Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › Montana

Doing business in Montana from another state

If your LLC does business in Montana as Montana defines it, you register with the Montana Secretary of State, Business Services for $70.

Step 1: put these questions to Montana’s law

  1. An employee or contractor works from the state. Ask whether the statute counts work done by people located in the state, and whether employees and independent contractors are treated alike.
  2. You sell to customers there but have no one on the ground. Ask whether the statute treats sales from outside the state differently from activity inside it.
  3. The LLC owns or leases property there. Ask whether owning or leasing real estate is listed as an activity that does, or does not, count.
  4. You open an office, shop or warehouse. Ask whether a fixed place of business is named in the statute. Settle the answer before you sign a lease.
  5. You hold meetings or keep a bank account there. Ask whether the statute lists these ancillary activities, and whether they count by themselves.

Montana’s sources do not name a statute on this page; start at the Montana filing page.

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
Application for Certificate of Authority (foreign limited liability company)
Fee
$70
Paper from your home state
None for an LLC
Agent
A registered agent in Montana

Best 3 Foreign Registration Services in Montana (2026)

Step 3: if you would rather not file it yourself.

#ServiceService feeMontana feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$70Year one included, then $149/yr
2Registered Agent MT.org$199$70Year one included, then $99/yr
3Montana Registered Agent.co$199$70Year one included, then $99/yr

Service prices read from each provider’s Montana page on October 28, 2026. The state fee is the official figure below and is paid to the Montana Secretary of State, Business Services.

Montana questions

When does an LLC from another state have to register in Montana?

When its activity in Montana meets Montana’s own definition of doing business. We do not paraphrase it; read it through the Montana filing page.

What does registering in Montana cost?

$70 to the Montana Secretary of State, Business Services.

What is required after registering?

Annual report (Montana Secretary of State), no fee (due: april 15), and a registered agent in Montana.

Sources