LLC and Nonprofit Formation Services in Orlando

LLC and Nonprofit Formation Services in Orlando, FL

Central Florida runs on entities. A restaurant group on Sand Lake Road, a short-term rental portfolio in Kissimmee, a simulation contractor near the Central Florida Research Park, a medical practice in Lake Nona, a youth arts foundation in Winter Park — each one needs a properly formed Florida entity and each one carries a different compliance calendar.

vState Filings LLC has been forming entities and managing corporate compliance since 2007, for more than 100,000 clients nationwide. We file with the Florida Division of Corporations through Sunbiz, and we handle the pieces most filing services stop short of: 501(c)(3) applications, Florida charitable solicitation registration with FDACS, annual reports, reinstatements, and document retrieval. Call (866) 638-3309 to speak with a filing specialist about your Orlando entity.

Why Central Florida Businesses Choose vState Filings LLC

Orlando’s business base is unusually broad. Hospitality and tourism operators along International Drive and in Celebration. Vacation rental owners across Osceola County. General contractors and trade subs building out Lake Nona, Horizon West, and the Sanford and Lake Mary corridors. Healthcare practices in Maitland and Altamonte Springs. Defense and simulation firms tied to Team Orlando. And an exceptionally dense nonprofit and association sector across Orange, Seminole, and Osceola counties.

Those businesses do not need the same filing. A single-member consulting LLC in Winter Park and a nonprofit that solicits statewide donations have almost nothing in common at the compliance level. We form the entity that matches the operation, and we tell you up front what the entity will owe the state each year.

We are a filing company, not a software product. When a name is rejected, when a nonprofit’s registration package comes back for a missing Form 990, when a dissolved entity needs to be brought back, a person handles it.

What Sets Us Apart

Nonprofit depth. Florida not-for-profit incorporation, EIN, IRS Form 1023 or 1023-EZ support, and Florida charitable solicitation registration handled as one connected process.
Charitable solicitation compliance. A registration regime with annual renewals that most formation services do not touch at all. We also publish a free white paper on multistate charitable solicitation compliance.
Every Florida structure. LLC, PLLC, C-Corp, S-Corp election, professional association, LP, LLP, not-for-profit corporation, 501(c)(3), and special purpose entities.
Ongoing compliance, not just formation. Registered agent service, annual report filing, compliance reminders, amendments, foreign qualification, dissolution, and UCC filings.
Document retrieval. Certificates of status, certified copies, and apostilles — routine for Orlando businesses banking internationally or serving overseas clients.
Nearly two decades of filing history. Founded in 2007, headquartered in Hewlett, NY, filing in all fifty states.

Orlando Entity Formation Services Every Business Structure Covered

LLC Formation in Orlando, FL

Florida charges the LLC formation fee in two parts. The Articles of Organization filing fee is $100 and the registered agent designation is $25, for a required total of $125. A certified copy adds $30 and a certificate of status adds $5, bringing the maximum to $160. The LLC is the default choice for most Orlando operating businesses: restaurants, salons, landscaping and pool service companies, event and A/V vendors, rideshare fleets, and single-property real estate holdings. We prepare and file the Articles, secure your EIN, and can serve as your Florida registered agent. Note for real estate and hospitality operators: the Uniform Protected Series Provisions of Chapter 605, Florida Statutes took effect July 1, 2026. A Florida LLC can now file a Designation of Protected Series, creating legally distinct portions within one company, each with its own per-series filing fee. It is a genuine option for multi-property structures, and it is also new law — we will walk you through whether separate LLCs still make more sense for your situation.

C-Corporation Formation in Florida

Florida Articles of Incorporation cost $35 to file plus a $35 registered agent designation, for $70 total. Certified copies and certificates of status are $8.75 each. C-Corps suit companies planning outside investment — simulation and defense suppliers, medical device startups near Lake Nona, and technology firms raising priced rounds. Florida imposes a 5.5% corporate income tax and no personal income tax. We file the Articles, issue the initial governance documents, and can supply corporate kits, seals, and stock certificates.

S-Corporation Election

An S-Corp is a federal tax election, not a Florida entity type. Because Florida has no personal income tax, there is no separate state-level S election to make — you form an LLC or corporation with the Division of Corporations, then file IRS Form 2553. The election is time-sensitive, and missed deadlines are one of the most common problems we clean up. We prepare and file Form 2553, including late-election relief filings where the facts support it.

