The commercial Division comprises Corporations, geauxBIZ, Administrative Services, and a Uniform commercial code. The geauxBIZ is a commercial one-stop site controlled by the commercial division of the office of the Louisiana Secretary of State. It is used by residents and foreigners to launch, manage, operate and grow their businesses within the state. Business services such as filing of annual and biennial reports, registering of tax accounts, maintenance of records, documents, and certified copies, provision of current and authentic information relating to business entities doing business in the city, etc. are available online to all businesses owners. Some are free, while others require specific charges. The current secretary of state R. Kyle Ardoin.

What is it for

The aim of creating the one-stop site is to render services easily to users without having to wait for a long processing time. The division via the site provides the following business support services to the public.

• Access to online search, annual report filings, request for documents and information, certificates, certified copies, etc. 
• Corporations, LLCs, and Partnerships can apply to reserve the desired business name
• Registration forms, tax forms, document samples, etc. are available online 
• Changes and amendments to statements of information such as annual reports, publicly-traded disclosure statements, etc. filed by corporations
• Allows requests for Information, as well as processes orders for certificates, certified copies, et cetera.

What is it made for

The following services offered by the office are available on the site for online use. A new user who wants to use any of the services listed below has to create an account on the site. They include:

Checklist to forming a business

Users can create their personalized checklist to help plan, make financial decisions and manage their activities before launching their businesses. 

Search business filing

There are two options for filing depending on the entity and filing. Filings can be done online via the site. The division has a resourceful database of filings for all legally registered and active corporations operating in the city. 

Forms and fee schedule

You can form to register your new business and the fee schedule for certain services that are not free of charge. 

Business Search

You can find a business online by searching on the site with its entity name or number. To know if a corporation is active or not, you can use the filter feature to personalize your search as you desire. Information on every registered corporation, LCC, partnership, etc. is available on the site.

File business documents

This includes online filings such as corporation filings, statements of information, changes to annual reports, validation of certificates, apostilles, certified copies, et cetera.  

Small BIZ protection

Criminals may illegitimately pose as business owners, or staff of registered entities to extort money, or acquire loans from people, leading to debts on the true businesses. They do this with illegally acquired access to business bank accounts, personal details, and private company information, amongst others. Business owners waste long time and resources trying to recover from the damage to their finances, reputation, etc. The secretary of state’s office just recently launch the program to help prevent business thefts and provide important data required to indicate a potential scam. 

Other services provided

• Tax Information
• Starting a business checklist
• Uniform commercial code
• Business startup services
• Customer alerts
• Certificate validation
• Notary database
• Administrative services
• Revocation list
• Obtain Licenses and permits
• Service of process
• Requests for business records, etc. 

Contact information

Service hours: the office is open Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Mailing address: Louisiana secretary of state, P.O Box 94125, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125

Commercial Division 

85855 Archives Avenue

Phone: 225 925 4704

Fax: 225 922 2473

Commissions division

8585 Archives Avenue

Phone: 225 922 2880

Fax: 225 922 2473

Official website: https://geauxbiz.sos.la.gov