What Is the Cost of a Registered Agent in Arizona?
The total cost of a registered agent in Arizona—referred to in Arizona law as a statutory agent—falls into two distinct and separate categories: state filing fees paid to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) and commercial service fees paid to a private registered agent provider. Understanding the difference between these two cost categories is essential for accurately budgeting the ongoing cost of forming and maintaining a business entity in Arizona.
State filing fees are fixed by statute and published on the ACC’s Fee and Payment Info page. These fees are assessed only when a document is delivered to the Commission for filing—at formation, when changing a statutory agent, or when filing a statutory agent resignation. Arizona does not impose any recurring annual state fee specifically for maintaining a statutory agent. Corporations (for-profit, professional, and nonprofit) must file annual reports with the ACC, and LLPs must file annual reports with the Arizona Secretary of State, but these report fees are unrelated to the statutory agent requirement. Arizona LLCs are not required to file annual reports at all.
Commercial service fees are the annual fees charged by professional registered agent companies that serve as an entity’s statutory agent and provide a physical Arizona street address for service of process. These fees are set privately and vary by provider, with most commercial services in Arizona charging between $50 and $300 per year. An entity that designates an individual Arizona resident — such as an owner, officer, member, or manager — as its statutory agent pays no commercial service fee.
Arizona law does not require any entity to use a commercial registered agent service. Under the Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) § 10-501, every corporation must “continuously maintain in this state” both a known place of business and a statutory agent who is either an individual residing in Arizona, a domestic corporation, a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in Arizona, or a limited liability company formed in or authorized to do business in Arizona. The same continuous-maintenance obligation applies to LLCs under A.R.S. § 29-3115. Limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships must maintain a statutory agent with the Arizona Secretary of State.
Note: Arizona uses the term statutory agent rather than “registered agent” and known place of business rather than “registered office.” The legal obligations are the same as those described in other states under different terminology. Throughout this article, the terms are used interchangeably where clarity requires it.
Arizona State Filing Fees for Registered Agent Appointments
The statutory agent designation in Arizona is made within the entity’s formation document — the articles of incorporation for corporations, the articles of organization for LLCs, or the certificate of limited partnership for LPs. Arizona does not charge a separate line-item fee solely for designating a statutory agent at formation. The formation filing fee covers the entire filing, including the agent designation and the known place of business.
One Arizona-specific cost detail affects corporations but not LLCs. Under A.R.S. § 10-122, the base filing fee for domestic articles of incorporation is $50, but subsection H adds a $10 public access fund surcharge — making the actual total $60. Foreign corporations pay $150 plus a $25 public access fund surcharge, for a total of $175. The LLC fee schedule under A.R.S. § 29-3213 does not include a separate public access fund surcharge; the domestic LLC filing fee is a flat $50. Nonprofit corporations pay $30 plus the $10 public access fund surcharge, for a total of $40 under A.R.S. § 10-3122.
Arizona also has a split filing authority. Corporations and LLCs file with the ACC, while limited partnerships, LLPs, and LLLPs file with the Arizona Secretary of State. The table below shows formation filing fees across all entity types recognized by both filing authorities.
| Entity Type | Filing Authority | Form | Formation Filing Fee |
| Domestic For-Profit Corporation | ACC | Articles of Incorporation | $60 |
| Domestic Professional Corporation | ACC | Articles of Incorporation | $60 |
| Domestic Nonprofit Corporation | ACC | Articles of Incorporation | $40 |
| Domestic LLC | ACC | Articles of Organization | $50 |
| Foreign For-Profit Corporation | ACC | Application for Authority | $175 |
| Foreign Nonprofit Corporation | ACC | Application for Authority | $175 |
| Foreign LLC | ACC | Foreign Registration Statement | $150 |
| Domestic Limited Partnership (LP) | Secretary of State | Certificate of Limited Partnership | $10 + $3/page |
| Domestic LLP | Secretary of State | Statement of Qualification | $3 (LP on file) |
| Domestic LLLP | Secretary of State | Statement of Qualification | $3 (LP on file) |
| Foreign LP | Secretary of State | Foreign LP Registration | $10 + $10 + $3/page |
The ACC accepts payment by cash (Phoenix office only, no bills over $20), check or money order payable to “Arizona Corporation Commission,” and Visa or MasterCard (in-person and online filings only). Credit cards cannot be used for filings submitted by mail. Filings may be submitted online through the Arizona Business Center (ABC) portal, by mail or in person to the Phoenix office at 1300 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007, or to the Tucson office at 400 W. Congress Street, Tucson, AZ 85701, or by fax to (602) 542-4100.
