Washington Secretary of State

Washington Secretary of State (SOS) is a chief officer of the state elections. Moreover, the officer regulates the process of business registration and supervises State Archives.

WA SOS is responsible for the registration of corporations, limited partnerships, and trademarks. Besides, the officer administers the process of listing not only individuals and organizations but also fundraisers that are involved in charitable activities.

In addition to these constitutional and statutory duties, the WA SOS is also called upon to represent the state in cultural and trade events abroad.

In our article, we will uncover the part of business duties and regulations of the WA SOS. You will also obtain information on how they provide easy access to data on business entities and charities. Moreover, you will familiarize yourself with helpful tools such as the WA SOS Search System. The latter allows you to search for a corporation, trademark, or charity.

Lookup a Business Entity

WA residents can easily search for business entity data through the office of the WA Secretary of State (Division of Corporations and Charities). Below, you may find the steps for performing the search.

Frequently, people who want to set up a company don’t go deep through the details. For instance, they don’t use the WA Secretary of State’s business search tool to have the list of entities and check the name’s availability.

The WA SOS keeps public records of all corporations and is easy to navigate. There are the following categories of search available through the website:

• Name of business entity

• Trademark lookup

• UBI Code

• Trust search or Nonprofits

We will describe the main details of the section on Corporation and Business Entity Search.

Corporation & Business Entity Search

The WA SOS business search allows one to look up not only general data on an entity, but also the availability of a name before registration of a new company, and find the list of necessary papers.

The lookup can be performed using the corporation’s name or identifier. The option of advanced search is also accessible, you just need to pay an extra fee for that.

If one prefers to look up by the entity name, he/she should:

• Navigate to the search page.

• Enter the name and type of the business entity.

• Click on the “Search” button.

Within seconds, you will get the list that includes the company and its status. So, click the title to get all the details on a certain organization. The public Access System will allow you to purchase documents as well.

To narrow the lookup, people generally use the function of advanced search, which is possible only with the use of a Unified Business Identifier (UBI).

Washington Business Filings

As we have already mentioned, before filing any form referring to the registration process, you should check the title availability. It is not possible to reserve a title that another company has already taken.

Entity Name

Use the WA SOS Name Reservation form to reserve a company title. Fill out the name and type of the corporation, and if it is available, reserve it by paying $30.

Note: if a person reserves a name, the system also requires them to file business formation documents by mail. Otherwise, you can’t form a company without the needed papers.

Charter Number 

A charter number is a unique cipher assigned to an entity by the WA SOS when it was registered and organized. It is to identify the entity. The number consists of eight digits and letters.

Trade Registration Number

A trade registration number is a serial code that identifies the number of registered trademarks for various corporations.

Name Reservation Number

After delivering the confirmation from the state that the name is available, you may reserve it. The reservation underlines your intention of using the title and keeps others from using it.

You will also receive a special reservation number, which has a time limitation.

Officer Name or Agent Name

As in all states of the US, in Washington, each business must have its registered agent/trade name registrant. Legally, the agent must have a physical address and thus deliver all the company's legal documents.

One may enter the registered agent’s last name into the WA SOS Business Search system and get the necessary details.

How Much Does a Business License Cost in Washington?

All enterprises in WA should have public licensure. For that, complete the WA Business License application and pay the $19 fee to proceed.

The application registers the corporation with the Divisions of Employment Security, Revenue, and Labor.

Consequently, after registration, you’ll receive a license and UBI.

Contact Information

For additional details contact:

WA Secretary of State
Corporations Division
801 Capitol Way South
PO Box 40234
Olympia, WA 98504-0234
Email: [email protected]  

The phone number is (360) 664-8781.