Iowa trade name filing guide

Iowa uses two filing layers, and the legal form of the business determines the correct destination. Iowa Code chapter 547 requires a person conducting business under a trade or assumed name other than the true surname of every owner to record a verified statement with the recorder in the county where the business is conducted. The same section expressly removes specified domestic and authorized foreign statutory entities from that county rule, including limited liability companies, corporations, limited partnerships, professional corporations, listed cooperatives, and nonprofit corporations. Those covered entities instead have a Secretary of State Fictitious Name filing. The Secretary of State’s current forms-and-fees page lists that filing for Chapters 488, 489, 499, 490, 501A, and 504 and prices it at five dollars. This page therefore does not imply one statewide filing for every Iowa business. A sole proprietor or general partnership begins with the relevant county recorder; an LLC or corporation begins with the Secretary of State’s existing-entity filing workflow. The cited official material controls, and the business should confirm its exact statutory chapter before choosing a row.

For a sole proprietor or general partnership, identify every Iowa county in which the business will be conducted. Iowa Code section 547.1 directs the verified statement to the recorder of that county and specifies that the statement shows the trade name, the owners’ names and post-office and residence addresses, and the business address. This guide never asks for or stores those personal details. Obtain the current trade-name form and delivery instructions directly from the applicable recorder because chapter 547 creates the statewide duty but does not publish one universal online, mail, or counter workflow. For an existing LLC or corporation, use Fast Track Filing: sign in, choose Business Filings, choose File A Document, select Fictitious Name Resolution under Existing Entities, locate the entity, enter the adopted fictitious name, electronically sign, review payment, and submit. The Secretary of State’s tutorial says the office reviews the submission and emails the filer when it is complete. Keep the confirmation and do not send filing credentials, owner data, or payment information to this site.

Chapter 547 does not publish an expiration period or periodic renewal instruction for the county recorder’s verified trade-name statement, so those fields remain explicitly unverified rather than being filled from a county custom or a commercial summary. It does publish a change rule: a like verified statement must be recorded when ownership or the interested persons change, and the original owners remain liable for obligations until the change certificate is recorded. The statewide recording charge is derived in two steps. Section 547.3 points to section 331.604, and the current 2026 text sets five dollars for each page or fraction of a page plus one dollar for each recorded transaction. The Secretary of State material likewise does not publish a renewal interval for its five-dollar Fictitious Name filing on the reviewed pages. This guide therefore does not claim that either record expires, lasts forever, or renews on an invented schedule. Check the live record and current authority instructions whenever ownership, entity status, public name, or business location changes.

First determine the business’s legal entity type and, for a statutory entity, its Iowa Code chapter. Sole proprietors and general partnerships using a name outside the owners’ true surnames should contact the recorder for every county where the business will be conducted and request the current chapter 547 trade-name statement and submission instructions. Existing LLCs and corporations should use the official Secretary of State Fictitious Name Resolution tutorial and Fast Track Filing portal. Other statutory entities should compare their chapter with the official 488, 489, 499, 490, 501A, and 504 eligibility list. Confirm the live fee immediately before filing, retain the accepted record, and file the chapter 547 change statement when ownership changes. No newspaper-publication duty is asserted because the reviewed comprehensive chapter does not publish one. This site provides official destinations only; it does not accept filings or promote a paid filing partner.