Note: Arizona requires LLCs and corporations to publish a notice of formation in a newspaper of general circulation within 60 days after the ACC approves the filing, as required by A.R.S. § 29-3201(G) for LLCs and A.R.S. § 10-202 for corporations. This publication cost (typically $60–$300, depending on the newspaper and county) is paid to the newspaper, not to the ACC, and is therefore not a state filing fee. However, it is an unavoidable startup cost that should be factored into the year-one budget.
State Filing Fee to Change a Registered Agent
When an entity changes its statutory agent or known place of business address after formation, it must file a Statement of Change with the applicable filing authority. For corporations—including for-profit, professional, and nonprofit—the filing fee for the Corporation Statement of Change is $0. The form is delivered to the ACC at no charge for regular processing. For LLCs, the LLC Statement of Change of Principal Address or Statutory Agent carries a filing fee of $5 under A.R.S. § 29-3213.
This is a meaningful cost distinction between entity types: corporations of all kinds—for-profit, professional, and nonprofit—pay nothing to change their statutory agent, while every LLC change costs $5. Both filings require the appointment of a new statutory agent to be accompanied by the Statutory Agent Acceptance form (M002), which must be signed by the incoming agent and submitted alongside the Statement of Change.
A statutory agent who wishes to resign from serving a corporation must file a statement of resignation. Under A.R.S. § 10-503, the resignation takes effect on the 31st day after the statement is delivered to the ACC. The filing fee for a corporation agent resignation is $10 under A.R.S. § 10-122. For LLC statutory agent resignations, A.R.S. § 29-3117 provides the same 31-day effective date, and the fee structure under A.R.S. § 29-3213 does not list a specific resignation fee, effectively making it $0 for LLCs.
The following table summarizes all statutory-agent-related filing fees for entities filed with the ACC.
| Action | Entity Type | Form | Filing Fee |
| Change of statutory agent and/or known place of business | For-profit, professional, or nonprofit corporation | Corporation Statement of Change | $0 |
| Change of statutory agent and/or principal address | LLC (domestic or foreign) | LLC Statement of Change | $5 |
| Statutory agent acceptance (new agent) | All entity types | Statutory Agent Acceptance (M002) | $0 |
| Statutory agent resignation | Corporation (all types) | Statutory Agent Resignation | $10 |
| Statutory agent resignation | LLC (domestic or foreign) | Statutory Agent Resignation | $0 |
Expedited processing is available for all ACC filings at additional cost: $35 for standard expedited, $100 for next-day service, $200 for same-day service, and $400 for two-hour service. These fees are in addition to any document filing fee.
What Is Included in a Registered Agent Service Fee?
The annual registered agent service fee — paid to a commercial provider serving as the entity’s statutory agent — typically covers a defined set of core services, though inclusions vary by provider and pricing tier. Most commercial statutory agent services in Arizona charge between $50 and $300 per year.
