Florida Business Entity Search (Sunbiz) | Division of Corporations

Quick Answer

Use the Florida Division of Corporations Sunbiz portal to run a Florida entity search by business name, officer, registered agent, FEI/EIN, or document number. Open the entity detail page to compare status, document number, registered agent, and filing history before relying on a result. A no-match result is only a preliminary public-records check; final name acceptance happens through the Division of Corporations filing review.

How to Search Florida Business Entity Records

The Florida Division of Corporations maintains an online portal called Sunbiz at search.sunbiz.org. The public entity search tool allows you to query business entities by name, officer, registered agent, trademark, FEI/EIN, document number, and address. The system returns basic filing information for active and historical Florida entities.

Visit the Florida Division of Corporations Portal

Navigate directly to the Florida Division of Corporations Sunbiz portal at https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/ByName. This portal serves as the official public search tool for Florida business entities.

Florida Division of Corporations Sunbiz portal homepage — Go to the official Florida Sunbiz entity search portal.

Use the Business Entity Search Tool

You can perform a query using various criteria listed at the bottom of the page. Select “Entity Name” to search for a specific business name. The available search criteria include:

Entity Name
Officer/Registered Agent
Registered Agent Name
Trademark Name
Trademark Owner Name
FEI/EIN
Detail By Document Number
Zip Code
Street Address

Type at least a partial name of the entity into the text box and click “Search Now.” Avoid adding entity suffixes like LLC, Inc, or Corp when searching by name, as this may cause the search to miss similar names that use different designations.

Florida entity search form with search criteria options — Select a search type and enter your query.

Obtain the Business Entity Details

Registered Florida businesses matching your search criteria will appear in a table ordered by name. From this screen, you can review the results, move to the next table listing, or perform a new search. The table displays the following information:

Corporate Name
Document Number
Status

Click the name of the entity in the first column to view its details. Note that a result with “Active” status means the entity has a current filing on record; this does not guarantee that the name is available for new use. Names can be similar without being identical, so review the details page before drawing conclusions.

Florida entity search results table showing corporate names, document numbers, and status — Review the results table and click an entity name to view details.

Review the Filed Information

The next page displays the filing information for the selected business entity. You can use the top menu to navigate to other areas if needed. The displayed filing details include:

Document Number
FEI/EIN Number
Date Filed
State
Status
Last Event
Event Date Filed
Event Effective Date

The page also presents the contact information for the business entity:

Principal Address
Mailing Address

The final section includes the standing, history, and registered agent details of the entity:

Registered Agent Name & Address
Officer/Director Detail
Annual Reports
Document Images

A no-match search result is only a preliminary screening signal. Verify the proposed name in Sunbiz and wait for the Division of Corporations filing or name-reservation review before treating the name as accepted.

Florida entity details page showing document number, FEI/EIN, status, and registered agent information — Review the full filing details before relying on the search result.

If the search results return no close matches for Florida, treat that as a preliminary screening signal only. Verify the name in the official state database, and wait for the state filing or name-reservation review before treating the name as accepted.

How to Interpret Florida Results

Open the Sunbiz entity details page to verify the Document Number, FEI/EIN field, status, principal address, mailing address, registered agent, officer or manager records, annual reports, and document images. Florida result lists are broad, so the detail page is the place to confirm whether a similar-looking record is actually relevant.

A result showing Active means the entity has a current filing on record with the Division of Corporations. It does not mean the name is available for new use. Compare the distinctive wording before suffixes such as LLC, Inc., Corp., LP, PA, PL, or PC, and check document images when you need to confirm a historical filing.

Florida Business Name and Filing Notes

Florida’s Sunbiz search, e-file formation pages, annual report filing, and registered-agent rules are separate workflows. Use the search to understand public records first, then use the correct Division of Corporations filing path for formation, updates, annual reports, or document images.

Florida LLCs and corporations file initial articles or incorporations with the Division of Corporations, and annual reports are due by May 1 each year. The registered agent in Florida must be a Florida resident or a Florida-authorized corporation acting as agent.

One Florida number explains a great deal of what you see in the search results:

The annual report is $138.75 on time and $538.75 after May 1. That is a $400 late penalty, not a small surcharge, and it is the reason Florida records lapse in volume. If a name you want appears to be taken by a dormant company, check the status before assuming the name is permanently gone, because Florida entities do get administratively dissolved for exactly this.
Forming an LLC costs $125 as a required minimum: the $100 filing fee plus the $25 registered agent designation, which is not optional. Optional extras are a $30 certified copy and a $5 certificate of status.
Name reservation is $25. Note that Florida’s corporation fee schedule is a separate table with different amounts, so a figure quoted for a corporation does not carry over to an LLC.
Reinstatement is $100 plus every missed year’s annual report fee, which is how a lapsed Florida name can end up costing far more to recover than it cost to register.

Common Mistakes

Stopping at the result list: Sunbiz detail pages contain document numbers, registered-agent data, annual reports, and document images that are not visible in the table.
Misreading Active status: Active means an entity record exists; it does not make the name available.
Searching with only the legal ending: Test the distinctive words before LLC, Inc., Corp., LP, PA, PL, or PC.
Ignoring document images: Filed PDFs can clarify amendments, conversions, or historical names.
Missing the May 1 annual report deadline: Florida annual reports are a separate maintenance filing from the name search.
Treating Sunbiz as final approval: The search is research; the Division of Corporations decides acceptance during filing review.

Sources Reviewed

Search beyond Florida

Company names are registered state by state, so a name that is taken in Florida may still be available elsewhere. The Secretary of State business search directory lists the official registry, agency contacts, and filing fees for all 50 states, the free LLC lookup guide covers name checks and LLC record details in every state, and our guide to nationwide business entity search explains how to check several states at once.