Alabama Secretary of State Business Search (Step-By-Step)

Are you forming a corporation, LLC or business entity in Alabama?

How do you do an Alabama Secretary of State business search?

Looking for an awesome step-by-step guide?

We are super excited to begin!

Let’s search in Alabama’s business search database!

Are you ready?

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Business Search Registry

In Alabama, the Secretary of State offers an online database to the public allowing anyone to perform a search to locate any business entity registered in the state.

To search for a business entity, you’ll need to access the Alabama Secretary of State business search registry.

It looks like this:

Once you access the online business database, proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Database search methods

You can search for different types of business registered with the state, such as:

• Corporations
• Limited liability companies
• Limited partnerships 
• Limited liability partnerships
• Limited liability limited partnerships 
• Professional associations 

Also, there are different methods that you can use to search for business entities, such as:

• Search by name
• Search by entity number
• Search by officer, agent or incorporator 
• Search by month and year
• Search by date
• Search by reservation or reservation ID

Let’s look at each of these search methods one by one.

Method 1: Search by name

The search by name function is the most widely used type of business entity lookup.

Here is where to go to do an Entity Name search.

All you have to do is to enter the name of the business entity you are searching for to see if there is a match in the database or not.

You can further refine your search by providing additional details, such as:

• Business type
• Place of formation
• Principal city 
• Status

Once you have entered the required fields, click the button “Search”.

Method 2: Search by entity number

The next possibility is to search by entity number.

Here is where to go to do an Entity Number search.

The entity number is the business entity identification number assigned to it by the state.

In this case, you will need to have the specific Entity ID number to do the search.

Method 3: Search by officer, agent or incorporator 

Another option you have to search and find a business is to do a search using the officer’s name, the agent name or the incorporator’s name.

Here is where to go to do an Officer | Agent | Incorporator search.

Method 4: Search by month and year

You can search by month and year where a business record was filed.

You’ll need to select the month and the year. 

You can also further refine your search by indicating the place of formation.

Here is where to go to do a Month and Year search.

Method 5: Search by date

Searching by date is also possible.

You can enter the date where you want to see business records and it will pull up entries for the selected date.

You can also specify the place of formation in your search filter.

Here is where to go to do a Date search.

Method 6: Search by reservation or reservation ID

You have the possibility to search using a reservation ID number given to you by the state of Alabama.

In that case, all you need to do is to enter the specific ID and you will be directed to the record in question.

Here is where to go to do a Reservation | Registration by ID search.

Step 3: Search results 

Once you’ve performed your desired search, you will then be presented with the business entity search results.

If you did a search using corporation, LLC or entity name, you will see the following search results page:

The search results page presents to you the following information:

• Entity ID
• Entity name
• City
• Type 
• Status

If there is a company or business having a name that matches your search query, you will see it on the search results page.

Step 4: Select entity 

From the search results page, if you have found a business matching your query or a business entity that you would like to get further information on, you should click on the hyperlinked business entity name.

Step 5: Business entity information

To complete your business entity search in Alabama, you’ll end up getting the business entity records or information made available publicly by the state.

The business entity records page looks like this:

The business entity information you will extract is the following:

• Entity ID number
• Entity type
• Company’s principal address
• Company’s mailing address
• Entity status 
• Place of formation
• Qualify date
• Registered agent name
• Registered office street address
• Registered office mailing address
• Nature of business

Takeaways 

There you have it!

You have now performed an Alabama Secretary of State business search?

Let’s look at a summary of the process.

Alabama Secretary of State business search:

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