Start an LLC in Wyoming
Start a Wyoming LLC by filing Articles of Organization with the Wyoming Secretary of State for $100. Use our free tool to file on your own, or hire us to have your LLC filed with Privacy by Default® for just $39. Includes business address, a year of registered agent service, and our identity services so you can create a business identity that keeps your personal info protected.
Wyoming Articles of Organization
Ready to start filing right now? Use our free tool to fill out your Wyoming Articles of Organization on your own. Save your progress, download, or print whenever you want.
How to Start an LLC in Wyoming
Preserve your privacy and take control of your intellectual property from day one. Starting a Limited Liability Company (LLC) requires sharing personal information with the government, banks, landlords, vendors, and of course, customers. We include a free domain name, web hosting, phone line, email address, and brand protection with LLC formation so you can quickly and easily create a strong business identity.
1. Name Your LLC
Naming your LLC is both a legal and a marketing consideration. The main requirement is to make sure the name you want isn’t already taken in your state, online, or as a federal trademark within your industry. The Wyoming Secretary of State’s office can be very particular about what counts as a unique name, so make sure you review the guidelines for naming a Wyoming LLC carefully.
WY LLC naming rules
When you name your LLC, make sure your business name:
- Includes an indicator like LLC or Limited Liability Company
- Doesn’t suggest your business is something that it isn’t (like, for example, a corporation)
- Isn’t already trademarked or in use in the state of WY
Check name availability
How can you know if your business name is unique? You can search business names in Wyoming.
If your name is taken, don’t try to get around it by adding filler terms like the or misspelling a word. If your name is too close to another name on the rolls, your paperwork will get rejected.
2. Register your Domain Name
Next up, you’ll want to secure a domain name for your website. Why is a domain name important? Just like you need a street address to help people find you on a map, you need a domain name to help people find you on the web.
For domain names, it’s better to register earlier rather than later. There are two basic reasons why:
- Credibility: When you launch a website with a professional domain name, you’re letting customers know you take your work seriously.
- Consistency: A domain name that connects to your brand name makes it simpler for customers to remember you, which makes them more likely to seek you out.
3. Appoint a Wyoming Registered Agent
All LLCs in the state are required to appoint a Wyoming registered agent. A registered agent is an individual or a company (like Northwest) designated to receive legal and state mail on behalf of your business.
Your Wyoming registered agent must:
- Have a physical address in Wyoming (no P.O. Boxes)
- Be present at that address during regular business hours
- Agree to accept service of process (legal notices) on behalf of your LLC
Because your registered agent’s name and address go on the public record, the registered agent you use is a key part of your business identity, or the way you present yourself to the world. Consider this carefully before choosing to serve as your own registered agent. Using a registered agent service is private, professional, and convenient.
4. Submit Wyoming Articles of Organization
To form your LLC, you’ll need to file Articles of Organization with the Wyoming Secretary of State. Once the WY SOS approves your paperwork, your LLC is live.
Wyoming is known as a state with strong privacy protections for LLC owners. But you can only take advantage of these protections if you fill out your Wyoming Articles of Organization in a specific way that maximizes privacy. We’ll show you how to do it.
Additional designation (optional)
If you’re filing online, you’ll be asked right away if you want to add an additional designation. If you’re forming a regular LLC, you can skip this (most people do). But if you want to form a special kind of LLC, you’ll select that here. Here are some of the options for special LLC types in Wyoming:
- Close LLC—an LLC with super-strict rules on transferring ownership
- Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) LLC—an LLC that uses blockchain technology to make decisions
- L3C—a low-profit LLC with a charitable purpose
- Series LLC—an LLC made up of separate units, called series
Tip: Skip this to form a regular LLC.
Delayed effective date (optional)
If you want to delay the date your LLC starts (say, to start in a new tax year), you can add a date up to 90 days in the future here.
Tip: If you want your LLC to start immediately, skip this.
Wyoming registered agent
Every business in Wyoming is required by law to have a registered agent with a street address in Wyoming and who is available at that address to accept legal notices during normal business hours.
Maximize Privacy: Hire a professional registered agent who will list their name and address here in place of your own. And if they’re good, they’ll let you use their address throughout this form. That’s what we do!
Business mailing address
This is where you’ll receive mail from the state, such as annual report reminders. Unlike your principal office address or your registered agent address, your mail address doesn’t have to be a street address (you can use a PO box) or located in the state of Wyoming.
