2025 BOI rule update US entities are now exempt. Check if you still need to file →
We answer most inquiries within one business hour during US business days.
Start filing →
Alabama · State Record Search Guide

Alabama business search, the report that disappeared.

Alabama runs its registry at the Secretary of State, but the annual report you might expect to check is gone: the state eliminated it in 2024. Ongoing compliance moved to the Department of Revenue’s Business Privilege Tax return, and small companies owing $100 or less no longer file even that. The record still talks. You just have to know what it stopped saying.

Reads the Alabama official record · free to start
⌕
Alabama entity searchWe run it on the official state record, and tell you what it means
FREE

Checking a name for your new company? We search the state record properly, with the near-misses that cause rejections.

Doors into the same record

Search the way that matches what you already know

1 · By entity name

Drop the designator: "Acme Holdings" returns more than "Acme Holdings LLC". The state search matches from the start of the name, so lead with the first word, and remember sound-alike spellings are separate records. Have us run the name check →

2 · By entity ID

Alabama assigns a permanent entity ID at filing. An exact-match search pulls one record with its formation documents and history, which matters now that a missing annual report tells you nothing at all here. Verify an exact entity with us →

3 · Through the registered agent

Every Alabama entity names a registered agent on the public record, which is how process servers, and the curious, find companies. It is also why founders who value privacy put a professional agent there instead of themselves. See how agents appear on the record →

4 · What the record shows you

Status, principal address, registered agent, and the filing history, including the original formation documents. Public, free, and current, which is exactly why counterparties will read yours before they sign.

Compliance moved down the street

No annual report to miss, no annual report to check

EXISTSOn the Secretary of State’s record and not dissolved. Since 2024 there is no annual report behind this row, so current means less here than in most states.
PRIVILEGE TAX DUENot a registry status, but the real annual obligation: the Business Privilege Tax return filed with the Department of Revenue, on income-tax deadlines, not registry ones.
DISSOLVEDClosed, voluntarily or otherwise, with history preserved. Check the filing trail before assuming which kind of closing it was.
FOREIGN / WITHDRAWNOut-of-state entities register and exit on the same record. Withdrawn is a proper goodbye; silence is not.
TRADE NAMEAlabama trade names register with the Secretary of State, so one company is often one entity plus several names. Match the legal name on the contract.

Alabama eliminated the Secretary of State annual report in 2024. The living obligation is the Business Privilege Tax return at the Department of Revenue, filed on tax deadlines, with a full exemption when the tax due is $100 or less. A record here can look untouched for years and be perfectly healthy, or quietly dead. The filing history tells you which.

The search is step one

What you found decides what you do next

Your name is taken

Clear so far is not the same as available. Run a proper availability check covering Alabama entities and trade names, then file the Alabama LLC while it is clean.

Your company looks fine but owes the tax

The registry will not warn you: the Business Privilege Tax runs on Revenue’s calendar, not the Secretary of State’s. We prepare it with your tax deadlines watched together.

You are vetting a counterparty

Match the legal name on your contract to the record exactly, confirm standing the day you sign, and read the filing history. For anything with money on it, order a certificate of standing, the state-sealed version of "they are real."

The silence that meant nothing at all

The record looked abandoned, the company was thriving

A Birmingham buyer with her morning coffee after clearing a vendor’s record
The vendor’s record showed nothing filed in two years and I almost walked. Turns out that is normal Alabama now: no annual report exists to file. We read the formation trail, confirmed existence, and asked one good question about their privilege tax instead. The record was not empty. The requirement was.
Wholesale buyer, BirminghamReads the filing trail before judging the silence
Silence explainedExistence confirmedDeal done right

Representative composite drawn from customer outcomes.

BosAI reads the record with you

Ask what the record means for you

BosAIYour workspace · Alabama records connected

Is "Magnolia Supply Co" taken in Alabama?

One active entity in Mobile and a trade name registered in Huntsville. Alabama keeps both on the Secretary of State’s record, and your name also needs a reservation before filing here, which is a step most states skip. I can run the full availability check and hold the name for you.

Why does the company I searched show nothing filed since 2023?

Probably because there is nothing to file. Alabama eliminated the annual report in 2024, so a quiet record is the norm, not a red flag. The living obligation is the Business Privilege Tax return at the Department of Revenue, which never appears on this record. I can verify existence properly with a certificate instead.

So what does my Alabama LLC actually owe each year?

The Business Privilege Tax return, filed with Revenue on tax-season deadlines, and nothing at the Secretary of State. If your tax due is $100 or less, the state exempts you from filing the return at all. I will confirm which side of that line you fall on and watch the deadline that applies.
Create your free workspace →
The search is free. So is the next step

Whatever you found, the platform runs it

Business Search hub

Every state's record, one guide per state

 Name Availability

Distinguishable is not the same as safe, check properly

 Registered Agent

An Alabama address that never misses a service of process

 Compliance Calendar

Your deadlines tracked, so the record stays boring

 CRM

The counterparties you vet become the clients you keep

 Business Banking

Open the account the day your filing comes back
Explore the Business OS
Go deeper

Alabama, from search to filed

Cornerstone

How to Start an LLC in Alabama

Name search to filed Articles, the Alabama playbook.

Read the guide → Costs

What an Alabama LLC Costs

State fees, the recurring bill, and the first-year total.

See the numbers → State hub

Form a Business in Alabama

Entity types, taxes, and the Alabama playbook.

Open the hub → File

Form an LLC in Alabama

From clean name to filed Articles, handled.

Start the filing →
Frequently asked

Alabama Business Search questions.

What is the Alabama Secretary of State business search?

It is the public Alabama database where anyone can look up a registered entity’s name, status, registered agent, and filing history. You use it to check name availability, confirm existence, or research a company. We run Alabama searches for you and interpret what the results mean for your plans.

How do I search for a business in Alabama?

You search the Alabama record online by name or by the entity’s ID number. Results show status and basic details but not everything, ownership is often private. We run the Alabama search and explain what it does and does not reveal about a given entity.

Can I check if a business name is available in Alabama?

Yes, and Alabama adds a twist: before you can file, the name must be formally reserved, which most states do not require. The search finds conflicts; the reservation locks your choice. We handle the availability check and the reservation together before you commit to branding.

How do I confirm a company is in good standing in Alabama?

With no annual report left to miss, the record alone says little. For real confirmation third parties want a Certificate of Existence, Alabama’s name for the good-standing certificate. We can pull the record and order that certificate when you need authoritative proof for a deal or lender.

Does an Alabama business still file an annual report?

No. Alabama eliminated the Secretary of State annual report in 2024. The ongoing obligation is the Business Privilege Tax return filed with the Department of Revenue on tax deadlines, and companies whose tax due is $100 or less are fully exempt from filing it. We track the Revenue side, because the registry will never remind you.

Why can’t I find my own business in the Alabama search?

Common reasons: it was just filed and not yet indexed, the name is slightly different, or the entity was dissolved at some point and dropped from default results. We check the Alabama record, confirm your status, and fix anything, like a lapse needing reinstatement, that is keeping you from appearing correctly.

How do I find out who owns an LLC in Alabama?

Sometimes you can, sometimes you cannot. Alabama filings list a registered agent and whoever signs the documents, but members of an LLC do not have to appear, so true owners can stay off the public record. If privacy matters for your own filing, that structure plus identity & privacy is how founders stay unlisted.

Still specific to your situation? Ask BosAI ↑

Start your business in the next 5 minutes.

No state-fee markup. Pay only the state fee. 60-day money-back guarantee.

No state-fee markup 60-day money-back Cancel anytime