Montana no longer takes paper. Every formation, amendment and annual report goes through the Secretary of State’s portal at biz.sosmt.gov — the office’s help centre says it “has moved to an online-only filing system.” For owners running ranches and outfitters hours from reliable broadband, that is an operational change, not a footnote.
Here is the catch: the online system also changed underneath the people already using it. Montana’s business login ran on ePass Montana for years. On 21 June 2022 the Secretary of State’s office told filers the Online Business login was “transitioning away from ePass Montana”: usernames would stay the same, but every user had to reset the password on first visit after the switch. Open a fresh account instead, and an owner who filed every spring for a decade loses the link to their own filing history.
This guide covers what the Montana secretary of state business search returns, why every entity shares one 15 April deadline, the long road from a missed report to dissolution, and how the register compares with Wyoming’s.
1. What the Montana Secretary of State Business Search Covers
The register belongs to the Secretary of State’s Business Services Division. It holds domestic and foreign corporations (profit and nonprofit), LLCs including series LLCs and PLLCs, limited partnerships, LLPs, assumed business names (DBAs) and trademarks, per the office’s bulk-data specification.
A lookup is free and needs no account. Filing anything needs a signed-in profile; the “Filing Actions” button only appears for logged-in users. A certificate of existence costs $5.
The office also sells two person-centred reports most searchers never find: a Business Principal Extract (every principal of one business) and a Principal Search (every business tied to one named principal). Wyoming offers no search by person at all. That difference makes Montana more useful for network work than its profile suggests.
2. The Growth Behind the Filings
Montana has set a new-registration record every year since 2021. The Secretary of State counted just over 32,000 new businesses in 2020, nearly 50,000 in 2021, roughly 53,000 in 2022, nearly 60,000 in 2023 and 63,808 in 2024, per the office’s Business Economic Report. By 29 December 2025 the office reported that 2025 had already passed the 2024 total.
The first four months of 2025 brought more than 25,000 registrations, with April’s 6,700+ a monthly record at the time; July’s 6,789 beat it. The stock is large too: more than 324,000 businesses in good standing, per the SOS’s 2024 data.
2026 is running hotter: more than 8,000 applications in July, a monthly high, and 7,600+ in August, at least 14% above August 2025. The screening point: Montana registered roughly 290,000 new businesses in 2021–2025 against a good-standing stock of about 324,000, so much of the register is young and formation date says little about track record.
3. Fixed 15 April vs Anniversary Dates: Why Montana Chose One Day
Under the Montana Limited Liability Company Act (MCA 35-8-208), an LLC delivers its annual report to the Secretary of State between 1 January and 15 April each year, starting the year after it forms or registers. Corporations, profit and nonprofit, follow the same calendar. One date covers every domestic and foreign entity in the state.
Anniversary-date states such as Oklahoma and Wyoming do the opposite, tying each report to its formation month. The trade-off:
- For filers: one calendar entry covers a whole portfolio. The cost is a spring rush — more than 75% had filed by 4 April 2024, per the SOS.
- For the state: one delinquency sweep a year. The office compiles a single default list by 1 September and works it as one batch.
- For verifiers: one test fits every record. After 15 April, no current-year report means late; after 1 September, it means the dissolution track.
Montana is not alone — North Dakota’s LLC reports are due by 15 November, per its Secretary of State. What is unusual is the price: since 2024 the on-time report has cost nothing.
4. How to Run a Montana Sec of State Business Search, Step by Step
- Open biz.sosmt.gov/search/business. No login is needed to search.
- Search by entity name. Results include partial matches; confirm by type, status and formation date, then note the ID number. Names change; IDs do not.
- Open the record. The right-side panel shows the registered agent’s name and address, per the SOS help centre, alongside the entity’s status, principals and filing history.
- Read the status precisely. “Involuntary Dissolution” means the SOS dissolved the entity for missed filings or fees, or for not keeping a registered agent. “Expired” means a time-limited registration, typically a DBA or trademark, lapsed.
- Order what you need: a $5 certificate of existence, a Principal Extract, or a Principal Search for the person’s other entities. To file, sign in; former ePass users reset the password on their existing username.
5. Montana LLC Search: What the Record Names — and What It Leaves Out
Montana asks for more names than most low-cost registers. Under MCA 35-8-202, the articles of organization state whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed and give the names and business mailing addresses of the managers (manager-managed) or the initial members (member-managed). The annual report updates those “principals of record” each year, with the mailing address and registered agent; the SOS calls it “not a tax or earnings report.”
The limit is structural. A manager-managed LLC names managers, not owners. Ownership percentages live in the operating agreement, an optional upload per the SOS. A member named in 2019 may have sold out in 2023 without the register showing it.
| Data point | Montana LLC record | Wyoming LLC record |
|---|---|---|
| Name, type, ID, formation date | Yes | Yes |
| Status, incl. involuntary dissolution | Yes | Yes |
| Registered agent name and address | Yes | Yes |
| Annual report history | Yes (last-filed date in bulk data) | Yes |
| Management type (member / manager) | Yes | No |
| Managers or initial members by name | Yes, under MCA 35-8-202 | No — never collected |
| Search by person | Paid Principal Search report | No |
| Ownership percentages | No (operating agreement, optional upload) | No |
| Beneficial owners | No | No |
Looking up a corporation in Montana
Corporate records carry more people data: the SOS bulk-data layout lists directors, officers, shareholders and incorporators as principal roles, plus authorized shares. Forming a profit corporation costs $35; a foreign registration statement $70.