Maximize Privacy: Use a business address to keep yours off the record. Hire us and you can also add mail forwarding or virtual office service. We’ll handle all your business mail so it doesn’t get lost or pile up in your personal mailbox.
Principal office address
Another address for the public record.
Maximize Privacy: Hire a registered agent and you can keep yours private, sparing yourself heaps of junk mail.
Phone number and email
This is where the state will contact you if there’s a problem with your filing. It’s also the address where the state will send annual report reminders.
Maximize Privacy: You can list your own phone number and email here, or hire us to form your company and get a business line and professional email address to use.
Wyoming LLC organizer
This is the person signing and submitting your Articles of Organization to the Wyoming Secretary of State. Sounds official, but anyone can do it, and they’ll have no control over your company.
Maximize Privacy: If you hire us, we’ll do it and keep your name off the paperwork.
How to File Your Wyoming LLC Articles of Organization
In Wyoming, you can file Articles of Organization online or by mail. However, there are certain business names that require you to file by mail.
You’ll need to file your paperwork by mail if your business name does any of the following:
- starts with an a followed by a space (for example, A Little Bakery LLC)
- uses the words the or an (for example, The Little Bakery LLC)
- uses a special character (for example, Bunny & Sugar Bakery LLC)
The Wyoming Secretary of State is not messing around when it comes to your business name’s uniqueness. Using a different designator (like L.L.C. instead of LLC), making a word plural, or adding a special character to a name that’s taken won’t cut it. The filing fee is non-refundable, so make sure you have a name that works.
File by Mail
Mail or deliver to:
Wyoming Secretary of State
Herschler Building East, Suite 101
122 W 25th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0020
Filing Fee:
$100
Processing Time:
15 days from the date the state receives your documents
File Online
5. Create an Operating Agreement
An operating agreement is a document that outlines how your Wyoming LLC will do things like vote, divvy up profits, and transfer ownership. Operating agreements are internal documents, but they’re super important—without one, legal disputes will be decided by Wyoming’s default LLC statutes. Those might not be the best fit for your business. Plus, you’ll need an operating agreement to open a bank account.
Tip: Only lawyers write their own operating agreements—everyone else uses templates, and the internet is full of ‘em. We had our attorney write a Wyoming operating agreement you can trust, specifically for use in the Cowboy State.
6. Get an EIN
An EIN, or an Employer Identification Number, is like a Social Security number for your business. It’s a nine-digit number, assigned to your business by the IRS for tax identification purposes. You’ll need it to get a business bank account, apply for loans and licenses, and, of course, pay taxes.
While it’s possible to use your Social Security Number (SSN) to file taxes as a single-member LLC, getting an EIN helps prevent your SSN from getting exposed. If you own a multi-member LLC, have employees, or want to have your Wyoming LLC taxed as a C corp or as an S corp, you’ll be required to get an EIN.
There’s no fee to get an EIN from the IRS, and you can get one fast by applying online. However, if you don’t have an SSN, you’ll have to send a physical Form SS-4. Alternatively, you can hire us to get an EIN for you.
7. Open a Business Bank Account
You need a separate bank account for your LLC. If you don’t get one, and you let your personal finances mix with your business money, you’re at risk of piercing the corporate veil. This is a dramatic-sounding metaphor that just means a court could find your LLC isn’t actually a separate entity from you, the owner. To open a bank account, you’ll need an operating agreement, EIN, and an LLC Resolution to Start a Bank Account.
8. File Your Wyoming Annual Report
Every year, you’ll need to file a Wyoming Annual Report with the Wyoming Secretary of State.
The purpose of the report is to keep the state up-to-date on your LLC’s information. The filing fee is determined by the total value of your LLC’s assets. If your LLC’s assets are less than $300,000, you’ll pay the minimum $60 fee. If they’re over, you’ll pay $0.0002 for every dollar. So if your assets total $400,000, then you’ll pay $80 ($400,000 multiplied by .0002). You can file online, by mail, or hire us to take care of it for you.
Tip: Filing late or failing to file can result in loss of your LLC’s good standing and even administrative dissolution of your business. To prevent your LLC from being dissolved and having to file to reinstate your Wyoming LLC, we include enrollment in Annual Filing Renewal Service with LLC formation.
Start Your Wyoming LLC
We'll get it done for $39 + state fees. A year of registered agent service included.