Kentucky Certificate of Authority / Wyoming LLCs
A Kentucky certificate of authority for a Wyoming LLC
A Wyoming LLC pays $90 for its Kentucky certificate of authority and $15 for the first annual report, next to Wyoming's $60 annual minimum, which is $165 in all. Wyoming issues good standing certificates online for $0, which makes the home check cheap, but Kentucky does not ask for one. The Kentucky route for a Wyoming LLC is the same as for any other.
Wyoming and Kentucky in one view
| Item | Wyoming | Kentucky |
|---|---|---|
| What it asks for | $60 annual minimum | $90 application, then $15 a year |
| Good standing certificate | $0 online | Not requested |
| Agent | A Wyoming agent | A Kentucky resident or authorized entity at a street office |
A free home check
A Wyoming good standing certificate costs $0 when issued online. Kentucky does not want it with the application, yet printing one is a cheap way to back up item 10, in which the signer attests that the LLC is lawfully in existence in Wyoming.
What changes between Wyoming and Kentucky
Three things. The agent: a Wyoming agent has no standing in Kentucky, so item 7 needs a separate one at a Kentucky street office. The mail: item 6 can stay in Wyoming, and Kentucky writes there. The calendar: Kentucky's annual report window runs January 1 to June 30 every year, regardless of when Wyoming's dates fall.
What is public in Kentucky
The application and the annual reports are public records. They show the entity name, its home state, its Kentucky agent and its principal office address, and the managers if it has them. They do not show members as such. A manager's name on a Kentucky record is a matter of public record.
Signing
Signing authority belongs to an officer, a chairman, a member, a manager, a trustee or a partner. At a Wyoming LLC this is a manager or member, who adds a printed name, a title and the date.
If the Wyoming name changes
When a Wyoming LLC renames itself at home, Kentucky has to hear of it, since the home name is among the items the application recorded. An amended certificate on Form FCA does it for $40. The clerk of the registered office's county receives a copy of that amendment as it did the application. Changing managers is handled in the annual report, not by amendment.
Slips that Wyoming entities make
Four slips to avoid: using the Wyoming agent's address as the Kentucky registered office, signing item 10 before checking the Wyoming status page, leaving the principal office as a mail-forwarding address nobody reads, and forgetting that the first Kentucky report is due the calendar year after the certificate issues.
A year of Wyoming and Kentucky obligations
| Quarter | Wyoming | Kentucky |
|---|---|---|
| January to March | Annual minimum of $60 falls due on Wyoming's schedule | Annual report window open; file early |
| April to June | Wyoming schedule continues | Window closes June 30 |
| July to December | Wyoming schedule continues | Nothing due; collect next year's manager list |
Changes while the LLC is authorized
Kentucky charges $10 to replace the registered agent or office and $10 to move the principal office. An amended certificate on Form FCA costs $40, and a corrected annual report $15. None of these touches Wyoming's minimum, which is billed on Wyoming's own schedule, and a resignation filing by a Kentucky agent costs the LLC nothing.
Costs after the certificate
Each year Kentucky wants $15 and Wyoming wants $60. A later withdrawal from Kentucky costs $40.
The first-year total
$90, $60 and $15 come to $165. Add $33 for the clerk's copy if it is five pages or fewer.
Records to keep
Print the Wyoming status page on the day the manager signs, and file it with the Kentucky application, the agent's acceptance, the stamped Kentucky record and the clerk's receipt. A year later, add the annual report. Together they show that the LLC was in existence when it certified so, and that it has kept up its Kentucky authority since.
Example: a Wyoming LLC with a store in Covington
A Wyoming LLC that sells outdoor gear opens a small store in Covington. With staff and stock in the store it clearly transacts business. It prints a Wyoming status page, finds a Covington firm to act as agent and gets its acceptance, and files Form FBE through FastTrack. The next spring it files the first annual report and renews its Wyoming minimum on the Wyoming date.
Applying for a Kentucky certificate from Wyoming
Print the Wyoming status page
Support for item 10.
Find a Kentucky agent
A street office and written acceptance.
Complete Form FBE
Wyoming name, formation date and managers.
File
$90.
Wyoming certificate questions
Is a Wyoming certificate needed for Kentucky?
No.
Does Kentucky affect Wyoming's dates?
No. Each state keeps its own.
Are my members listed in Kentucky?
Only managers appear, and only if the LLC has them.
Our fee and the state's
Get my Kentucky certificate
+ $90 Kentucky fee
Our fee and Kentucky's $90 appear as separate lines at checkout. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
$199
Kentucky Certificate of Authority
- The Certificate of Authority (Foreign Business Entity) (Form FBE), completed from your answers
- The registered agent's written consent, gathered and attached
- A Kentucky registered agent and street office: ours, or the ones you already have
- The application submitted, the filed certificate returned to you, and your annual report window noted
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Sources
- Kentucky Secretary of State, business filing fees
- Kentucky FastTrack, apply for a certificate of authority
- KRS 14A.6-010, annual report
- Kentucky Secretary of State, annual reports
- Kentucky Form FBE, certificate of authority for a foreign business entity
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division fee schedule
- KRS 14A.9-030, application for a certificate of authority
- Kentucky Form FCA, amended certificate of authority
- Kentucky Form RAC, changing a registered agent or registered office
- Kentucky Form POC, moving a principal office address
- Kentucky Form WFE, certificate of withdrawal of a foreign business entity
- KRS 64.012, fees of county clerks
Ready for the certificate?
Tell us the entity type and the state that formed it, and we start the application.