Neither form closes the ownership question. Officers are not owners, and the federal backstop is gone: FinCEN’s interim final rule of March 2025 removed Corporate Transparency Act beneficial ownership reporting for US-formed companies.
A Montana record answers “does this exist, is it current, and who was named to run it.” It does not answer “who owns it today.” Those are different questions, and only the first is public.
That gap is where state-by-state checking stops scaling: a manager-managed Montana LLC is often owned by another entity in another state or country. Zephira’s ownership and UBO due-diligence resolves that chain across 640M companies in 220 countries and territories, so the Montana manager name becomes the first link in a traced structure rather than a dead end. For the terms involved, see UBO, PSC and shareholders compared.
6. Fees in 2026: Waived on Time, $35 Late
Montana’s fee rules (ARM 44.5.114 for corporations, 44.5.115 for LLCs) still set the annual report at $20 if filed by 15 April and $35 after. In practice, Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen has waived the on-time fee every season since 2024 and, on 29 December 2025, extended it through 2027. The late fee was never waived, so the swing between 15 and 16 April is the full $35.
A rule effective 1 July 2022 halved domestic LLC and profit-corporation formation from $70 to $35. The SOS puts savings at more than $6 million from that cut and more than $15 million from the waivers (release of 13 August 2026). At $20 a report, $15 million implies roughly 750,000 waived filings over 2024–2026, about 250,000 a year.
| Filing (state fee) | LLC | Profit corporation |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic formation | $35 (+$50 per named series) | $35 |
| Foreign registration | $70 (+$50 per named series) | $70 |
| Annual report by 15 April | $0 waived 2024–2027 ($20 under rule) | $0 waived 2024–2027 ($20 under rule) |
| Annual report after 15 April | $35 | $35 |
| Reinstatement | $35 + $35 per delinquent year | $30 + $35 per delinquent year |
| Registered agent / office change | No fee | No fee |
| Certificate of existence | $5 | $5 |
Source: Montana SOS Business Services Filing Fees (effective 1 July 2022) and sosmt.gov/business/fees, accessed October 2026. A rule announced on 13 August 2026 would waive LLC and DBA formation fees for veterans and active-duty service members once adopted.
7. Missed Deadlines: Involuntary Dissolution and the Five-Year Window
The dissolution clock is slow, which matters when reading a status:
- 15 April: the report is due. From 16 April it can still be filed, at $35.
- 1 September: the SOS lists defaulting entities and sends an intent notice, logged as the “Involuntary Dissolution Intent Date”.
- 90 days later: if still unfiled, the SOS dissolves the entity (MCA 35-8-914 for LLCs, 35-6-104 for corporations), as its December 2021 notice describes.
Reinstatement is generous by regional standards. A domestic Montana corporation or LLC can reinstate within five years of dissolution by filing every missing annual report ($35 each), a reinstatement application ($35 LLC, $30 profit corporation, $10 nonprofit) and, in most cases, a Title 15 tax certificate from the Department of Revenue. Single-member LLCs not taxed as corporations are exempt. Two traps: overdue reports alone do not reactivate the entity, and foreign entities cannot reinstate; they must requalify.
8. Worked Example: A Montana LLC Lookup End to End
“Big Sky Outfitting LLC” is an illustrative Bozeman-area guiding business — not a real or registered entity. A supplier-onboarding analyst checks it in October 2026 before approving a $40,000 equipment account.
Step 1 — the Montana LLC search. Two near matches return: “Big Sky Outfitting LLC” and “Big Sky Outfitters, LLC”. The analyst picks the first by formation date (March 2021) and records its ID.
Step 2 — the deadline test. The 2026 report was filed on 2 May: late, $35 instead of nothing. Status is Active. History shows on-time filings in 2022 and 2023, then late filings in 2024 and 2025. Three late years running is worth a question, even with no dissolution.
Step 3 — the people. Manager-managed, one manager with a Bozeman address. A Principal Search on that name finds two other Montana LLCs; one was involuntarily dissolved in December 2024 and is still inside its five-year reinstatement window.
Step 4 — the evidence. A dated $5 certificate of existence goes in the file. The registered agent is a commercial agent in Helena, which says nothing about where the business operates.
Step 5 — the gap. The record confirms existence, currency and management. It names no owner, because manager-managed articles do not require members. The analyst requests the operating agreement and runs both names through an officer and shareholder search for a holding company above it. A manager is not a member.
9. Out-of-State Owners: Vehicles, Remote Staff and Foreign Registration
A cheap LLC in a state with no general sales tax has a known side effect: out-of-state buyers forming Montana LLCs to title vehicles there. On 6 March 2026 the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) said it had identified close to 500 California dealers involved in more than 2,500 sales since 2023 to customers claiming Montana use, costing California more than $10 million a year. The California DMV reported 81 criminal investigations since June 2023 and 601 fraudulently registered vehicles.
