How to form a Alabama PLLC

How do you form a Alabama PLLC?

1. 1

   Check the licensing authority's rules first

   An Alabama LLC may render professional services only if it complies with the rules of the licensing authority for that profession, and the licensing authority may impose requirements beyond the LLC chapter. A member's transferable interest may be voluntarily transferred only to a qualified person.

   Source: Ala. Code § 10A-5A-8.01 · Ala. Code § 10A-5A-1.02

2. 2

   Choose a name and reserve it

   The name must contain "Limited Liability Company", "L.L.C." or "LLC" (§ 10A-1-5.06); the Secretary of State's form adds that you may use "Professional" before Limited Liability Company or LLC (or PLLC). Obtain a Certificate of Name Reservation before filing and attach a copy to the Certificate of Formation.

   Source: Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.06 · Alabama SOS, Domestic LLC Certificate of Formation · Alabama SOS, LLCs

3. 3

   File the Certificate of Formation

   File the Domestic Limited Liability Company (LLC) Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State, online or by mail, and check item 5, "Professional LLC complying with Title 10A, Chapter 5A, Article 8". Pay the filing fee set by the state.

   Have LLCity prepare and file it ›

   Source: Alabama SOS, Domestic LLC Certificate of Formation · Alabama SOS, LLCs

4. 4

   Name one registered agent with an Alabama street office

   Every Alabama filing entity must continuously maintain a registered agent and a registered office. The office must be a street address in Alabama where process can be personally served, not solely a mailbox or answering service; the form allows only one agent and no PO boxes.

   What Alabama requires of your agent, and how we serve as it ›

   Source: Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.31 · Alabama SOS, Domestic LLC Certificate of Formation

5. 5

   Put the LLC agreement in place

   Alabama's LLC chapter defines the limited liability company agreement as any agreement of the members, whether called an operating agreement or otherwise, written, oral or implied, and it governs relations among the members and the company.

   Source: Ala. Code § 10A-5A-1.02 · Ala. Code § 10A-5A-1.08

6. 6

   Handle the Business Privilege Tax returns

   LLCs file Alabama Form PPT with the Department of Revenue on the federal return due date, and the initial Form BPT-IN within two and one-half months of organizing. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2023, an entity whose tax falls within the statutory de minimis exemption need not file a return.

   Source: Alabama Department of Revenue, Business Privilege Tax

Steps checked against the sources linked under each one on 12 November 2026.

The Alabama professional LLC

Does a licensing board have to approve the filing?

Domestic and foreign are handled differently. For a domestic entity the Secretary of State collects no board certificate: § 10A-4-2.01 says a professional corporation may be organized "if the domestic professional corporation complies with the rules of the licensing authority for such profession," and § 10A-5A-8.01(a) says a limited liability company "shall have the power to render professional services if it complies with the rules of the licensing authority for such profession." Section 10A-5A-8.01(f) preserves the licensing authority's power to impose requirements beyond the chapter. For a foreign professional entity the office does ask: the Foreign PLLC and Foreign Professional Corporation Applications for Registration instruct the filer to include the Alabama professional license, and both carry item 13, "No foreign professional entity shall maintain an office in Alabama for the conduct of business or professional practice until it has obtained a certificate of authority to render professional services in Alabama," with a "Certificate attached" or "Not Applicable" box; item 11 requires the entity to name the Alabama-licensed individuals through whom it will render the services.

Which occupations does Alabama say must use a PLLC?

A general licensed-profession test, not an enumerated list. Section 10A-1-1.03(81): "PROFESSIONAL SERVICE. Any type of service that may lawfully be performed only pursuant to a license issued by a state court, state regulatory licensing board, or other like agency pursuant to state laws." Subsection (52) defines the licensing authority as "The state court, state regulatory licensing board, or other like agency which has the power to issue a license or other legal authorization to render professional services." Section 10A-4-1.03(6) ties professional corporation ownership to "qualified persons," and § 10A-5A-1.02 defines a qualified person for a professional LLC as a person authorized by Alabama or an Alabama regulatory authority to own a transferable interest in it.

Alabama also offers a corporation under a professional statute

A practice choosing between the two forms is choosing between these rules and the ones above.

Does the agent requirement differ from an ordinary Alabama LLC’s?

No. Alabama sets no separate agent requirement for a professional entity — it is the same requirement an ordinary Alabama LLC files under.

No difference. Section 10A-1-5.31 requires every filing entity to maintain a registered agent and a registered office at an Alabama street address. The domestic Certificate of Formation asks for one registered agent and a street address in Alabama with no PO boxes, and the Foreign PLLC and Foreign Professional Corporation forms ask for the same.

What else Alabama requires

Alabama's professional association chapter (Title 10A, Chapter 30) applies only to professional associations formed before January 1, 1984 (§ 10A-30-1.02(b)); the Secretary of State's forms library carries a renewal notice for them but no formation form.