What Does a Virginia LLC Cost to Form?

The state filing fee

Virginia LLCs are registered with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC). The filing fee for Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1011) is $100. That fee covers the basic act of bringing the LLC into legal existence.

Filings can be submitted online through the SCC's Clerk's Information System (CIS) or on paper. Online filings are processed faster — often within a few business days for routine filings.

The annual registration fee

Every Virginia LLC owes an annual registration fee of $50, due on the last day of the month in which the LLC was formed. This is separate from any income tax obligation and from any local business licenses or BPOL tax.

Missing the annual fee leads to administrative cancellation of the LLC by the SCC. Reinstatement is possible but adds cost and complexity.

Expedited filing and other SCC fees

The SCC offers expedited filing for an additional fee — same-day or next-day processing depending on when the request is submitted. Most formations do not require this; transactional deadlines (closings, financings) sometimes do.

Name reservation, certified copies, certificates of good standing, and various amendment filings each carry their own modest fees. None are required for ordinary formation.

Registered agent — required, sometimes a cost

Every Virginia LLC must designate a registered agent with a Virginia street address. The registered agent can be a Virginia resident who is an officer, member, manager, or attorney of the LLC, or it can be a corporation authorized to do business in Virginia.

If a member or attorney serves as registered agent, the cost is zero or minimal. Third-party registered agent services typically run $100 to $300 per year. The trade-off is convenience and privacy — third-party agents accept service of process and forward it without exposing the owner's personal address.

The operating agreement

An operating agreement is not filed with the SCC and is not legally required in Virginia. It is, however, the document that governs almost everything about how the LLC actually runs: profit splits, voting, transfer restrictions, what happens on death or divorce of a member, buyout terms, and the relationship between members.

Single-member LLCs often use simple templates; multi-member LLCs almost never should. A poorly drafted operating agreement is one of the most expensive mistakes a small business makes — usually discovered only when there is a dispute or someone wants to leave.

What PLDR charges to form an LLC

PLDR's business team forms LLCs for clients regularly. The actual legal fee depends on what is required: a single-member LLC for a small business is straightforward; a multi-member operating agreement with capital contributions, voting rules, and buy-sell terms is real legal work. We quote ranges upfront after the first conversation.

Total all-in cost for a Virginia LLC formation generally runs from a few hundred dollars (a simple, single-member entity using PLDR or a member as registered agent) to a few thousand (multi-member with a fully negotiated operating agreement and ancillary documents like buy-sell agreements). The state fees are a small part of the total.

This page provides general information about Virginia LLC formation costs. It is not legal or tax advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. State filing fees and annual amounts update periodically; verify current values with the SCC or counsel.