Michigan Secretary of State (SOS) Business Entity And Corporation Search

Last Updated on March 22, 2023

Michigan state map

How to do a Michigan Secretary of State Business Search:

The Corporations Division of the Corporations, Securities, & Commercial Licensing Bureau under the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs deals with the filing and authorizing of entities in the state. The registry maintained by the Division records every filing and incorporation of business entities in the state. The business entity database has records and information on the following entities:

  • Corporation
  • Limited Liability Company
  • Limited Partnership
  • Limited Company
  • Limited Liability Partnership

See: How to form an LLC in Michigan

Business Name Search

The online search tool for finding registered business entities in Michigan has proved to be very helpful indeed for collecting information on any business entity in the state. For your search to continue, you need to have the entity name or the corporate ID handy.

Furthermore, you can choose from the following to narrow down your search:

  • Name in the Database
  • Keyword in the database
  • Identification number (This refers to the state ID number from the state and not the IRS Employer Identification Number)

Here, we present a detailed guideline on how to search the database for a business entity.

Step 1. Visit the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs website to begin a search (it will look like the screenshot below).

How to do a Michigan Business Entity Search

Step 2. Type in the entity name in the “Search by entity name” field.  For this example, we will type “Ford” in the field (see the screenshot below for reference).

Michigan Search by Business Name

Step 3. Click on “Search,” and the Results Page with a list of business entities containing the name “Ford” will appear.  We will look at Ford Accounting Service for this example to see more information

Michigan Business Entity Search Details List

Step 4. Clicking on the business name will provide information such as:

  • ID Number
  • Entity Name
  • Date of formation
  • Business Purpose
  • Resident Agent (called a Registered Agent in many states) Information
  • Articles of Incorporation (Corporation) or Articles of Organization (Limited Liability Company)
  • Annual Report / Annual Statement
  • Assumed Names

From this page, you can also request a Certificate of Good Standing for a small fee.

Michigan Business Entity Details

Search by Keyword

If you don’t know the name of the business, you can also search by keyword.  Similar to searching by name, click on the entity of your choice to get more information.

Search by Identification Number

If you know the identification number the entity was registered under, you can enter that number in this field.

Search by Filing Number

If you know the filing number of the entity, you can also search by this number.

Business Licenses

The business name registration is different from a Michigan business license.  The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has more information regarding Michigan registration.

Also see: How to do a Michigan UCC search

Information on SOS Michigan (MI) Corporations Division

Michigan sos seal

Corporations Division Contact Information

Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau
2501 Woodlake Circle
Okemos MI 48864-5955

517-241-6470
corpsmail@michigan.gov

Office:

The Corporations Division is the branch of the Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau in charge of business filings and records. The Bureau itself is under the responsibility of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

Functions:

The Corporations Division registers and records entities desiring to do business in the state. It also maintains an archive containing the details of such corporate and business entities, uniform commercial code filing, vehicle registration, and more.


Select the State Where the Corporation is Registered: