Wisconsin Business Search

Wisconsin LLC lookup: how to use the Search Corporate Records (Corporate Registration Information System)

An LLC lookup in Wisconsin is the same search as a business search. The Search Corporate Records (Corporate Registration Information System), kept by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, lists LLCs alongside corporations and other registered businesses. You can search by entity name, entity ID, exact phrase, all of the words, or start with these words, names of entities or registered agents or entity status, current or old names, entity type, and registration date. It's free, and you don't need an account.

1. Open Search Corporate Records at DFI. Type the business name without the ending, leaving off LLC or Corp.
2. If you get too many results, add words. If you get too few, remove words or use "Advanced Search" with "start with these words" or "all of the words".
3. Click the entity name to open its record, with Vital Statistics, Addresses, and Historical Information.
4. Read the Chronology for entries such as "Delinquent" or "Notice of Administrative Dissolution".
5. From the record, use "Request a Certificate of Status" ($10) or "Order a Document Copy".

What the search shows you

• Entity ID, entity name, and record type
• Registered effective date
• Status and status date
• Registered agent and registered office
• Principal office
• Annual report years and whether each was filed online or on paper
• Old names and a Chronology of transactions

What the status words mean

Wisconsin uses its own words for a company's status, and they don't always mean the same thing as in other states. Here's what you'll see on the Search Corporate Records (Corporate Registration Information System), in the state's own wording.

For how these compare across states, see what business entity status means.

Finding the registered agent, filing history and owners

Registered Agent

The "Registered Agent Office" line shows the agent's name and the registered office address, with a link to file a Registered Agent/Office Update Form.

Filing history

Historical Information lists annual report years, old names, and a Chronology of every transaction with its effective and processed dates. Copies of documents are ordered through DFI's Online Order System.

Owners, managers and officers

DFI doesn't record domestic LLC member names. Corporation annual reports list officers and directors, and copies can be ordered. If the state record doesn't name anyone, our guide on how to find the owner of an LLC covers where else to look.

Finding a Wisconsin Entity ID (DFI's "ID Number")

Wisconsin gives every business on its register an Entity ID (DFI's "ID Number"). It's the quickest way to pin down the right company when names are alike.

What it looks like

Seven characters mixing letters and digits, such as T064347 or 1S21620.

Where to find yours

At the top of the entity's record under Vital Statistics, and in the ID column of the search results. DFI's glossary calls it the file number the department assigns.

Search by it

Yes. The Search Corporate Records (Corporate Registration Information System) accepts it.

It's easy to mix it up with these, which come from other offices:

• Business Tax Registration (BTR) certificate and tax account numbers (Wisconsin Department of Revenue). The BTR certificate lists the business's tax permits and accounts, such as the Wisconsin Withholding Tax Account Number. It costs $20 for two years. These aren't the DFI Entity ID.
• FEIN (Internal Revenue Service). The DFI search page says the Entity ID is "not to be confused with FEIN". DFI doesn't record FEINs.

Your federal EIN is a different number again. See which business number a form is asking for.

Checking whether a business name is available in Wisconsin

1. Use the "Name Availability" tool linked from the search page.
2. DFI says no name should be assumed available until your formation filing has been examined and accepted ("FILED").
3. Reserve a name for 120 days for $15 with Form 1, Name Reservation Application.

A clear result on the state search isn't a trademark clearance. If the name matters to you, also search the USPTO trademark database and check the domain. More in our business name search guide.

DBA and UCC search in Wisconsin

DBAs and assumed names

What it's called

Tradename

Where they're filed

Wisconsin doesn't require a DBA filing. DFI offers an optional tradename or trademark registration to notify the public that you use a name, filed in its Trademark Registration and UCC Filing System. The corporate records search doesn't include tradenames.

Search

Search Wisconsin's official records

State fee

$15. Per name or design.

How long it lasts

10 years, renewable within the 6 months before it expires.

UCC liens

Lenders file UCC financing statements with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Corporate and Consumer Services. The online search is free. Our Wisconsin UCC search guide has the steps and fees.

Wisconsin fees and deadlines

These are the state's own fees, before any service charges. Each row links to the official page we took it from.