Louisiana sells two certificates for your LLC and explains nowhere how they differ

The Bottom Line for Louisiana LLCs

Order it from the Commercial Database against your LLC's record and print it straight away. Before you do, read the requester's wording closely, because the Commercial Division lists a good standing certificate and a separate existence certificate for limited liability companies, and its pages do not say what distinguishes them.

That gap matters, and nothing on the page closes it. Louisiana's how to order page lists both, alongside certificates for partnerships and a certificate of no record, and leaves the reader to work it out. The safe approach is mechanical: buy the certificate whose name matches the words your bank, your lender or the other state's application actually used. Where the request is generic and just asks for proof the company is active, the good standing certificate is the one that carries those words on its face, which is what a reviewer will be scanning for.

What Louisiana Actually Calls It

Louisiana calls it a Certificate of Good Standing, issued by Louisiana Secretary of State, Commercial Division.

Louisiana does not publish a description of the certificate's contents. Its How to Order page says only that "The office of the Secretary of State also prepares certificates which reflect information filed of record with the office", and lists "Certificate of Good Standing for corporations and limited liability companies" first among the commonly requested certificates.

Why You Need One

Registering in another state reaches most Louisiana owners eventually, and the receiving office normally wants the home state certificate attached to the application under a recency limit of its own. Banks ask at account opening and lenders ask again at underwriting, usually alongside the operating agreement. Vendor onboarding at a large customer and diligence in a sale come up less often. Note the limit of what this certificate does: it reports what the Commercial Division's record shows, so if a requester is really after confirmation about a state tax account, get them to say so plainly rather than assuming this document covers it.

What It Costs in Louisiana

Louisiana charges $20 for the Certificate of Good Standing.

That price changes on October 1, 2026. Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session raises it to $25, so an order placed on or after that date costs the new amount.

Where this fee comes from: Louisiana Secretary of State, How to Order: "The fee for a certificate is $20." The Forms & Fee Schedule table headed "Domestic limited liability companies" carries the matching line "Additional Certificates $20".

How to Order It

You can order the Certificate of Good Standing online, by mail, in person, by phone and by fax.

Obtained and printed immediately from the Commercial Database.

Order it on the Louisiana site

Three things catch people out here. First, the ordering menu is a list of certificate types rather than a single button, so the choice is yours to make deliberately. Second, the how to order page advertises expedite charges, but frames them as expedites on filings and never ties them to certificate orders; since the online certificate prints as soon as you have paid, an expedite would buy you nothing anyway. Third, the printed certificate carries a code at the foot of the page that lets you reprint it for a fixed period after purchase. Reprints come out bearing the original date rather than a fresh one, so the code saves a second payment and does nothing for a recipient who wants a recent document. On price, an increase is already enacted, so take the amount the checkout charges you over any figure copied from an older fee sheet or a third party page.

1. 1

   Look the LLC up in the Commercial Database

   Search by name or charter number and read the status on the entity's record. This is the same database certificates are bought from, so you are already where you need to be.

2. 2

   Match the certificate to the words you were given

   Copy the requester's exact phrase into your notes and pick the menu item that matches it. If the wording is vague, ask them before you pay, because the office will not tell you which one your bank meant.

3. 3

   Order and print it on the spot

   Complete the purchase and print the certificate immediately. Save the file as well, and note the code printed at the bottom of the page.

4. 4

   Send it while it is current

   Get it to whoever asked promptly. The date on it is the date you bought it, and a reprint will not move that date forward.

5. 5

   Use the written or walk in route if you prefer

   A written request by post or fax to the Commercial Division does the same job, and the division's counter takes walk ins if you would rather ask someone in person which certificate you need.

What Puts You Out of Standing in Louisiana

We could not confirm what Louisiana requires to be current before it will issue the Certificate of Good Standing.

The nearest published rule is La. R.S. 12:1308.2(A): "The secretary of state shall revoke the articles of organization of a domestic limited liability company if it fails to file an annual report for three consecutive years according to the records of the secretary of state." That is a revocation trigger, not a stated condition on issuing a Certificate of Good Standing.

We could not find a published Louisiana rule stating what must be current before this certificate will issue, and the section above says so rather than filling the gap. What the law does establish, quoted there, is the consequence of neglect: sustained failure to file the annual report ends in revocation of the articles of organization. So the filing to watch is the annual report and the record to watch is the entity's status in the Commercial Database. Look it up before you order. A record showing the articles revoked is a reinstatement problem, and reinstatement runs through the same office under the same statute, so that is the thread to pull rather than the certificate order.

How Long It Stays Good in Louisiana

Louisiana publishes nothing about how long the Certificate of Good Standing stays current. Whoever asked you for it does: banks, lenders and other states' filing offices each set their own recency rule, and that window is theirs, not Louisiana's. Ask what it is, and order the certificate once you know.

The certificate is a snapshot with a date on it, and the reprint code will not refresh that date, so one bought in the spring still reads as a spring certificate in the autumn. Order close to when you need it. Louisiana's own practice is a useful gauge of what other offices expect: when a company formed elsewhere registers here, Louisiana requires the home state's certificate to be less than 90 days old. Assume the office or bank asking you for one works to a comparable limit unless they say otherwise, and ask them if they have not said.

Using It Outside the United States

For use abroad, Louisiana Secretary of State, Commercial Division will authenticate the certificate with an apostille for $20 per document.

What We Could Not Confirm for Louisiana

These pages only state what a primary source establishes. For Louisiana we could not confirm the following, so this page does not answer it:

• what must be current before the state will issue it

Who to Ask in Louisiana

The Commercial Division of the Louisiana Secretary of State, in Baton Rouge, issues every certificate on that menu and is where written and faxed requests go. It also runs a counter for walk in service, which is the quickest route if you are near the capitol and would rather have a person confirm you are buying the right document. The Commercial Database is the same office's public search and the place to check status before you pay. For a document heading overseas, the same division handles authentication of Louisiana business records. Anything about a state tax account belongs to the Louisiana Department of Revenue, which is a separate agency.

Sources

• sos.la.gov/business-services/how-to-order
• sos.la.gov/business-services/forms-fee-schedule
• static.sos.la.gov/shared/fee_changes_2026.pdf
• sos.la.gov/business-services/frequently-asked-questions
• legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=76257
• sos.la.gov/notary-certifications/business-document-authentication
• coraweb.sos.la.gov/CommercialSearch/CommercialSearch.aspx

Every figure on this page was read from a Louisiana government source, not from a formation service. Confidence in this record: medium. See our editorial policy for how these are verified and corrected.