Every Florida LLC must file an annual report between January 1 and May 1 of every year following the year it was formed. The fee is $138.75. The penalty for filing late is $400, applied automatically at the moment the deadline passes. There are no exceptions, no appeals, no hardship waivers.
This guide covers the entire annual report process — what it is, what to update, how to file it, and what to do if you missed the May 1 deadline this year. (The 2026 deadline was May 1; if you're reading this in May or later, see the "What if I missed it" section near the end.)
What the annual report actually is
A Florida LLC annual report is not a financial statement. It's a one-page state filing that updates or confirms basic information about your LLC:
- Principal business address
- Mailing address
- Registered agent and registered agent address
- Officer/manager/member information
- Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Even if nothing has changed since you formed the LLC, you still have to file. The purpose is to certify to the state that your LLC is still active.
The state's online form pre-populates with your existing information. In most years, filing takes 5–10 minutes.
When it's due
- First annual report: Due between January 1 and May 1 of the year following the year you formed the LLC. If you formed your LLC any time in 2026 — January or December — your first annual report isn't due until 2027.
- All subsequent reports: Due between January 1 and May 1 of every year, for the life of the LLC.
The deadline is hard-coded. There's no "your LLC's anniversary" alternative; every active Florida LLC, regardless of formation date, files between January 1 and May 1 every year.
What it costs
- On-time filing: $138.75
- Late filing (after May 1): $538.75 ($138.75 fee + $400 late penalty)
- Optional Certificate of Status: $5 extra (proves your LLC is active and in good standing — useful for banks, lenders, licensing boards)
- Amended annual report (if you need to change something later): $50
The $400 late penalty applies to all profit corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and limited liability limited partnerships. Non-profit corporations are exempt from the late fee.
How to file
1. Go to Sunbiz. The official annual report filing portal is at services.sunbiz.org/Filings/AnnualReport/FilingStart. Don't use Google to find it; type the URL or click directly from this article. There are paid lookalike sites that mimic the official portal and charge unnecessary "service fees."
2. Enter your document number. This is the 6-digit or 12-digit number assigned to your LLC at formation. If you don't remember it, search for your LLC by name at search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/ByName.
3. Review the pre-populated information. The state pulls your existing info onto the form. Click through every section and update what's changed.
- Principal address. Update if you've moved.
- Mailing address. If different from principal.
- Registered agent. If you've changed RAs (e.g., switched from being your own agent to hiring Northwest), update here.
- Authorized representatives / managers / members. Update if owners have changed.
- EIN. Optional but the state requests it. You can mark "Not Applicable" if you'd rather not have it on the public record.
4. Sign electronically. Type the name of the authorized person filing. Florida statute (s.15.16) gives an electronically typed name the same legal weight as a wet signature.
5. Pay. The state accepts credit/debit cards, checks/money orders (mail-only, must be postmarked by May 1), and pre-paid Sunbiz E-File accounts. Credit card payments process the report immediately. Check payments take 1–2 weeks to post.
6. Save the confirmation. Once processed, the filed annual report is downloadable from Sunbiz at no additional cost. Save a PDF copy.
That's the entire process. Most owners finish in under 10 minutes.
What if I missed the May 1 deadline?
If you're reading this and the calendar is past May 1, two things to know:
1. The $400 late penalty is automatic and non-negotiable. It's applied the moment the clock turns midnight on May 2. There are no waivers for first-time filers, hardship, illness, or "I forgot." The state will not negotiate.
2. You still have a window before administrative dissolution. Florida administratively dissolves any LLC that hasn't filed by the fourth Friday of September. Until that date, you can file the annual report (now $538.75) and stay active. After dissolution, reinstating the LLC costs $138.75 + a $100 reinstatement fee, plus you've now had a gap in good standing that shows up in any future bank or licensing application.
The math, if you're between May 1 and the fourth Friday of September:
- File now: pay $538.75, stay active.
- Wait until October, get dissolved: pay $138.75 + $100 reinstatement = $238.75. Cheaper by $300. But you've lost good standing for 1–4 months and any contracts requiring "active LLC" status will fail in that window.
For most operators, the cost of being dissolved (banking issues, contract issues, licensing issues) outweighs the $300 saved. File the late report.
The most common annual report mistakes
We've watched a few hundred Florida LLC owners file their first annual report. The patterns:
Forgetting the registered agent's signature. If you switched RAs since last year, the new RA has to consent to the appointment. The form prompts for this, but owners sometimes click past it.
Stale principal address. Owners move and forget to update the LLC. When the state mails next year's reminder to the old address, no one sees it, and the May 1 deadline gets missed. Always update your principal address the year you move.
Member changes filed in the wrong place. If you've added or removed an LLC member, you can list the change on the annual report — but the operating agreement should also reflect it, with proper member consent. The annual report alone isn't a complete record of an ownership change.
Multiple entities, one missed filing. Owners with multiple LLCs (a holding company plus three operating subsidiaries, say) often catch three of four annual report deadlines and miss one. A bookkeeper or registered agent service that tracks compliance for all entities catches this.
How to never miss the deadline again
Three layers of protection:
- Set a March 1 calendar reminder. Two months before the deadline gives you cushion.
- Use a registered agent service that sends reminders. Northwest, ZenBusiness, and Harbor Compliance all send automated annual report reminders. They don't file for you (the state doesn't allow third-party filing on most LLCs), but they make sure you don't forget.
- If you have a bookkeeper or accountant, put it on their list. Bench ($249–$499/month full-service bookkeeping for under-$1M LLCs) doesn't file annual reports for you, but their compliance dashboard tracks state filings. Pilot does the same for venture-backed software companies.
Should I hire someone to file my annual report?
For most owners, no. The form takes 10 minutes, the fee is the same whether you file or someone else does, and there's no expedited or "premium" filing path.
The exceptions:
- You have 5+ Florida LLCs and want compliance handled centrally. CT Corporation, Harbor Compliance, and CSC Global all run multi-entity compliance services starting around $300/year/entity above the state fee.
- You're managing the LLC for someone else (e.g., a holding LLC for an estate plan) and want a paper trail of professional filing. A bookkeeper or attorney can handle it. 1-800Accountant bundles annual report management with their tax filing service.
1-800Accountant — bundled compliance →
Other things to do at the same time
The annual report is also a good annual checkpoint to:
- Update your operating agreement if member ownership has changed
- Verify your registered agent is still serving you well
- Reconcile your books for the prior year (this is what Bench or Pilot does)
- Confirm your federal EIN matches the LLC name on the report
- Renew your local Florida business tax receipt if it's anniversary-renewed
The next decision
Once your annual report is filed and your LLC is in good standing, the next operational question is your bookkeeping setup for the year ahead. We'll have a full bookkeeping comparison soon — for now, the short version is Bench for service and ecommerce LLCs under $1M, Pilot for venture-backed software, 1-800Accountant if you want everything bundled, and QuickBooks Online if you handle the books yourself.