Business Registers in Indiana: Secretary of State (INBiz)

Overview

Business registration in Indiana is administered by the Indiana Secretary of State. The state's online portal, INBiz, is the primary gateway for business formation, tax registration, and ongoing compliance filings. Indiana does not operate a separate commercial register in the European sense; instead, the Secretary of State's office functions as the central repository for entity formation documents, officer information, and periodic reports.

Indiana is governed by Title 23 of the Indiana Code, which covers business and other associations, including corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and nonprofit organizations. The state does not require private companies to file or publish annual financial statements with any public register.

For KYB (Know Your Business) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) purposes, Indiana offers free online access to basic entity data, but financial information and beneficial ownership data are not available through the state's business registers.

Official Registers

Indiana Secretary of State: Business Services Division

The Indiana Secretary of State's Business Services Division maintains the official register of business entities formed or authorized to do business in Indiana. Its public business search is freely searchable online and provides core corporate data for each entity, including:

• Entity name and type
• Business ID number
• Date of incorporation or registration
• Registered agent name and address
• Principal office address
• Entity status (active, inactive, dissolved, etc.)
• Formation documents (Articles of Incorporation, Articles of Organization, etc.)

Searches can be performed by entity name or business ID number. Certified copies of formation documents, including Articles of Incorporation, can be downloaded free of charge from the Secretary of State's online portal.

INBiz Portal

INBiz is the state's integrated online platform for business registration and compliance. It consolidates several functions:

• Business entity formation and registration
• Tax registration with the Indiana Department of Revenue
• Filing of Business Entity Reports (biennial reports)
• Name reservation and availability searches
• Management of registered agent information

INBiz serves as the transactional interface, while the Secretary of State's database is the authoritative record of entity information.

County Recorder's Offices

Sole proprietorships operating under an assumed business name must file with the County Recorder's Office in the county where they operate. There is no statewide centralized register for sole proprietorships.

Registration and Publication Requirements

Corporations, LLCs, and Partnerships

All corporations (including both for-profit and nonprofit), limited liability companies (LLCs), limited partnerships (LPs), and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) must file formation documents with the Indiana Secretary of State. For corporations, this means filing Articles of Incorporation; for LLCs, Articles of Organization. The filing fee is $95 online (or $100 by mail) for both, while nonprofit Articles of Incorporation cost $30 online (or $50 by mail).

Biennial reports. Indiana requires business entities to file a Business Entity Report every two years to keep their registration current. There is no annual report requirement. The report is filed through INBiz for $32 online (or $50 by mail); under Indiana Code § 23-0.5-2-13 the Secretary of State accepts it up to 90 days before the month it is due, and a report returned for correction is treated as timely if fixed within 30 days. Failure to file can result in administrative dissolution.

Effective January 1, 2026, House Enrolled Act 1593 adds fraud-prevention measures to these filings: a third-party filer must verify the identity of the person they file on behalf of; fully remote businesses with no physical office may list a contact address rather than a principal office; commercial mail-receiving agencies must register with the state; and entities administratively dissolved more than five years ago may apply for reinstatement.

Financial statements. Indiana does not require private companies to file annual financial statements with the Secretary of State or any other public register. Financial disclosure is governed by federal securities laws for publicly traded companies, but private entities have no state-level obligation to make accounts publicly available.

Beneficial ownership. At the federal level, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) introduced beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). However, as of March 2025, FinCEN removed the BOI reporting requirements for US companies and US persons, with a revised interim rule setting new deadlines only for foreign reporting companies. Indiana itself does not maintain a state-level beneficial ownership register.

Sole Proprietorships

Sole proprietorships are not registered with the Indiana Secretary of State. A sole proprietor may operate under their personal Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) without forming a separate business entity. However, sole proprietors must:

• Register with the Indiana Department of Revenue if they meet certain tax thresholds
• File with the County Recorder's Office if operating under an assumed business name
• Obtain any required local or industry-specific licenses and permits

Sole proprietorships do not appear in the state's business entity database and are not subject to biennial reporting.

Nonprofit Organizations and Associations

Nonprofit corporations must file Articles of Incorporation with the Indiana Secretary of State under Indiana Code Title 23, Article 17. The filing fee is $30 online or $50 by mail. Nonprofits are also subject to:

• Biennial Business Entity Reports
• Federal tax filings (IRS Form 990-N, 990-EZ, 990, or 990-PF, depending on size)
• Filing Form NP-20R with the Indiana Department of Revenue every five years

Indiana hosts over 1,000 business and industry associations, many of which are registered as nonprofit entities under state law.

Summary Table

With Topograph

Topograph queries the Indiana Secretary of State's Business Services Division portal and returns structured company data for Indiana-registered entities, with search by entity name or Indiana Business ID.

Company Profile

• Legal name and entity type
• Indiana Business ID (the primary identifier)
• Formation / registration date
• Entity status (active, inactive, dissolved, etc.)
• Principal office address
• Registered agent name and address

Legal Representatives

• Governing persons: the directors, officers, and managers/members on record.
• Registered agent: returned as the entity's other key person.

Shareholders, beneficial ownership data, and financial statements are not available; the Indiana Secretary of State does not publish them.

Available Documents

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