.

If you don’t declare a Delayed Effective Date, your LLC will become effective the day it is approved by the Tennessee Secretary of State.

If you want your LLC to go into existence on the date it’s approved by the state:
Then you don’t need to do anything here. Most people choose this option.

If you want your LLC to go into existence on a future date:
Click “Declare a Delayed Effective Date” and enter that date (ex: MM/DD/YYYY). This date can’t be more than 90 days ahead. And you can’t back-date your filing.

Pro Tip: If you’re forming your Tennessee LLC later in the year (October, November, December) and you don’t need your LLC open right away, you can give your LLC an effective date of January 1st of the following year. This can save you the hassle of filing taxes for those few months with no business activity.

Managed By:

• Learn More: Member-managed vs Manager-managed LLC

Choose from the dropdown menu:

• Director Managed
• Managed Managed
• Member Managed

Tip: Most people’s LLCs are either Manager-managed or Member-managed. Director-managed is not very common and most people don’t use this. Director-managed is like having a board of directors to run your LLC.

Number of Members

• Learn More: Who can be LLC Members?

Enter (and confirm in the next line) the number of Members in your LLC.

Remember, the filing fee in Tennessee depends on the number of Members in your company. Make sure this is accurate.

Obligated Member Entity

Don’t check this box.

Other Provisions

Don’t check these boxes (unless your attorney instructed you to).

Click “Continue” to proceed.

Agent (Registered Agent)

Agent Detail

• Learn More:
  • Who can be my registered agent in Tennessee?
  • Can I be my own Registered Agent in Tennessee?
  • Is a Registered Agent a Member of an LLC?

If your LLC will be its own Registered Agent:
Check the box at the top for “This business entity will represent itself”.

If your Registered Agent will be another company, or a person:
Under Agent Type, select “Individual” or “Organization”

• If you or someone you know (friend or family member) will be the Registered Agent, select Individual.
• If you hired a Registered Agent Service, select Organization.

If your Registered Agent is an Individual:
Enter their first name, last name and address. The address must be in Kentucky and cannot be a PO Box.

If your Registered Agent is an Organization:
Enter the company’s Secretary of State Control Number (SOS Control #).
Once you enter the SOS Control #, the system will automatically complete the business name and address.

Note: If you hired Northwest Registered Agent, their Tennessee SOS Control Number is 000593933.

Click “Continue” to proceed.

Address

Principal Office Address

Enter your LLC’s Principal Office Address. This address can be any state, or in any country.

Phone: You can enter your phone number if you want, but this is optional, so you can leave it blank.

Email: Enter an email address so the Secretary of State can send you reminders about the Tennessee LLC Annual Report. Every Tennessee LLC must file Annual Reports every year, so this is a helpful service.

If the Principal Office and Mailing Address are the same, check the box.

Mailing Address

If your LLC’s Mailing Address is different from your Principal Office Address, then you can enter it here. This address can be in any state, or in any country.

Click “Continue” to proceed.

Confirmation

Review the information you entered, and check for any typos.

If you need to make any changes, go back and do so. If all looks good, click “Continue” to proceed.

Signature (LLC Organizer)

• Learn More: LLC Organizer vs LLC Member and Registered Agent vs LLC Organizer

On this page you’ll identify the LLC Organizer and electronically sign your filing.

Click the box for “I certify” to confirm the information you entered is accurate. And to confirm that you’re authorized to file the LLC documents.

Name
Enter the Organizer’s first and last name.

“I am acting as an Authorized Representative”
Check this box if you are the LLC Organizer (if you’re filling out this form) but you aren’t an LLC Member or Manager. For most people, who are forming their own LLC, this doesn’t apply and they won’t check the box. But if you are filing the paperwork for a friend, for example, you would check this box to confirm you’re filing on the LLC’s behalf. If you click the box, the system will ask you to enter the name of the person who authorized you to file (the friend who owns the LLC, for example). If you click the box for “Authorized Representative,” you should enter “Organizer” under Signer’s Capacity below.

Signer’s Capacity

• If you are an LLC Member (owner), enter “Member“.
• If you are an LLC Member and a Manager, enter “Managing Member“.
• If you are an LLC Manager but not a Member, enter “Manager“.
• If you are acting as an Authorized Representative and checked the box above, enter “Organizer“

Basically: Whoever can sign contracts on the LLC’s behalf can sign this filing.

Note: If these terms are confusing, check out LLC Officer Titles for more information. One person can hold multiple offices (like a Managing Member).

Phone and Email Address
You must enter both a phone number and an email address. The Secretary of State may use this to contact you if they have any questions.

Click “Continue” to proceed.

Payment

Click the button to Continue with Online Payment.

Enter your credit card or debit card details and submit your payment to the state.

Congratulations! Your Tennessee LLC has been filed with the Secretary of State.

Tennessee LLC Approval – Online FIling

When submitting documents online, your LLC will be approved immediately.

When you finish and pay online, you’ll be able to print your approved Articles of Organization and Acknowledgment Letter in PDF format.

We recommend keeping a copy of your approved Articles of Organization and Acknowledgment Letter with your other LLC documents. Maintaining corporate records is an important part of running a business.

Required: Record Articles of Organization with the County Register of Deeds

Tennessee requires you to record a copy of your Articles of Organization with your Register of Deeds office.

This needs to be recorded with the Register of Deeds in the county where your LLC’s Principal Office is located.

The recording fees are usually less than $20. (For example, here is the Register of Deeds Recording Services page for the Register of Deeds in Davidson County)

You’ll need to contact the appropriate Register of Deeds. You can do a Google search for the county name + “register of deeds”. Then call and ask to speak to the “recording department”. Ask about the recording fees, and get detailed instructions on how to send them your approved Articles of Organization.

Tennessee Secretary of State Contact Information

If you have questions about the LLC filing process, feel free to contact the Business Services Department of the Tennessee Secretary of State at 615-741-2286.

Their hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00am – 4:30pm Central Time.

Tennessee Articles of Organization FAQs

Matt Horwitz

Founder & Educator, LLC University®

Matt Horwitz has been the leading expert on LLC education for the past decade. He founded LLC University in 2010 after realizing people needed simple and actionable instructions to start an LLC that other companies weren't offering. He's cited by Entrepreneur Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and the US Chamber of Commerce, and was featured by CNBC and InventRight.
 
Matt holds a Bachelor's Degree in business from Drexel University with a concentration in business law. He performs extensive research and analysis to convert state laws into simple instructions anyone can follow to form their LLC - all for free! Read more about Matt Horwitz and LLC University.