[2023] Sunbiz: get to know the service to open and consult American companies

Since its founding, the United States has become the land of opportunity.

Today many entrepreneurs move their business to this country, but how to do it the right way?

There are some ways to open a company in the United States, in this article we will explain how to open a company through Sunbiz.

A website from the State of Florida, where you can search for several companies, including partnerships or LLC’s

What is Sunbiz?

Sunbiz is a website, which was created by the State of Florida, where people who are interested in starting businesses in this state, can perform various types of inquiries.

Such as: research on LLC’s and partner companies, DBA’s and even see if judgment certificates have been filed against the debtor.

If you want to open a company in the USA, the Sunbiz site allows a complete search for the name you want to use, whether it is available or not, but only for the State of Florida

Because each state has its own rules for opening a company.

We know the advantages of having a DBA in the United States, so it is important to evaluate if the desired name for the company is available.

[2021] Sunbiz: conheça o serviço para abrir e consultar empresas americanas 1

Sunbiz Services

The site has some services which we list below:

1. RECORD SEARCH

This is divided into 5 parts

Corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, and trademarks

Here in relation to these topics, you can search for: trademark names, registered agent names, trademark owner name, postal code, address and so on

FICTITIOUS NAMES

In this part you can search on, fictitious names of some company, names of the owners of this record, detail by record number and others.

GENERAL AND LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIPS

Here you can access partnership name, partner agent, FEIN or EIN partner and the partnership details by document number

This part also has a guide to better assist you in your search.

TRIAL GUARANTEE

Here you can access the FLR debtor’s name and the detail by FLR document number

CABLE TV FRANCHISING

In this part you can access the names of the cable TV franchises that operate in Florida and the number of these franchises.

START A BUSINESS

In this part, the Sunbiz website shows you the step by step process of opening a business in the State of Florida.

Such as: research for starting a business, identifying your business, forming and registering your business name

The latter being optional

Manage/change existing business

Here you can: manage/change a file, dissolve or remove it, update your company’s information, among others

Forms and fees

This service is very important; every year, at a specific period of the year, companies in the United States must send their annual report, the so-called annual repport.

The purpose of this report is to update and verify information about the companies in the USA.

This period is known as the Tax Season, and is very important in the USA.

So in this part you have access to the necessary forms and tax tables, according to the type of your company: corporation, general partnerships, among others.

Authentications and other services.

In this part you have access to download company data, access to all the statutes of the State of Florida.

You can also request subpoenas, exemptions and public records and much more.

How to register your company through Sunbiz?

First research whether the name you want for your company is available, if it is not, you must adjust the name until it becomes available.

In the state of Florida it is necessary to publish notice of your desired business name in local newspapers before the business name is registered.

Publication must occur in the newspaper in your principal location.

Contact the newspaper and request a publication on a legal notice of intent to file a DBA.

The requirements for this can be found in the start a business service on Sunbiz’s own website, where you access the Florida state statutes.

All new DBA’s go through this process, the procedure changes from state to state.

Importantly, Florida imposes a criminal variation of the honor system, that by signing the form, you are promising that you have already published the name and done the procedure correctly.

Finally, on the Sunbiz website you can register by providing:

The name you have chosen for your company and information about it
Your business address and main place of business
And finally your EIN

Keep an eye on the filing fees, as they vary, and also on the update period for the annual report.

This update process can also be done through the website.

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