The entity conversion, state by state.
A conversion changes the structure a business runs under. An LLC becomes a corporation, usually because outside investors want stock rather than membership interests. A corporation becomes an LLC. Both routes are statutory filings, both go through the Secretary of State, and both carry tax consequences. Pick your state for the conversion paths that come up there and what the filing involves.
Four things to settle before you convert.
Conversion is one filing with a long tail. The structure changes, and so does how the business is taxed and how ownership is documented. These four decide how the move goes.
Which conversion is on the table
Two moves account for most conversions. An LLC becomes a corporation, usually because outside investors buy stock and not membership interests. A corporation becomes an LLC. Your state page lists the conversion paths that come up most often there.
A Secretary of State filing
Conversion is a statutory filing, not an internal decision you can paper over after the fact. It runs through the Secretary of State in the state that holds your entity's record, and the process is what each state page walks through.
Tax consequences follow the structure
Change the entity type and you change how the business is taxed and how the owners report income. That is the part people find out about late. Every state page covers the tax consequences next to the mechanics of the filing.
Why owners convert at all
The usual trigger is fundraising. Venture investors buy stock in a corporation, so an LLC heading into a funding round converts first. The other direction, corporation to LLC, is the second path every state page covers.
Same two moves everywhere, fifty-one sets of mechanics. Start with your state.
Pick your state.
Each state page covers statutory conversion where your entity is on record: the conversion paths that come up there, what the Secretary of State needs, and the tax consequences of moving from one structure to the other. Start with the state that holds the entity.
A clean handoff, in four steps.
You decide the structure you want to end up in. We prepare the conversion, file it with the state that holds your entity, and hand the updated record back afterwards.
Pick your state
Conversion happens where the entity is on record, not where you live now. Your state page shows the conversion paths that come up there and how the filing runs.
Settle the target structure
LLC to corporation, or corporation to LLC. The choice follows the funding plan and the tax treatment you want, and it is worth settling before any paperwork is drafted.
We prepare and file
The conversion is prepared and filed with the Secretary of State that holds your entity's record. You get the filed document back, and the record shows the new structure.
Sync what follows
A conversion changes what the business is, so the records that name it follow: tax registrations, bank documents, contracts and anything else built on the old structure.
The filing is one piece of work. The structure it leaves you with lasts years.
The rest of Secretary of State directory.
Every one of these is built the same way: a national explainer above its state pages. They are the filings that sit closest to this one.
Secretary of State
The Secretary of State, state by state
All 51 states → HubSecretary of State annual report
The annual report, state by state
All 51 states → HubArticles of Amendment
Articles of amendment, state by state
All 51 states → HubBusiness license
Business license requirements, state by state
All 51 states → HubSecretary of State business search
Secretary of State business search, state by state
All 51 states → HubSecretary of State Certificate of Good Standing
Certificate of Good Standing, state by state
All 51 states → HubSecretary of State DBA
Secretary of State DBA, state by state
All 51 states → HubSecretary of State dissolution
Secretary of State dissolution, state by state
All 51 states →The full index lives on Secretary of State directory.
The questions owners ask before they convert.
What is a statutory conversion?
It is the filing that moves an existing business from one structure to another, made with the state that holds the entity's record. The two paths the state pages cover are an LLC converting to a corporation and a corporation converting to an LLC. The filing changes the structure the business runs under, and the tax treatment follows the new structure rather than the old one.
Why do LLCs convert to corporations?
Fundraising, most of the time. Venture investors buy stock, and stock is something a corporation issues, where an LLC issues membership interests instead. Founders who expect an outside round convert so the ownership matches what investors expect to buy. Conversion is a state filing rather than an internal resolution, so it takes planning ahead of the round rather than during it.
Can a corporation convert to an LLC?
That direction is the second path every state page covers. The filing runs the same way, through the Secretary of State in the state holding the entity's record, and the tax consequences are the part to read closely, because a business changes how it is taxed when it changes what it is. Your state page sets out the process and what that state asks for.
Does converting change how the business is taxed?
Yes, and that is most of the point. Tax treatment attaches to the structure, so moving from one structure to another moves the business onto a different set of rules, federally and at state level. Every state conversion page covers the tax consequences alongside the mechanics, because the filing is the short part and the tax position is the part that lasts.
Where does a conversion get filed?
With the Secretary of State in the state where the entity is already on record. That is the office holding the formation document, and the conversion is a change to that record. If the business also operates in other states, those registrations reference the entity as well, so they are the next thing to bring in line once the conversion is through.
What does each state conversion page cover?
The conversion paths that come up most often in that state, what the process involves with that Secretary of State, and the tax consequences of each direction. The pages are written for owners who already know they want to change structure and need to know what their state expects. Pick the state that holds your entity and start there.
Keep going, in order.
Secretary of State directory
Every hub in secretary of state directory, in one place.
Open the index → IndexAll 51 state guides
Every filing a business does, organised by jurisdiction.
Open the index → ServiceCompliance calendar
Every deadline that touches your entity, watched.
Track deadlines → ServiceTalk to a specialist
A person who files these every day, not a call centre.
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