Arkansas Certificate of Authority

In this Article:

• How to Get a Certificate of Authority in Arkansas
• When do you Need an Arkansas Certificate of Authority?
• Arkansas Annual Report Requirements

Related: Get an Arkansas Registered Agent

If your company was not incorporated in Arkansas, but you wish to do business there, you need to apply for an Arkansas Certificate of Authority.

Acquiring Arkansas Foreign Qualification allows a company formed in Delaware (or any other state) to legally transact business in Arkansas.

Please note: information on this page is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, requirements and costs can be changed by states at any time and Harvard Business Services cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

How to Get Arkansas Certificate of Authority:

Foreign entities will need to apply for an Arkansas Certificate of Authority if their business is a corporation, but if there entity is an LLC they will need to apply for an Arkansas Certificate of Registration.

In the State of Arkansas a Certificate of Good Standing is required from the entities state of domicile, dated within 90 days.

In addition, you must appoint and maintain an Arkansas Registered Agent at all times and include this information on your application. We can provide this service for just $99 per year.

Arkansas requires an application to be submitted along with a filing fee of $270. 

Harvard Business Services can assist with your application so you don’t have to deal with the Arkansas Secretary of State directly. We do charge our own fee for this service, in addition to the state fees. The exact fee can vary based upon whether your company is already filed and whether you need us to obtain additional documents to meet the state’s requirements. Contact us for an exact quote.

How Do I Know If I Need an Arkansas Certificate of Authority?

If you plan to do business in the state of Arkansas and are incorporated elsewhere, you will generally have to obtain Arkansas Foreign Qualification. Typically, “doing business” is defined by activities such as maintaining a physical office or having employees in the state.

Like many other states, the Arkansas statutes use some generic language identifying example activities that do not constitute doing business in the state. AnArkansas Certificate of Authority is not required for the following:

1. Maintaining, defending or settling any proceeding.
2. Holding meetings of the board of directors or members or carrying on other activities concerning internal corporate affairs.
3. Maintaining bank accounts.
4. Maintaining offices or agencies for the transfer, exchange and registration of memberships or securities or maintaining trustees or depositaries with respect to those securities.
5. Selling through independent contractors.
6. Soliciting or obtaining orders, whether by mail or through employees or agents or otherwise, if the orders require acceptance outside this state before they become contracts.
7. Creating or acquiring indebtedness, mortgages and security interests in real or personal property.
8. Securing or collecting debts or enforcing mortgages and security interests in property securing the same.
9. Owning, without more, real or personal property.
10. Conducting an isolated transaction that is completed within thirty days and that is not one in the course of repeated transactions of a like nature.
11. Conducting affairs in interstate commerce.

This list is not exhaustive. See the Arkansas Laws and Statutes for additional information.

Keep in mind that even if an Arkansas Certificate of Authority is not required for a specific activity, a bank, vendor or another party can still require it in order to establish a relationship.

Arkansas Annual Requirements

If you have Foreign Qualification for a corporation or LLC in Arkansas, you will be required to file an annual report in order to keep your company in good standing status with the state. The annual LLC renewal fee is a flat $150.

The fee for corporations depends on whether the corporation has stock issued. If so, the fee is either $150 or 0.3% of the outstanding capital stock, whichever is greater. If the corporation does not have stock, the fee is a flat $300.

In addition, the annual requirements above are independent of requirements you may have in Delaware or other states.