Core services (generally included at all price levels):
- A physical street address in Arizona to serve as the entity’s known place of business on file with the ACC or Secretary of State
- Receipt of service of process, legal notices, state correspondence, and tax documents during normal business hours
- Same-day or next-day scanning and uploading of received documents to an online account
- Email notification alerts when a document is received on the entity’s behalf
- Secure online dashboard for viewing and retrieving received documents
Additional services (included by some providers or at higher tiers):
- Compliance reminders for annual report deadlines (relevant for corporations and LLPs; Arizona LLCs have no annual report)
- Use of the agent’s address on formation documents to keep the owner’s personal address off the public record (privacy protection)
- Mail forwarding for general business correspondence beyond legal and government documents
- Publication assistance for the mandatory newspaper notice required after formation
- Multi-state compliance dashboard for entities registered in more than one state
What is NOT included in a standard registered agent service fee:
- State filing fees (formation fees, change-of-agent fees, resignation fees) — these are paid separately to the ACC or Secretary of State
- Preparation or filing of annual reports
- Legal advice or representation
- Expedited processing fees for ACC filings
- Newspaper publication costs
Registered Agent Cost When Forming a New Arizona Business
When forming a new business entity in Arizona, the statutory agent is designated within the formation document itself — the articles of incorporation, articles of organization, or certificate of limited partnership. There is no separate state line-item fee for the statutory agent designation. The formation filing fee published on the ACC’s Fee and Payment Info page or the Secretary of State’s Partnership Forms page covers the entire filing, including the agent designation.
The following table shows the total year-one cost at formation, combining the state formation filing fee with the range of commercial statutory agent service fees available in Arizona.
| Entity Type | State Formation Fee | Commercial Registered Agent (Year 1) | Total Year 1 Cost |
| Domestic For-Profit Corporation | $60 | $0–$300 | $60–$360 |
| Domestic Professional Corporation | $60 | $0–$300 | $60–$360 |
| Domestic Nonprofit Corporation | $40 | $0–$300 | $40–$340 |
| Domestic LLC | $50 | $0–$300 | $50–$350 |
| Foreign For-Profit Corporation | $175 | $0–$300 | $175–$475 |
| Foreign Nonprofit Corporation | $175 | $0–$300 | $175–$475 |
| Foreign LLC | $150 | $0–$300 | $150–$450 |
| Domestic LP | $16 | $0–$300 | $16–$316 |
| Domestic LLP | $3 | $0–$300 | $3–$303 |
| Foreign LP | $23 | $0–$300 | $23–$323 |
The $0 figure in the commercial registered agent column reflects entities where an individual Arizona resident serves as the entity’s own statutory agent under A.R.S. § 10-501 (for corporations) or A.R.S. § 29-3115 (for LLCs), eliminating the commercial service fee.
Many commercial registered agent services offer the first year of statutory agent service as part of a formation package. When comparing formation service pricing, confirm whether the quoted price includes:
- The state filing fee (the ACC’s or the Secretary of State’s mandatory fee)
- The registered agent service fee for year one
- The newspaper publication cost (typically $60–$300)
- The renewal price for the registered agent service in subsequent years
Some providers advertise low introductory formation fees but charge significantly higher renewal rates beginning in year two. Online formation filings may be submitted directly through the Arizona Business Center (ABC) portal, allowing the entity to pay only the state filing fee and separately select any statutory agent provider.
Note: The LP and LLP formation fees shown above reflect minimum base fees. Arizona’s Secretary of State charges per-page fees in addition to the base filing fee, so the actual total depends on the length of the certificate. A typical two-page Certificate of Limited Partnership costs approximately $16 ($10 base + $3 per page × 2 pages).
Cost of Serving as Your Own Registered Agent in Arizona
Under A.R.S. § 10-501, an individual who resides in Arizona may serve as the statutory agent for a corporation. Under A.R.S. § 29-3115, a statutory agent for an LLC “must be either an individual resident of this state, a domestic corporation, a limited liability company, a foreign corporation, or a foreign limited liability company authorized to transact business in this state.” An owner, officer, manager, member, partner, or employee may serve in this role, provided the individual maintains a physical street address in Arizona and is available to accept service of process. Unlike many other states, an entity cannot serve as its own statutory agent in Arizona — the agent must be a distinct individual or a separate entity.
Cost of self-designation:
- Commercial service fee: $0 — no annual fee is paid to a third-party provider
- State filing fee at formation: Included in the standard formation fee. No additional state fee is charged for designating an individual as a statutory agent.
