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Every California LLC is required to file a Statement of Information (sometimes referred to as a “Biennial Report”) every 2 years.
Your first Statement of Information is due within 90 days of your LLC being approved.
This is required in order to keep your LLC in good standing with the California Secretary of State.
There is a $20 fee to file a Statement of Information.
The California Secretary of State prefers that you file your LLC Statement of Information online via BizFile. We also recommend this method as it’s the easiest to complete.
The purpose of the Statement of Information is to keep your California LLC’s contact information up to date with the Secretary of State.
Your first California LLC Statement of Information is due within 90 days of your LLC’s approval date.
You can find your LLC’s approval date by:
After your first Statement of Information is filed, you are required to file a Statement of Information every 2 years. It’s due by your LLC’s anniversary date.
Your LLC’s anniversary date is the same date your LLC was approved. It’s also the same thing as your “registration date”, as mentioned above.
For example, if your California LLC was approved on August 10th 2024:
Yes, there is a penalty.
The Secretary of State will give you a 60-day grace period (counted from the date you have been notified for failure to file) within which you must file the Statement of Information.
If you fail to file within the 60-day grace period, you have to pay a $250 penalty.
(Source: Common penalties and fees; see “Statement of Information penalty”)
If you continue to ignore this requirement, the Secretary of State may administratively dissolving (shut down) your LLC.
The Secretary of State will send a postcard reminder (by regular mail) to your LLC’s business address 1 to 2 months before the due date.
However, this is a courtesy reminder and even if you don’t receive one, it is still your responsibility to file all your Statements of Information on time.
For this reason, we recommend:
Again, your first Statement of Information is due within 90 days of your LLC being formed. You can file this Statement of Information as soon as your LLC is approved.
You can file your ongoing Statements of Information up to 6 months before the due date.
For example, if your next Statement of Information is due by August 10th 2024, you can file it as early as February 10th 2024.
And the same thing applies for upcoming years. For example, in 2026, you can file your Statement of Information anytime between February 10th 2026 and August 10th 2026.
Enter the name and contact information for the person submitting the Statement of Information. The Secretary of State will use this information to contact you with questions about the filing, if they have any.
There’s nothing to do on this page. It just displays your LLC information.
Review your LLC’s Principal Office address and make any changes if necessary.
Domestic LLC: If your LLC was formed in California, you can enter the same address that you listed in your Articles of Organization (your LLC’s Designated Office address).
Foreign LLC: If your LLC was formed in another state and is registered to do business in California, enter your LLC’s Principal Office. For most Foreign LLCs, this is usually the LLC address in the state in which it was formed.
Some notes about your LLC’s Principal Office address:
If you want to keep your address off public records:
Review your LLC’s Mailing Address and make any changes if necessary. The Mailing Address is used to receive paperwork from the state.
If needed, your LLC’s Mailing Address can be the same as its Principal Office address. But it doesn’t have to be.
Some notes about your LLC’s mailing address:
If applicable, update or enter your LLC’s California Office address. This only applies to LLCs with a principal office not in California.
If your LLC is Manager -managed, you only need to enter the Manager(s) information.
If your LLC is Member -managed, you only need to enter the Member(s) information.
Add your LLC’s first Manager/Member. Then add any additional Manager(s) or Member(s), if needed.
Note: Agent for Service of Process is the same thing as a Registered Agent.
Review your LLC’s Registered Agent information and make any changes if needed.
Enter, or edit, the brief description of your LLC’s primary business activity. You can enter a few words or a sentence or two to explain your LLC’s primary business activity.
If your LLC is engaged in multiple business activities, just enter the primary one. Your Information Statement doesn’t have to list every single thing your business does.
Also on the Type of Business page is the option to request Email Notifications from the Secretary of State. This includes reminders about filings that are due and other notifications.
We recommend entering your email address (twice) in order to get an “approved” copy of your LLC’s Statement of Information by email. Otherwise, they will send it by USPS mail.
Note: This section is optional. It can be filled in or left blank.
The state defines a CEO as either:
If you’d like to enter a CEO for your LLC, you can do so here.
Most filers prefer to leave this information off public record, so they skip this section and leave it blank.
This page asks whether any manager or member of your LLC has judgments against them from a Labor Code violation. That includes things like wage disputes, occupational safety, and other employment issues. The judgment could be from a court or from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
Answer Yes or No.
Review the information you entered for accuracy. Check for any typos, and go back to make any changes if needed.
Enter the Submitter’s information. The Submitter is the person signing the LLC’s Statement of Information and submitting it to the state.
You can enter business titles like Member or Manager, or Authorized Person.
The next page shows the total amount due ($20).
You have the option of adding a Certified Copy of the filing for an extra $5. This isn’t necessary, and we don’t recommend it. The regular filed copy of the Statement of Information is fine.
Enter your billing information and submit your payment to the state.
Congratulations! Your California LLC Statement of Information has been sent to the Secretary of State.
The California Secretary of State will process and approve your Statement of Information in 1 to 2 business days. If you entered your email address during the online filing, the state will email you a stamped and approved copy.
If you didn’t enter your email address, you can always download your LLC’s filed/stamped Statement of Information from the business search page.
If you have any questions, you can contact the California Secretary of State at 916-657–5448. Their hours are Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm, Pacific Time.
