Sunbiz reinstatement: restore a Florida LLC or corporation

Sunbiz reinstatement starts by checking your record. If Sunbiz shows your company as “administratively dissolved” or “revoked,” first confirm why. An entity that lost active status for failing to file annual reports may be eligible for the Division of Corporations’ reinstatement process. That is different from starting a new company, reversing a voluntary dissolution or reactivating a professional license.

The direct state route is Sunbiz’s electronic reinstatement service. You can prepare and submit the application yourself. The price depends on entity type and the number of annual-report years due—not a universal flat restoration fee.

This guide was checked November 9, 2026. State fees below are the published schedule, not a quote for every possible entity history.

First separate the company from its licenses

A contractor may have several independent records:

• The corporation or LLC’s status with the Division of Corporations.
• The individual contractor’s license status with DBPR.
• The business organization’s qualification under that license.
• Workers’ compensation coverage or an owner’s exemption.
• Local registrations and permits.

Restoring the Sunbiz entity does not automatically fix the other records. Similarly, paying DBPR renewal fees does not reinstate a dissolved LLC.

Check the exact name and document number before doing anything. Businesses with similar names, old fictitious names and multiple LLCs can make it surprisingly easy to restore the wrong record.

If a bank, customer or building department flagged the problem, ask which specific record it needs corrected. Keep a copy of that request so you can verify the right result at the end.

Step 1: Find the entity and read its filing history

Start at Sunbiz and search the company. Open the detail page and record:

1. Legal name and document number.
2. Entity type: LLC, profit corporation or nonprofit corporation.
3. Current status and the event causing it.
4. Most recent annual report and its year.
5. Principal and mailing addresses.
6. Registered agent and listed managers, officers or authorized persons.

Download the relevant history documents. If the record says voluntarily dissolved, merged or something other than administrative dissolution or revocation, do not assume the online reinstatement described here is the correct remedy.

Sunbiz states that administratively dissolved or revoked corporations, LLCs and certain other entity types may submit an electronic reinstatement application. If the online system rejects an older or unusual record, ask the Division for the correct procedure rather than forming a replacement entity on impulse.

Step 2: Understand the state fees

The Division’s reinstatement schedule lists:

Entity	Reinstatement charge	Additional annual-report charges
Limited liability company	$100	$138.75 for each report year due
Profit corporation	$600	$150 for each report year due
Nonprofit corporation	$175	$61.25 for each report year due

The live reinstatement application determines the years included in your filing. Review that calculation carefully, especially when reinstating after January 1, when another report year may be involved.

For illustration only, an LLC with exactly two report years charged would total $377.50: $100 plus two times $138.75. A profit corporation with exactly two report years charged would total $900: $600 plus two times $150. These examples exclude optional documents or unrelated corrections.

Do not automatically add another $400 late-report fee to these reinstatement examples. Sunbiz’s published reinstatement formula is the reinstatement charge plus the applicable report-year charges. Review the actual state checkout instead of combining separate fee tables without checking the transaction.

Step 3: Decide whether reinstatement is the right business move

If the company still holds contracts, assets, accounts or a professional-license relationship, reinstatement may be preferable to abandoning it and opening a new entity. But that is not merely a filing convenience question.

For an LLC, section 605.0715 governs reinstatement following administrative dissolution. It addresses the effect of reinstatement and relation back to the dissolution date. Profit corporations have their own provisions, including section 607.1422.

Do not read relation-back language as blanket permission to ignore licensing, taxes, insurance, litigation or contracts during the dissolved period. Those issues may involve other laws and third-party rights.

If the company has a disputed owner, pending lawsuit, major debt or contested contracts, consult a Florida lawyer before signing certifications or moving property. This guide explains the administrative filing, not whether a particular business should continue.

Step 4: Gather the current information

Prepare the entity’s document number, contact email, principal and mailing addresses, registered-agent details, and the names and addresses required for the entity’s managers or officers.

The reinstatement application updates or confirms Division records. It is not a financial statement. You are not being asked to upload a profit-and-loss report simply because the word “report” appears in the fees.

Verify who is authorized to sign. If a registered-agent appointment is changing, follow the application’s acceptance requirements. Do not list an agent who has not agreed to serve.

Use a durable business-controlled email address. Sunbiz confirmations and future reminders should not depend on access to a former employee’s inbox.

Step 5: Open the state reinstatement application

Enter through Sunbiz’s official reinstatement page and follow the instructions. Confirm the entity’s name and document number before editing.

Compare the information shown to your current records. Update only what is accurate and supported. A reinstatement is not a reason to invent a new officer, change ownership records casually or use a new name without following the applicable process.