- State filing fee to update address: If the individual’s address changes, the Statement of Change must be filed — at no cost for corporations or $5 for LLCs.
Tradeoffs of self-designation vs. commercial service:
| Factor | Self as Statutory Agent | Commercial Service |
| Annual cost | $0 | $50–$300/year |
| Privacy | A personal or business address appears in public ACC records | The agent’s address appears in public records |
| Business hours availability | Must be personally available at the Arizona address during business hours | Service maintains availability |
| Service of process delivery | Delivered directly to the individual, potentially at home | Delivered privately to the agent’s office, then forwarded electronically |
| Address updates | Must file Statement of Change ($0 for corps; $5 for LLCs) | The agent manages its own address changes |
| Compliance monitoring | The owner must independently track annual report and publication deadlines | Some services include compliance reminders |
| Residency requirement | Must be an Arizona resident with an in-state physical address | No residency requirement for the entity’s owner |
The ACC’s Business Services FAQs page confirms that any individual Arizona resident may be designated as a statutory agent, provided the individual signs the Statutory Agent Acceptance form (M002) and maintains a valid physical address on file with the Commission. Failure to maintain a statutory agent at a current address can result in administrative dissolution of the entity.
Frequently Asked Questions About Registered Agent Costs in Arizona
Is there a fee to designate a registered agent when forming an Arizona LLC or corporation?
There is no separate state filing fee solely for the statutory agent designation at formation. The agent is named within the articles of organization (for LLCs) or articles of incorporation (for corporations), and the formation filing fee covers the entire filing. A domestic LLC pays $50, a domestic for-profit or professional corporation pays $60, and a domestic nonprofit corporation pays $40. Foreign entity fees are higher: $150 for a foreign LLC and $175 for a foreign corporation. All formation fees are listed on the ACC’s Fee and Payment Info page and are nonrefundable once the document is delivered for filing.
How much does it cost to change a registered agent in Arizona?
The filing fee to change a statutory agent depends on entity type. For all corporations—for-profit, professional, and nonprofit—the Corporation Statement of Change carries no filing fee. For LLCs, the LLC Statement of Change costs $5 under A.R.S. § 29-3213. Both forms must be accompanied by the Statutory Agent Acceptance form (M002) if a new agent is being appointed. Filings may be submitted online through the ABC portal, by mail to 1300 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007, in person at the Phoenix or Tucson offices, or by fax to (602) 542-4100. Expedited processing adds $35 to the filing fee.
Can I designate myself as a registered agent to avoid the annual service fee?
Yes, provided the individual is a resident of Arizona with a physical street address in the state. Under A.R.S. § 10-501 (corporations) and A.R.S. § 29-3115 (LLCs), an individual Arizona resident may serve as the entity’s statutory agent. Self-designation eliminates the annual commercial service fee. The tradeoff is that the individual’s home or business address will appear in the ACC’s public records, the individual must be personally available during business hours to accept service of process, and the individual must file the Statement of Change each time the address changes—at no cost for corporations but at $5 for LLCs.
What is the annual cost of Northwest Registered Agent in Arizona?
Northwest Registered Agent’s published annual fee for Arizona statutory agent service is $125 per year. The service includes a physical Arizona street address to serve as the entity’s known place of business on file with the ACC, same-day scanning of legal documents and official state mail, email notification alerts, an online account for viewing and retrieving documents, and a business address with mail forwarding. Northwest uses its own address on formation documents to keep the owner’s personal address off the public record. The $125 annual fee applies both at initial signup and upon renewal.
Does the registered agent service fee include the state filing fee?
No. The annual registered agent service fee is entirely separate from state filing fees. State filing fees, such as the $60 articles of incorporation fee or the $5 LLC Statement of Change fee, are paid directly to the Arizona Corporation Commission or the Secretary of State. When a commercial service forms an entity on the owner’s behalf, the total cost includes both the provider’s service fee and the state’s filing fee; these should be itemized separately. Confirm whether any quoted formation package price includes or excludes the state filing fee and the mandatory newspaper publication cost before purchasing.