Professional LLC (PLLC) Formation

Florida licensed professionals — physicians, dentists, chiropractors, attorneys, CPAs, architects, engineers, veterinarians — organize under Chapter 621 as professional entities. Ownership is generally restricted to licensees in the same profession, and the entity name must comply with both Chapter 621 and the licensing board's rules. This matters constantly in Lake Nona's Medical City cluster and across the Maitland, Winter Park, and Altamonte Springs practice corridors. We confirm name availability, structure ownership correctly, and file the formation documents.

Professional Association (PA)

The professional association is the corporate-form equivalent under Chapter 621 and remains common for established Florida medical, dental, and legal practices, particularly where an existing practice is being brought into a group. Formation fees follow the corporate schedule: $35 plus the $35 registered agent designation.

Limited Partnership (LP) Formation

Florida LPs are expensive to form and expensive to maintain, and business owners are frequently surprised by this. The Certificate of Limited Partnership filing fee is $965 plus the $35 registered agent designation — $1,000 total. The LP annual report is $500. LPs still make sense for real estate syndications and investment funds where limited-partner economics are the point. If you were told an LP was the default choice, call (866) 638-3309 before you file — for many Orlando operating businesses, a manager-managed LLC accomplishes the same thing for a fraction of the annual cost.

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

Florida's Statement of Qualification for an LLP is $25, and the LLP annual report is also $25. LLPs are used mainly by professional service partnerships — law and accounting firms — where partners want liability separation while preserving partnership governance.

Nonprofit Formation and 501(c)(3) Applications in Orlando

Central Florida has a very large nonprofit and association footprint: youth and sports foundations, arts organizations in Winter Park and downtown Orlando, faith-based ministries, hospitality-industry workforce charities, medical research foundations near Lake Nona, and hundreds of professional and trade associations.

Florida not-for-profit incorporation costs $70 — a $35 filing fee plus the $35 registered agent designation. That is the easy part. Federal tax exemption is where organizations stall.

The Articles of Incorporation must contain specific IRS-required language — a purpose clause limited to exempt purposes and a dissolution clause dedicating assets to another exempt organization. Boilerplate nonprofit Articles that omit this language will get a Form 1023 flagged, and fixing it means amending with the state and refiling with the IRS.

We form the Florida nonprofit with compliant Articles, obtain the EIN, prepare bylaws and conflict-of-interest policy, and handle the IRS application — Form 1023-EZ for smaller organizations that qualify, or the full Form 1023 where the eligibility screen fails. Then we handle the step almost everyone forgets.

Florida Charitable Solicitation Registration What Most Filing Services Miss

Under the Solicitation of Contributions Act, Chapter 496, Florida Statutes, a charitable organization must register with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Division of Consumer Services, before it solicits contributions in

Florida. Not after the first gift. Before the ask.

“Solicit” is broad. A donate button on your website, a year-end email appeal, a golf tournament in Dr. Phillips, a gala at a Downtown Orlando venue, a crowdfunding campaign — all of it counts. Being a 501(c)(3) does not exempt you from this. Federal exemption and state registration are two different obligations.

Registration is annual. It renews on the anniversary of your initial registration approval, not your fiscal year end — a distinction that trips up organizations whose bookkeeper is watching the wrong calendar.

The fee is tiered by contributions received in the immediately preceding fiscal year:

Less than $5,000 — $10
$5,000 to $99,999 — $75
$100,000 to $199,999 — $125
$200,000 to $499,999 — $200
$500,000 to $999,999 — $300
$1,000,000 to $9,999,999 — $350
$10,000,000 and above — $400

Financial reporting scales with size. Organizations at or above $500,000 in contributions generally must submit reviewed financial statements; above $1,000,000, audited financial statements prepared by an independent CPA. Current IRS Form 990 documentation accompanies renewals.

There is a narrow exemption. An organization receiving less than $50,000 in contributions in a fiscal year, whose fundraising is carried out entirely by uncompensated volunteers and where no part of the income benefits an officer or paid consultant, may claim exempt status — but it must still file the exemption application (Form FDACS-10110) with FDACS annually, and it must register normally within 30 days of crossing the $50,000 threshold. Exempt does not mean silent.

