Tennessee Articles of Organization: $50 Per Member (2026)
The Articles of Organization is the filing that creates your Tennessee LLC — $50 per member, with a $300 minimum and $3,000 maximum, and genuinely immediate processing once you file online.
File Articles of Organization (Form SS-4270) with the Tennessee Secretary of State, Business Services Division through the TNCaB portal to create your LLC. The fee is $50 per member, with a $300 minimum and $3,000 maximum — most LLCs with six or fewer members pay the flat $300. Online filings process immediately; mail filings take about 5–10 business days. The Articles require your LLC name, principal office address, registered agent, fiscal year-end month, and management structure.
- Filing fee
- $50/member · $300 min · $3,000 max
- Processing (online)
- Immediate
- Processing (mail)
- ~5–10 business days
- Form number
- SS-4270
- Portal
- TNCaB
- Agency
- Secretary of State, Business Services
What the Articles of Organization Do
The Articles of Organization are your LLC's birth certificate. When the Secretary of State accepts your filing, your LLC exists: liability protection attaches, the name is claimed, and you can bank and contract as the company.
The Per-Member Fee, Explained
Tennessee Member-Fee Calculator
Enter your member count to see your exact filing fee
Formula: $50 × members, floor $300, ceiling $3,000. This same formula applies to your annual report every year.
The $300 floor means members 1 through 6 are "free": since $50 × 6 = $300, any LLC with six or fewer members pays the flat $300 minimum — the per-member math only starts actually increasing your fee once you add a seventh member.
The Filing Walkthrough
Create an account on TNCaB
The Secretary of State's online portal handles formation now and your annual report every year after.
Start a new domestic LLC filing
The portal walks the Articles field by field and checks your name against state records.
Enter your details and pay
Name, principal address, registered agent and Tennessee address, fiscal year-end month, management structure, member count, and organizer information; pay by card at submission.
Download your confirmed Articles
Online filings process immediately — save the approved filing the moment it issues, since your bank requires it.
Every Line of the Articles
LLC name
With "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company," distinguishable on state records — verified in Step 1.
Registered agent & address
Name of your registered agent and their Tennessee street address.
Principal office address
Your LLC's main business address.
Fiscal year-end month
Determines your annual report due date — April 1 for calendar-year filers.
Management structure & member count
Member-managed or manager-managed, plus the number of members — this directly determines your fee.
Payment
$50/member, $300 minimum, $3,000 maximum.
After Approval: Your Immediate Next Moves
- Save your confirmed Articles — banks require them alongside your EIN letter.
- Create your operating agreement — the document that overrides Tennessee's default rules.
- Get your free EIN at IRS.gov, then register with the Tennessee Department of Revenue.
- Determine your franchise/excise tax status — confirm whether the single-member exemption applies to you.
Ahmad Adil's Take: Tennessee's filing process itself is genuinely easy — immediate online approval is about as good as it gets in this series. The one thing I want every founder to actually plan around is the member count field, since it's not just a formality — it directly sets your fee, both now and every year at annual report time. If you're planning to add members later, know that your annual report cost will scale up the year that happens, so it's worth budgeting for in advance rather than being surprised by a bigger bill.
- ✓Forms your Tennessee LLC for $39 + the $300 minimum state fee
- ✓Files online with the Secretary of State
- ✓Free Tennessee registered agent the first year
- ✓No upsells · No data selling · Privacy by Default
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Tennessee LLC — FAQ
Ahmad Adil is the founder and CEO of LLC School. The figures here — the $300 minimum Articles of Organization, the $300 minimum annual report due April 1, and Tennessee’s franchise and excise tax — reflect current Tennessee Secretary of State and Department of Revenue guidance. This is educational content, not legal or tax advice.
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