What Wisconsin offers instead
What creates it in Wisconsin
Wis. Stat. §§ 180.1901 to 180.1921 (Business Corporation Law, subchapter XIX, Service Corporations)
What the name must contain
The corporate name must end with the word 'chartered' or 'limited', or the words 'service corporation', or the abbreviation 'ltd.' or 'S.C.' (Wis. Stat. § 180.1907; DFI Form Corp58P). The name may bear the surname of present or former associates or omit surnames entirely.
Does a licensing board have to approve the filing?
The Department of Financial Institutions requires no licensing-board certificate with the articles. Its 'Organizing a Service Corporation' guidance (Form Corp58P) tells the incorporator to obtain the licence, certification or registration from the appropriate state regulatory agency before submitting the articles; Wis. Stat. § 180.1909 simply requires the articles to be delivered to the department before commencing operations.
Which occupations Wisconsin treats as professional
A general licensed-profession test with a board-defined health-care list. Wis. Stat. § 180.1903(1): one or more natural persons 'licensed, certified, or registered pursuant to any provisions of the statutes' may organize a service corporation if all hold the same licence, certificate or registration, or if all are 'health care professionals'. § 180.1901(1m) defines health care professional by listing the licensing boards (massage therapy, chiropractic, nursing, dentistry, medical, physical therapy, podiatry, dietitians, athletic trainers, occupational therapists, optometry, pharmacy, psychology, marriage and family therapy/professional counseling/social work, hearing and speech, naturopathic medicine). § 180.1903(1m) lets a CPA service corporation form if more than 50 percent of shareholders are CPAs. § 180.1911 requires every shareholder, director and officer to be so licensed at all times.
Does the agent requirement differ from an ordinary Wisconsin LLC’s?
No. Wisconsin sets no separate agent requirement for a professional entity — it is the same requirement an ordinary Wisconsin LLC files under.
Service corporations follow the ordinary Business Corporation Law except where subchapter XIX provides otherwise (§ 180.1905), and it says nothing about the registered agent. LLCs, whatever they practise, use § 183.0115: an agent with a Wisconsin street address, an e-mail address, and a place of business in the state.
Why Wisconsin answers this way
Wisconsin's professional entity is called a 'service corporation', not a professional corporation, and DFI's entity list names it as 'a special-purpose type of business corporation for shareholders who are all licensed, registered or certified to engage in the same professional occupation'. There is no professional LLC: DFI's entity list, FAQ and Articles of Organization (Form 502) contain no PLLC option, ch. 183 has no professional subchapter, and § 183.0112 does not permit or require a 'professional' designator. A licensed person who wants an LLC forms an ordinary one under ch. 183, subject to § 183.0108(2): an LLC in a business regulated by another chapter may organize 'only if not prohibited by, and is subject to all limitations of, the other chapter', and § 183.0112(6) bars a name implying a regulated purpose unless the entity meets that statute. Whether a given profession may practise through an LLC is therefore a question for that profession's own licensing chapter or rules, not for DFI. Health-care shareholders other than physicians and nurse anesthetists who practise without physician supervision must carry malpractice cover at the statutory level (§ 180.1903(4)).
Verified against the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Corporate & Consumer Services (dfi.wi.gov/Documents/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/CORP58P.pdf) · Statute text: docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/180/xix · Last updated September 2026. Wisconsin only — the rules in this cluster differ by jurisdiction, and this page speaks for no other.