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How to Get a Certificate of Good Standing in Montana

Montana calls it the Certificate of Existence and charges $5. Here is how to order it and what must be current first.

At a glance

Document name
Certificate of Existence
State fee
$5
Online ordering
Yes
Typical turnaround
Ordered online through the Secretary of State business portal at biz.sosmt.gov. Montana publishes no turnaround for this certificate in any channel. The fee schedule offers 24 Hour Priority handling at $20 and a 1 Hour Expedite at $100, both charged for all documents rather than for this certificate specifically
Issuing office
Montana SOS ↗

How to order it

  1. Clear any past-due filings first. Check your entity status with the Montana SOS and resolve the requirements below. Tax clearance may be a separate document.
  2. Order it online. Search your LLC in the Montana portal, request the certificate, and download it. Link in the table above.
  3. Pay the $5 fee. Confirm payment methods and the total in the official portal; extra fees may apply.
  4. Use it inside the recipient's window. The certificate has no state expiration, but banks and other states usually want one dated within the last 30 to 90 days. Order it close to when you need it.

Would rather not deal with the agency yourself?

CorpNet orders the certificate for you
$69 service fee, plus the Montana state fee shown above · A filing service, not a registered agent. Ordering it yourself is cheaper and the steps above are the whole process.
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Full ordering details for Montana

Montana calls it a Certificate of Existence for a Montana LLC and a Certificate of Authority for an out-of-state LLC. Order it through the Business Filing Portal at biz.sosmt.gov, signing in with an ePass Montana account. The Certificate of Existence is $5. Faster handling costs extra on any filing: $20 for 24 hours or $100 for one hour. The fee list gives no separate LLC price for the Certificate of Authority, so confirm it before you order. A Certificate of Fact, for one specific fact, is $15.

Important to know about Montana

  • The Montana annual report is free if filed by April 15 and $35 after. It must be current for the LLC to stay in good standing. You may see $20 quoted elsewhere: that is the listed fee, which the Secretary of State currently waives for reports filed January 1 to April 15.
  • A Montana Certificate of Existence only speaks to fees and taxes that show in the Secretary of State's own records, and an out-of-state LLC's certificate says nothing about taxes. For proof of tax compliance, get a tax certificate from the Montana Department of Revenue.
  • Montana has one of the cheapest certificate fees in the country. Certificates are ordered online through the portal; Montana does not publish whether a paper copy is available.

Ordering this to register in another state?

A certificate of good standing from Montana is what the new state asks for when your Montana LLC registers to do business there. Pick the state you are expanding into to see its exact filing, fee, and process.

Find your state-to-state guide · Registering an out-of-state LLC into Montana instead?

Related guides

Sources 8 pages

The official pages behind the figures on this page, with the date we last read each one. How we check.

Deadlines and processing

Forms and filing

This page provides general information based on publicly available Montana Secretary of State requirements. It is not legal advice. Names, fees, and procedures can change. Verify with the Montana SOS before ordering.