If the business has been dissolved long enough for name availability to become an issue, allow for agency review. Sunbiz explains that older reinstatements may require a name-availability check. Ask the Division what supporting filing is needed if the name cannot be used.

Save a draft or working copy where the system permits, but do not confuse that with filing. The important milestones are completed submission, accepted payment and the restored public record.

Step 6: Review the amount and submit payment

The state lists online card and prepaid Sunbiz E-File payment options. Follow the current checkout for the methods actually available to your transaction.

Review the entity type, report years, reinstatement charge and any optional certificate before paying. If the amount differs from your estimate, investigate the reason rather than assuming the site made a mistake.

Keep the payment receipt and filing acknowledgement. If paying through a noninstant method described in the agency instructions, remember that the public record may not update merely because you mailed a payment.

Do not send a second payment just because the first filing is not visible immediately. Check the acknowledgement, payment status and published processing instructions first.

Step 7: Verify that Sunbiz shows active status

Sunbiz currently distinguishes between relatively recent dissolutions and older records: some online reinstatements post immediately, while records requiring name review can take additional business days. The agency’s published timing is guidance, not a guarantee for a particular application.

After processing, return to the entity detail page and verify the active status, filing history, addresses and listed persons. Save the reinstatement document and updated detail page.

If a bank or customer needs a certificate of status, determine whether it truly requires one. A certificate is a separate document, not the act that reinstates the entity. Avoid buying optional records solely because a solicitation describes them as mandatory.

Step 8: Repair the rest of the business records

Tell the bookkeeper, registered agent and relevant business partners that the record has been restored. Check tax accounts, bank requirements, insurance, local registrations and any contractor qualification tied to the entity.

Do not assume data synchronizes instantly between agencies. If DBPR or a local department still shows the old status, provide the accepted state filing through its proper process.

Then set a recurring annual-report reminder. The Sunbiz annual-report page explains the January-to-May filing window, late fees and fall dissolution process. Reinstatement resolves the current entity problem; it does not eliminate next year’s report.

What if the DBPR contractor license is also delinquent?

Treat this as a second task. Use the DBPR construction industry site to check the exact license status and available renewal or reactivation application.

The board distinguishes inactive, delinquent and null-and-void records. A delinquent status generally reflects a missed renewal; an inactive license and a null-and-void license involve different routes. Do not call every problem “reactivation.”

DBPR’s published construction FAQs say that an inactive-license reactivation requires the applicable application, fee and continuing education for the renewal cycle immediately preceding reactivation. They list $250 for reactivation outside a renewal period. That is not a verified all-in amount for every delinquent renewal; other fees can depend on status and timing.

For null-and-void certification, the agency describes a separate reinstatement application and a case-by-case illness or economic-hardship route. Otherwise, starting the licensure process again may be necessary. A Sunbiz receipt cannot substitute for that approval.

Before resuming regulated contracting, verify that DBPR shows the necessary active license and business qualification. If you worked while the license or entity was impaired, seek advice about the specific period and transactions rather than assuming a later filing resolves everything.

Frequently asked questions

Is reinstatement the same as forming a new LLC?

No. Reinstatement restores the eligible existing entity’s status. A new formation creates a different record and does not automatically inherit contracts, accounts or license relationships.

Is the LLC reinstatement fee only $100?

That is the reinstatement component. Sunbiz also charges $138.75 for each annual-report year due. The live application determines the report years included.

Is a nonprofit charged the corporation’s $600 fee?

No. The published nonprofit reinstatement charge is $175, plus $61.25 for each report year due. Confirm that the entity is actually a nonprofit corporation, not merely a business that had no profit.

Will filing instantly fix my contractor license?

No. Sunbiz entity status and DBPR licensing are separate records. Check both and complete any required qualification, renewal or reactivation transaction.

Can the state waive the reinstatement charge?

Sunbiz’s corporate reinstatement help states that there is no statutory provision for waiving the reinstatement fee. Do not pay a private company based on a promise that it can obtain a special waiver.

Related filing checks

Keep the connected records separate. See our annual-report filing walkthrough, Florida annual-report requirements, contractor-license business qualification and Florida compliance calendar. These guides explain different tasks; completing one does not automatically complete the others.

Sources and disclaimer

Primary sources: Sunbiz reinstatement instructions and fees, state fee schedules, section 605.0715, section 607.1422, and DBPR construction information.

This is general filing information, not legal advice. FileMyFlorida and FileMaven are independent services, not law firms, and are not affiliated with the State of Florida. Seek qualified advice about past business activity, disputed ownership, taxes or impaired licenses.