Is there a fee to file the consent of registered agent form?
Arizona requires every new statutory agent appointment to be accompanied by a signed Statutory Agent Acceptance form (M002), which must be delivered to the ACC alongside the formation document or Statement of Change. There is no separate filing fee for the M002 form itself — it is submitted as a companion document at no additional cost. Under A.R.S. § 29-3115(A), the appointment of a statutory agent “is not effective until the agent or the company delivers a record to the commission signed by the agent accepting the appointment.”
Is there a fee for the registered agent to resign?
For corporations, the statutory agent resignation fee is $10 under A.R.S. § 10-122. For LLCs, no specific resignation fee is listed in A.R.S. § 29-3213, so the filing is effectively $0. Under A.R.S. § 10-503 (corporations) and A.R.S. § 29-3117 (LLCs), the resignation takes effect on the 31st day after the statement is delivered to the ACC, unless the entity appoints a successor agent sooner. The resigning agent must give written notice to the entity. The entity must then file a Statement of Change to appoint a replacement — at no cost for corporations or $5 for LLCs.
How does the cost compare for a nonprofit corporation versus a for-profit corporation?
Arizona provides meaningfully reduced formation fees for nonprofit corporations and charges substantially lower annual report fees, though several other filing fees are identical across both entity types. The following table compares registered-agent-related and key recurring costs.
| Transaction | For-Profit Corporation | Nonprofit Corporation |
| Articles of Incorporation | $60 (Form C010) | $40 (Form C011) |
| Application for Authority (foreign) | $175 (Form C018) | $175 (Form C018) |
| Statement of Change (statutory agent) | $0 (Form C016) | $0 (Form C016) |
| Statutory agent resignation | $10 (Form C029) | $10 (Form C029) |
| Annual report | $45 | $10 |
| Amendment of articles | $25 (Form C014) | $25 (Form C015) |
The formation fee difference — $60 for a domestic for-profit corporation versus $40 for a domestic nonprofit — reflects the lower base statutory fee and public access fund surcharge set by A.R.S. § 10-3122. The annual report difference is more impactful over time: $45 per year for for-profit corporations versus just $10 per year for nonprofits. Commercial registered agent service fees are not set by state law and do not differ based on entity type.
Are there any hidden fees associated with registered agent services?
State filing fees in Arizona are fixed by statute and publicly available on the ACC’s Fee and Payment Info page. There are no hidden state fees. Common commercial service pricing structures that may result in unexpected costs include renewal price increases, where a low introductory rate rises upon renewal; upsells during formation, such as add-on services like EIN registration, operating agreements, or compliance packages; newspaper publication, which is a separate mandatory cost that some formation packages include and others do not; and expedited processing fees charged by the ACC ($35 to $400 depending on turnaround speed), which may be passed through with a markup by commercial providers.
Does the cost change if I move my business to a new address in Arizona?
The cost impact depends on which address is changing and what type of entity is involved.
- Principal office or known place of business address only (statutory agent address unchanged): The entity files a Statement of Change to update the address—$0 for corporations, $5 for LLCs.
- Statutory agent’s address is changing (new address for the same agent or a new agent at a different address): The entity or the agent itself files a Statement of Change — again, $0 for corporations or $5 for LLCs — accompanied by the Statutory Agent Acceptance form if a new agent is being appointed.
- Statutory agent relocating its own office address: The agent may file the Statement of Change on its own behalf under A.R.S. § 10-502(с) (for corporations) or A.R.S. § 29-3116 (for LLCs), certifying that written notice has been given to the entity. The same filing fees apply—$0 for corporations, $5 per LLC.
- Using a commercial statutory agent service: Relocating the entity’s principal office typically does not affect the commercial service fee, because the known place of business on file with the ACC is the agent’s address, not the entity’s physical location.