DBA · Colorado

How to File a Trade Name for an LLC in Colorado

By Edmond Hui · Last updated October 6, 2026

Short answer

Colorado requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register a trade name. An LLC files the Statement of Trade Name with the Secretary of State. The filing fee is $20.00. We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Colorado.

Colorado Trade Name at a Glance

Requirement: Required
Where to file: Secretary of State
Fee: $20.00
How long it lasts: No fixed term
Newspaper notice: None found
File online: Yes

How an LLC Files

An LLC files the Statement of Trade Name with the Secretary of State.

You can file online.

Open the filing office's site · Open the filing page

Cost and Renewal

The filing fee is $20.00. The statement must be filed and paid for online.

The registration has no fixed term.

The trade name stays effective while the LLC is in good standing or noncompliant status. If the LLC becomes delinquent or dissolves, it lasts one more year unless the LLC cures or reinstates, or the trade name is renewed each year.

Publication

We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Colorado.

If you skip it

A business trading under an unfiled trade name cannot sue in a Colorado court to collect a debt from someone it did business with until the statement is filed. The Attorney General can also seek a civil penalty of up to $500 and a court order stopping business under the name.

Sole proprietors

Colorado requires a sole proprietor who does business under a name other than their legal name to register a trade name. An individual who does business under anything other than their legal first and last name must file.

A sole proprietor files the Statement of Trade Name with the Secretary of State.

The filing fee is $20.00. The statement must be filed and paid for online.

The registration has a 1-year term.

The statement lasts through the last day of the twelfth calendar month after the month it takes effect. A renewal filed in the last three months adds one calendar year, and an expired trade name cannot be renewed.

Renewal costs $5.00.

We found no publication step for a sole proprietor's trade name filing in Colorado.

Requirement	Required
Where to file	Secretary of State
Fee	$20.00
How long it lasts	1 year
Newspaper notice	None found
File online	Yes

Next steps

Frequently Asked Questions

: Colorado requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register a trade name.
: An LLC files the Statement of Trade Name with the Secretary of State.
: The filing fee is $20.00. The statement must be filed and paid for online.
: The registration has no fixed term. The trade name stays effective while the LLC is in good standing or noncompliant status. If the LLC becomes delinquent or dissolves, it lasts one more year unless the LLC cures or reinstates, or the trade name is renewed each year.
: We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Colorado.
: A business trading under an unfiled trade name cannot sue in a Colorado court to collect a debt from someone it did business with until the statement is filed. The Attorney General can also seek a civil penalty of up to $500 and a court order stopping business under the name.
: Colorado requires a sole proprietor who does business under a name other than their legal name to register a trade name. An individual who does business under anything other than their legal first and last name must file. A sole proprietor files the Statement of Trade Name with the Secretary of State.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's filing office publishes about registering a business name, with the sources this page cites. A filing here does not register a federal trademark, and fees and forms change between our reviews. Confirm with the office named on this page before you file.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Colorado sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-07.pdfColorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 7, Article 71 (Trade Names)
coloradosos.gov/pubs/business/FAQs/tradeNames.htmlColorado Secretary of State, Trade names FAQ
coloradosos.gov/pubs/info_center/fees/business.htmlColorado Secretary of State, Business fees
coloradosos.gov/pubs/business/fileAForm.htmlColorado Secretary of State, File a Business Document
coloradosos.gov/biz/BusinessEntityCriteriaExt.doColorado Secretary of State, Business Database Search

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.