Enforcement is real. Under section 496.419, FDACS may impose administrative fines up to $5,000 per act or omission, with a $500 per violation cap for 501(c)(3) organizations that fail to register or file for exemption, and up to $10,000 where fraud or deception is involved.

vState Filings handles Florida charitable registration and annual renewal, and multistate registration for organizations soliciting beyond Florida. Our free white paper on charitable solicitation compliance covers the multistate landscape. To get your Orlando nonprofit registered before your next campaign, call (866) 638-3309.

The Florida Annual Report Deadline and the Late Fee You Cannot Get Waived

Every Florida LLC, corporation, LP, and LLLP must file an annual report with the Division of Corporations. The filing window opens January 1 and closes at 11:59 p.m. on May 1. On-time fees:

LLC

$138.75

Profit corporation

$150.00

Not-for-profit corporation

$61.25

Limited partnership / LLLP

$500.00

Limited liability partnership

$25.00

Miss May 1 and Florida adds a $400 late fee. It applies to LLCs, profit corporations, LPs, and LLLPs. Not-for-profit corporations are exempt from the late fee — one of the few breaks Florida gives. The late fee is set by statute and the Department of State is not authorized to waive it. There is no hardship appeal, no first-time forgiveness, no “I never got the reminder.” An Orlando LLC that files on May 2 pays $538.75. A profit corporation pays $550.00.

It escalates from there. The final filing date is the third Friday in September. An entity that has not filed is administratively dissolved or revoked at the close of business on the fourth Friday of September. Reinstatement then costs $100 for an LLC, $600 for a profit corporation, and $175 for a nonprofit — plus every missed annual report fee. Meanwhile the entity’s name protection lapses, banking relationships freeze, and title companies and lenders stop closing.

We file annual reports on time and run compliance reminders so the deadline never arrives unannounced. If your entity has already been dissolved, we handle Florida reinstatements — call (866) 638-3309.

Entities for Hospitality, Short-Term Rentals, and Construction

Restaurants and hospitality. Orlando restaurant groups typically separate operations from assets — an operating LLC holding the lease, licenses, and payroll, and a separate entity holding equipment or real property. We form both and file the fictitious names for each concept.

Short-term and vacation rentals. Osceola County’s Kissimmee and Celebration corridors and the Dr. Phillips and Lake Buena Vista areas run on rental holding entities. Owners commonly hold each property, or each small group of properties, in its own LLC. Florida’s new protected series structure is worth evaluating here, and so is the simpler route of separate LLCs at $125 each. Entity formation does not replace the DBPR vacation rental license or local registration — it sits underneath them.

Construction and contractors. Growth across Lake Nona, Horizon West, Sanford, and Lake Mary keeps contractor entity formation steady. Contractor licensing through DBPR is tied to a qualifying individual and the licensed business entity, so the entity name and structure need to be right from day one. Amendments after the fact create license paperwork nobody wants.

Real estate SPEs. Lender-required single purpose entities for Central Florida commercial deals — retail on 192, industrial off the 417, multifamily near downtown — need clean formation documents, correct management structure, and same-day certificates of status at closing. We handle SPE formation and rush document retrieval.

Beyond Formation Ongoing Florida Business Compliance

Registered agent. Every Florida entity must maintain a registered agent with a Florida street address — no PO boxes — available during normal business hours. Our subscription service keeps your home address off the public Sunbiz record and ensures service of process is received and forwarded.

Fictitious name (DBA). Florida fictitious name registration is $50, and Florida requires that the name be advertised at least once in a newspaper, as defined in Chapter 50, in the county of the applicant’s principal place of business. Registration expires December 31 of the fifth year and renews for $50 between July 1 and December 31 of the expiration year. Restaurant and retail groups running multiple brands under one entity need one registration per name.

Foreign qualification. An out-of-state company doing business in Orlando registers as a foreign entity: $125 required for a foreign LLC and $70 for a foreign corporation. Florida entities expanding to other states get the same service in reverse.

EIN, amendments, conversions, mergers, and dissolutions. LLC amendments are $25; corporate amendments are $35. We also handle statutory conversions, mergers, and voluntary dissolutions.

