What is Hawaii's official business register and how do you search it?

Hawaii's official register is maintained by the Business Registration Division (BREG) of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) through Hawaii Business Express. The business search is free, requires no account, and allows searches by entity name or file number at https://hbe.ehawaii.gov/documents/search.html.

What is the primary identifier for entities in Hawaii's business register?

Each entity registered in Hawaii is assigned a file number at registration, which serves as the primary identifier across the register and is the key identifier used for most lookups.

What management information is public in Hawaii's business register?

Hawaii publishes the names and addresses of officers and directors for corporations, managers and members for LLCs, and directors and officers for nonprofits in annual reports filed on a quarterly schedule. This management data is refreshed each year and kept current on the public record.

Does Hawaii have a state beneficial ownership register, and what are the federal BOI requirements?

Hawaii has no state-level beneficial ownership register. At the federal level, the Corporate Transparency Act created a BOI registry run by FinCEN, but an interim final rule issued in March 2025 lifted the filing obligation for all U.S. companies and U.S. persons, leaving only foreign reporting companies subject to it.

Business Registers in Hawaii: DCCA Registration Division

Overview

Hawaii has no Secretary of State. Business registration runs through the Business Registration Division (BREG) of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), which keeps the official record of entities formed or registered to do business in the state. Filings and searches go through the DCCA business portal. The DCCA is replacing its long-running Hawaii Business Express system with a new online portal that launches June 22, 2026, after a short transition outage from June 18 to 21, 2026. The new portal carries over the same registration, search, and annual report services.

Hawaii schedules its annual report by calendar quarter, which is unusual and worth understanding for KYB work. Every corporation, LLC, and partnership files an annual report, but the deadline depends on the quarter in which the entity was registered. An entity registered between January and March files by March 31 each year; April to June by June 30; July to September by September 30; October to December by December 31. The report can be filed any time during its due quarter.

Hawaii has no state-level beneficial ownership register. At the federal level, the Corporate Transparency Act (2021) created a BOI registry run by FinCEN, but a March 2025 interim final rule lifted the obligation for all U.S. companies and U.S. persons. Only foreign reporting companies remain subject to it.

For KYB and AML work, the free DCCA search returns an entity's status, file number, registered agent, principal office, and the officers, directors, managers, or members named in its filings. Hawaii collects management data for corporations and LLCs alike in the annual report, so it is refreshed each year and kept current on the public record.

Official Registers

Business Registration Division (Business Entity Search)

The DCCA Business Registration Division maintains the official register through its business name search, reached from the DCCA business portal. It records domestic and foreign corporations, LLCs, nonprofit corporations, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships, along with trade names, trademarks, and service marks.

Search and access. The business search is free and needs no account. Search by entity name or file number. Each record shows the entity name, file number, type, status, registration date, registered agent name and address, principal office, and the officers, directors, managers, or members reported in the entity's filings.

File number. Hawaii assigns each entity a file number at registration, which is the primary identifier across the register and the key most lookups run on.

Filings. Formation documents go in online through the DCCA portal or by mail. Articles of Organization for domestic LLCs cost $50. Articles of Incorporation for domestic for-profit corporations cost $50. Nonprofit Articles of Incorporation cost $25. Expedited review is available for an extra $25. Every filing also carries a mandatory $1 state archive preservation fee on top of the listed amount.

Certificates. Certificates of Good Standing and certified copies of filed documents are available from the DCCA for a fee.

Registration and Publication Requirements

Corporations

All domestic and foreign for-profit corporations must register with the DCCA and maintain a registered agent at a Hawaii address.

Annual report. Corporations file an annual report, due during the calendar quarter that contains the registration anniversary, by the last day of that quarter. Filed online, the all-in cost is $13.50, which is a $12.50 filing fee plus the $1 state archive fee; the paper filing fee is higher. The report carries the principal office, the registered agent, and the names and addresses of the officers and directors, all of which become part of the public record.

Failing to file leads the DCCA to administratively dissolve a domestic corporation or revoke a foreign corporation's authority to do business. The entity must then be reinstated to return to good standing.

Financial statements. There is no public financial disclosure requirement.

LLCs

All domestic and foreign LLCs must register with the DCCA and maintain a registered agent in Hawaii. Domestic formation costs $50.

Annual report. LLCs file an annual report on the same quarterly schedule as corporations, at the same $13.50 all-in cost when filed online. The report lists the managers, or the members where the LLC is member-managed, along with the registered agent, so LLC management data is part of the public record and refreshed each year.

Nonprofit corporations

Nonprofits file Articles of Incorporation with the DCCA at $25 and file an annual report each year, on the same quarterly schedule. The online filing fee is $2.50, so the all-in cost is $3.50 with the $1 state archive fee; the paper filing fee is $5. Directors and officers appear on the public record. Federal 501(c) status comes from the IRS; the state filing does not grant it.

Limited partnerships and LLPs

Limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships register with the DCCA and file annual reports on the quarterly schedule. Both must maintain a registered agent in Hawaii.

Sole proprietors and general partnerships

Sole proprietors and general partnerships do not register as entities with the DCCA and do not appear as registered entities in the business search. A business operating under a name other than the owner's may register a trade name, which is held on file separately.

Summary table

Entity type	Register with DCCA	Annual report	Management data public
For-profit corporation	Yes ($50)	Yes ($13.50 all-in online, by registration quarter)	Officers and directors
LLC	Yes ($50)	Yes ($13.50 all-in online, by registration quarter)	Managers and members
Nonprofit corporation	Yes ($25)	Yes ($3.50 all-in online)	Directors and officers
Limited partnership	Yes	Yes	Partners on file
LLP	Yes	Yes	Partners on file
Sole proprietor / trade name	No (trade name on file only)	No	No

With Topograph

Topograph queries Hawaii's DCCA Business Registration Division system to return structured company data for entities registered in the state.

Available Data

Company Profile

Hawaii file number
Entity name
Entity type and state of formation
Current status
Registration date
Registered agent name and address
Principal office address

Officers and Management

Officers and directors as reported in the corporation's annual report
Managers and members as reported in the LLC's annual report

Available Documents

Document type	Comment
Trade Register Extract	A Topograph-generated extract of the entity's DCCA record: file number, entity name, type, state of formation, status, registered agent, principal office, and the officers, directors, managers, or members most recently reported.

Financial statements aren't filed publicly in Hawaii. Domestic companies are also exempt from federal BOI reporting following the March 2025 FinCEN rule.

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