Forming a Limited Liability Company in Florida is relatively easy.  This article should give you resources to understand how the process works in Florida, and to use the legal forms from the Florida Department of State to form an LLC in Florida.

While not required, it is advised to check the availability of a company name before filing any paperwork. You can do this by visiting the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations Web site: http://sunbiz.org/corinam.html.  Here they offer a simple name search to see if the company name is available. Unfortunately, you cannot reserve a business name with the Division of Corporations.

There are three ways to submit the articles of incorporation: online, by mail or via fax. To file online, simply visit the Web site (https://efile.sunbiz.org/llc_file.html) and fill out the forms as they are presented to you. The required filing fee is $125.00, but there are additional options you can request during your online filing. To submit your electronic filing via fax, you must have an established pre-paid account with the Division of Corporations. In order to obtain an E-file account, you can visit https://efile.sunbiz.org/efile_acct_help.html, where you can then follow the necessary steps to create the account. Once established, you will visit https://efile.sunbiz.org/login.html, enter in your account information and follow the step-by-step process available.

To file via mail, you are required to fill out form CR2E047 which provides with easy-to-follow instructions on how to fill out and submit the forms. The filing fee for a profit corporation is $125.00. Checks should be payable to Florida Department of State. The forms and your fees can be mailed to: Registration Section, Division of Corporations, P.O. Box 6327, Tallahassee, FL 32314. For further information, there is an informative step-by-step guide on how to file online or by mail: Instructions for Filing a Florida Profit Corporation (https://efile.sunbiz.org/Profit_Filing_Help.html).

At present, annual reports can only be filed online here: https://efile.sunbiz.org/ubr001.html. The first annual report is due January 1st of the calendar year following the year of formation. If a corporation is created late in the year and it does not expect to conduct business until after January 1st of the following year, it can add an effective date, which will delay the requirement to file an annual report until the following year. A step-by-step guide to filing online is available here: https://efile.sunbiz.org/sbs_ar_instr.html.

There are many companies that offer the service of filing these articles on your behalf, such as FileOnline  or LegalZoom.