Matt Horwitz is the leading expert on LLC education, and has been teaching for 15 years. He founded LLC University in 2010 after realizing people needed simple and actionable instructions to start an LLC. He's cited by Entrepreneur Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and the US Chamber of Commerce, and was featured by CNBC and InventRight.
Matt holds a Bachelor's Degree in business from Drexel University with a concentration in business law. He performs extensive research and analysis to convert state laws into simple instructions anyone can follow to form their LLC - all for free! Read more about Matt Horwitz and LLC University.
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Thanks! You're subscribed √ Your email address is already subscribed.Disclaimer: Nothing on this page shall be interpreted as legal or tax advice. Rules and regulations vary by location. They also change over time and are specific to your situation. Furthermore, this comment section is provided so people can share their thoughts and experience. Please consult a licensed professional if you have legal or tax questions.
John FreshHi matt,
First off, thank you so much for compiling all this information and keeping it up to date! Using your step by step instructions like a bible, I registered for a single member LLC with California and it got approved as well. I learned along the way and saved some money too. I also took your advice and hired a registered agent to keep my details private as much as possible. Now for the questions:
1. I noticed that my name shows up in the Articles of Organization which is public information. Could that have been avoided? Remember I did pay for a registered agent and used their details where the process asked. 2. I have the same question for Statement of Information. it has member name and address details in a few places. Are there steps I can follow to keep my name and address completely private? 3. In line with the same privacy concern, in order to open a business checking account, the bank is also asking for business and mailing address. I would like to receive the checks, statements, cards etc at my home. I am hoping the address details I provide to the bank are generally help private. is that a fair assumption? As you can tell, the theme of my questions is privacy. Any specific suggestions you can give for the next 2 steps – Statement of Information and Business Checking Account would be great. Thanks in advance. Reply
Hi John, you are very welcome! That is fantastic to hear :) 1. If you filed your LLC yourself, I think you are talking about your name appearing as the LLC Organizer, correct? If so, that could have been avoided by hiring someone to file the LLC for you (and they would sign as the Organizer). You can’t change the LLC Organizer after the filing has been processed with the state. 2. Unless your LLC is a Manager-managed LLC (in that case, you’d list the Manager’s name and not the Members’ names), you’re supposed to list the LLC Members in the Statement of Information. You can use the address of your Registered Agent though (if they allow it) for the address of the Member or Manager. 3. Yes, banking information is private. It’s not publicly accessible, unlike state LLC filings. And yes, you can use a physical address and a mailing address that are different than the address listed on your Articles of Organization and/or Statement of Information. Hope that helps! Reply
John FreshThanks Matt for answering all the questions. For #1, you thought right. I was indeed talking about LLC Organizer name. Sorry I forgot to mention it in my initial question but it shows how good you know this stuff. Reply
Matt Horwitz You’re welcome John. Thank you very much ;) ReplyHi Matt,
As always your website is a treasure of information!!
I am going to set an LLC next week and I have a doubt about what to insert in the field 5. and 8. of the Statement of Information. Hope you can help me to clarify…
The LLC will be a multi-member LLC (two members) and one of them will be the only manager and CEO.
The question is related to the ADDRESS to put in fields 5. (Managers or Members) and 8. (Chief Executive Officer) of the Statement of Information: – Since the document is public I would prefer not insert the residential address in these fields for privacy reasons. So, is it possible to insert in both 5. and 8. the First name and Last Name of the manager/CEO and the LLC business office address instead of the residential. I would also hire a Registered Agent (NorthWestern) for the Article of Organization for the same reason (privacy), but if in the State of Information I have to disclosure anyway the residential address I don’t see the point to hire the RA for the AO…. The instructions along with the form llc-12 says:
field 5. “Enter the name and complete business or residential address of any manager(s),
appointed or elected in accordance with the Articles of Organization or Operating
Agreement, or if no manager(s) has been so elected or appointed, the name and
business or residential address of each member.” field 8. “Enter the name and complete business or residential address of the chief executive officer, if any” So in theory it seems possible since they accept a business address… but I would like to have your opinion.
Thank you! Reply
Hi Vince! Thank you! Regarding the Statement of Information (Form LLC-12), you can technically leave #8 blank if you’d like. It also may not matter much, since it’ll be the same information you place in #5. Regarding #5, I assume your LLC is going to be a Manager-managed LLC. If so, you don’t need to attach the LLC-12A (to add additional Members). In that case, yes, you are correct: You just need to list the LLC Manager and yes, you can use the LLC business office address. Regarding using Northwest’s address in the Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1): You can use their address for the Return Address, Business Address, and of course the Service of Process address. Or if you have an office address, you can just use the office address for all of those address fields and list yourself or the LLC Manager (or another agent or employee of the LLC; who agrees, of course) as the Registered Agent. Hope that helps! Reply
Vincenzo BasiricoHey Matt! Thank you SO much for your reply!! Yes, it is correct, the LLC will be a Manager-managed LLC, where one of the two members (me) will be either manager and CEO.
Perfect then, I will put the office address. Have a great day! Reply
MR Horwitz, Just wanted to say thanks for all the info you provided. I’m doing my best to start a small trucking company and don’t have too much money and everything I can do myself really helps me and my Family. Again thnk you so much. Reply
Matt HorwitzPedro, thank you so much for the nice comment, I’m so happy to hear that :) I wish you nothing but the best in your business! Reply
