Missouri does not offer a professional LLC

What Missouri offers instead

How do you form a professional corporation in Missouri instead?

1. 1

   Get the licensing authority's certificate first

   Each incorporator must be a natural person licensed to render the professional service (RSMo § 356.041.1). A certificate from the licensing authority must be filed with the Secretary of State before the articles are issued, stating that each incorporator is licensed and, where its rules require, that it approves the name (§ 356.041.2). The office's form is the Certificate of State Board Registration (Corp. 76).

   Source: RSMo § 356.041 · Missouri Secretary of State: Certificate of State Board Registration (Corp. 76) · Missouri Secretary of State: Fees & Forms

2. 2

   Include "Professional Corporation" or "P.C."

   The name must contain "Professional Corporation" or "P.C.", and the corporation must identify itself that way when rendering professional services (RSMo § 356.071(1)). It may not imply any purpose outside its articles, must be distinguishable from names on record, and must follow any naming rule of the licensing authority (§ 356.071(2)-(4)).

   Source: RSMo § 356.071

3. 3

   File Articles of Incorporation (Corp. 41)

   File the Articles of Incorporation of a For Profit Corporation (Corp. 41) with the Corporations Division, together with the licensing authority's certificate (Corp. 76). The articles must state as their purpose the type of professional service to be practised and the street address of the initial principal place of business, if any (RSMo § 356.041.2). Pay the filing fee set by the state.

   Have LLCity prepare and file it ›

   Source: Missouri Secretary of State: Articles of Incorporation (Corp. 41) · Missouri Secretary of State: Certificate of State Board Registration (Corp. 76) · RSMo § 356.041 · RSMo § 356.051

4. 4

   Name a Missouri registered agent

   Chapter 351 applies to professional corporations (RSMo § 356.031). The corporation must keep a registered office and a registered agent in Missouri: an individual Missouri resident whose business office is the registered office, or a corporation authorized to do business in Missouri with that office (§ 351.370). Corp. 41 allows a PO box only in addition to a street address.

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

   Source: RSMo § 356.031 · RSMo § 351.370 · Missouri Secretary of State: Articles of Incorporation (Corp. 41)

5. 5

   File the corporate registration report each year

   File a corporate registration report within thirty days of incorporation and then each year in the month of incorporation (RSMo § 351.120.3). A professional corporation's report must list the names and addresses of all officers, directors and shareholders (§ 356.211). All directors, and all officers except the secretary, must remain qualified persons (§ 356.091).

   Source: RSMo § 351.120 · RSMo § 356.211 · RSMo § 356.091

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

Does a licensing board have to approve the filing?

Yes. RSMo § 356.041.2: a certificate by the licensing authority of each profession involved "shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state prior to issuance of the articles of incorporation", stating that each incorporator is licensed in Missouri, that at least one incorporator is licensed for each professional service, where applicable that the services may be practised together, and that the proposed name has been approved if the licensing authority's rules require it. The Secretary of State's form is the Certificate of State Board Registration (Corp. 76).

Which occupations does Missouri treat as professional?

Enumerated list with a licensing test. RSMo § 356.021(5): "professional service" means a service that may lawfully be rendered only by persons licensed under a Missouri licensing law and may not lawfully be rendered by a chapter 351 corporation, practised by an accountant; an architect or engineer; an attorney at law; a chiropodist-podiatrist; a chiropractor; a dentist; an optometrist; a physician, surgeon, doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy; a psychologist; a veterinarian; a registered nurse; a natural person licensed as a real estate salesperson; or a physical therapist, each constituting one type. A professional corporation practises a single type unless the licensing authorities permit a combination (§ 356.051). Shares may be issued only to the persons listed in § 356.111, and all directors and all officers other than the secretary must be qualified persons (§ 356.091).

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

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

Chapter 351 applies through RSMo § 356.031, so the ordinary corporate rule governs: a registered office and a registered agent in Missouri, the agent being an individual Missouri resident whose business office is identical with the registered office, or a corporation authorized to transact business in Missouri with a business office identical with it (§ 351.370). The Secretary of State's Corp. 41 allows a PO box only in addition to a physical street address.

Why Missouri answers this way

Missouri has no professional limited liability company. The LLC Act (RSMo chapter 347) has no professional-LLC part, and § 347.035 lets an LLC be organized for any lawful business; the Secretary of State's Fees & Forms page lists no professional LLC filing. The professional entity is the professional corporation under chapter 356, filed on the general Articles of Incorporation (Corp. 41) with the licensing authority's Certificate of State Board Registration (Corp. 76; listed on the forms page as 'Certificate of Professional License/Registration'). Whether a particular profession may practise through an ordinary chapter 347 LLC is a question for that profession's licensing law; neither chapter 347 nor the Secretary of State addresses it, so it is not stated.