For verification, a Montana LLC whose only Montana footprint is a commercial registered agent is not evidence of an operating business there — and enforcement now targets the people behind such LLCs, exactly what the record does not show. The register records the entity, not its assets.
The reverse flow has its own rule: an out-of-state company with a real Montana presence — the SOS cites a single remote employee — generally registers as a foreign entity, for $70.
10. How Montana Compares With Wyoming and Its Other Neighbours
Montana and Wyoming are both cheap places to hold an LLC, but they are cheap in different ways. Wyoming charges more to form ($100) and more each year: a license tax of $60 or $0.0002 per dollar of Wyoming-located assets, whichever is greater. There is no $0 tier — every LLC pays at least $60. Montana charges $35 to form and, through 2027, nothing for an on-time report. The bigger difference is transparency: Wyoming never collects LLC members or managers; Montana does, and sells a search by person.
| Montana | Wyoming | |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic LLC formation | $35 | $100 |
| Foreign LLC registration | $70 | $150 |
| Annual report | $0 on time (waived), $35 late | $60 minimum license tax |
| Due date | 15 April, every entity | 1st day of anniversary month |
| Dissolution after a missed report | ~229 days (notice 1 Sep + 90 days) | 60 days |
| Reinstatement window | 5 years | 2 years |
| LLC managers / members on record | Yes | No |
| Series LLC | $50 per named series | $10 per series |
Sources: Montana and Wyoming SOS fee schedules and FAQs, accessed October 2026. For a deeper Wyoming check, see how to verify a Wyoming LLC.
Montana’s neighbours charge $100 to $150 to form an LLC; Montana charges $35. For other reporting cycles, the Indiana guide covers a biennial model and the 50-state overview compares them all.
11. Verification Checklist and Common Mistakes
A Montana check that will hold up in a file:
- Apply the date test. After 15 April, look for a current-year report; after 1 September, check for an intent notice.
- Read the history, not just the status. “Active” survives a run of late filings.
- Pull the principals. Note management type and named managers or members; run a Principal Search where the relationship justifies it.
- Treat a dissolved entity as possibly temporary. Inside five years it can reinstate and return to Active.
- Re-check, don’t snapshot. A one-time pull goes stale by next April; company monitoring flags status and officer changes after onboarding (see also registry data freshness).
The mistakes that recur:
- Opening a new account instead of resetting the ePass password. The username survived the 2022 change; the history sits behind it.
- Paying a lookalike. The SOS warned on 12 March 2026 of official-looking mailings demanding payment for annual reports, and on 12 August 2026 issued a cease-and-desist over a fake “Form 5102” beneficial-ownership mailer. The on-time report is free.
- Reading the registered agent as the business address. Commercial agents serve many companies at one address.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Montana Secretary of State business search free?
Yes. Searching biz.sosmt.gov/search/business needs no account and no fee. Certificates ($5 for existence) and principal reports are paid.
How do I do a Montana LLC lookup?
Search the name on biz.sosmt.gov, confirm the match by formation date and type, then open the record for status, agent, principals and filing history.
Does a Montana LLC search show who owns the company?
Partly. Under MCA 35-8-202, member-managed LLCs name their initial members and manager-managed LLCs name their managers. Ownership percentages and beneficial owners are not on the public record.
How do I look up a corporation in Montana?
Use the same search. Corporate records carry principal roles such as directors and officers, plus authorized shares. Forming a profit corporation in Montana costs $35; registering a foreign one costs $70.
Is the Montana sec of state business search different from the business entity search?
No. Both names refer to the same free portal run by the Secretary of State’s Business Services Division at biz.sosmt.gov.
When is Montana’s annual report due?
Between 1 January and 15 April every year, for every LLC and corporation, domestic or foreign. No report is due in the year the entity forms or registers.
How much is Montana’s annual report fee in 2026?
Nothing if filed by 15 April: the SOS has waived the $20 rule fee for 2024 through 2027. A report filed after 15 April costs $35. Cooperative and agricultural associations still pay $20 on time.
Can I file a Montana annual report by mail?
No. The Secretary of State’s office has moved to online-only filing; paper forms are not accepted.
What happened to ePass Montana?
The SOS moved its Online Business login away from ePass Montana in 2022 (bulletin dated 21 June 2022). Usernames stayed the same; each user had to reset the password on first visit.
What happens if a Montana LLC misses 15 April?
It can still file, for $35. If it has not filed by 1 September, the SOS sends an involuntary dissolution notice, and dissolves the entity if the report and fees are still missing 90 days later.
How long does a dissolved Montana business have to reinstate?
Five years, for domestic corporations and LLCs: file every missing report ($35 each), the reinstatement application and usually a Title 15 tax certificate. Foreign entities must requalify.
Can I search Montana businesses by person or registered agent?
The free search runs by business name; the agent appears inside each record. To search by person, order the paid Principal Search report, which returns every business linked to a named principal.