Document retrieval. Certificates of status, certified copies, and apostilles for foreign investors and international lenders — routine work for a market with as much overseas capital as Orlando.

Federal beneficial ownership reporting. Under a FinCEN final rule effective August 14, 2026, U.S. companies and U.S. persons are no longer required to report beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act. Foreign entities that qualify as reporting companies must still report beneficial ownership for foreign individuals. If you are unsure which category your entity falls into, ask us before assuming.

UCC filings and corporate supplies. UCC-1 filings and searches, plus corporate kits, seals, and stock and membership certificates.

Serving Orlando and Central Florida

We file for businesses and nonprofits throughout Orange, Seminole, and Osceola counties — Downtown Orlando, Lake Nona and Medical City, Winter Park, Maitland, Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, Sanford, Dr. Phillips, International Drive, Celebration, and Kissimmee — and across the rest of Florida and all fifty states.

Because Florida filings are handled electronically through Sunbiz, you do not need to be in the room. You need someone who files these documents every day and knows which errors get a submission rejected.

Ready to Form Your Orlando Business or Nonprofit? Let's Get Started.

Tell us what you are building and we will tell you exactly which entity fits, what Florida charges, and what the compliance calendar looks like for the next twelve months — annual report, charitable renewal, fictitious name expiration, all of it.

Call (866) 638-3309 or visit vstatefilings.com to start your Orlando filing today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Business Formation in Orlando, FL

How much does it cost to form an LLC in Orlando, Florida?

Florida charges $100 for the Articles of Organization plus a $25 registered agent designation, for a required total of $125. Optional add-ons are a certified copy for $30 and a certificate of status for $5, which brings the state maximum to $160. Fees are identical statewide — Orlando has no separate formation fee.

Does my Orlando nonprofit need to register with FDACS if it already has 501(c)(3) status?

Yes, in almost all cases. Federal tax exemption and Florida charitable solicitation registration are separate requirements. Under Chapter 496, Florida Statutes, an organization must register with FDACS before soliciting contributions in Florida, and must renew annually on its registration anniversary. Only organizations under $50,000 in annual contributions that are run entirely by uncompensated volunteers may claim exemption, and they must still file the exemption application with FDACS each year and register normally within 30 days of crossing $50,000.

What happens if I miss the May 1 Florida annual report deadline?

Florida adds a $400 late fee that the Department of State cannot waive. An LLC pays $538.75 and a profit corporation pays $550.00. Not-for-profit corporations are exempt from the late fee. If the report is still unfiled after the third Friday in September, the entity is administratively dissolved at the close of business on the fourth Friday of September and must be reinstated to return to active status.

How much does it cost to reinstate a dissolved Florida entity?

The reinstatement fee is $100 for an LLC, $600 for a profit corporation, and $175 for a not-for-profit corporation, plus the annual report fee for each year that was missed. We handle Florida reinstatements start to finish — call (866) 638-3309.

Do I need a separate LLC for each vacation rental property in Kissimmee?

Many owners do, to keep liability from one property away from the others. Each LLC costs $125 to form and $138.75 a year in annual reports. Since July 1, 2026, Florida also allows protected series within a single LLC, which can lower the ongoing cost for larger portfolios. Which approach fits depends on your lenders, insurers, and number of properties.

Do I have to advertise my Florida DBA in a newspaper?

Yes. Florida requires that a fictitious name be advertised at least once in a newspaper, as defined in Chapter 50, Florida Statutes, in the county where the applicant’s principal place of business is located. Registration costs $50, expires December 31 of the fifth year, and renews for $50 between July 1 and December 31 of the expiration year.

Is my Orlando LLC still required to file a BOI report with FinCEN?

Under a FinCEN final rule effective August 14, 2026, U.S. companies and U.S. persons are no longer required to report beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act. Foreign entities registered as reporting companies must still report beneficial ownership information for foreign individuals. If your ownership includes non-U.S. persons or non-U.S. entities, confirm your status before concluding you have no obligation.

Can vState Filings serve as my registered agent in Orange County?

Yes. Florida requires a registered agent with a physical Florida street address available during normal business hours. Our registered agent subscription covers that requirement, keeps your home address off the public record, and forwards service of process and state notices promptly. Bundle it with compliance reminders so the May 1 annual report deadline and your FDACS renewal date never get missed. Call (866) 638-3309.