Customer Service Update: February 25, 2025
Entity Number Update
The California Secretary of State’s Business Programs Division has made improvements to the entity numbering system.
Newly registered Corporations, Limited Liability Companies (LLC), and Limited Partnerships (LP) will now utilize a 12-character ID that starts with the letter “B”.
Entities, with a preestablished entity number, will continue to use the same number even when the 12-character ID is implemented. Entity numbers for General Partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships will not change.
Entities that file a continuing conversion (e.g., Corporation to LLC or LP) will keep their original number as well.
How the change may affect you:
Searching for entities in the bizfile Online portal will not be changing; however, for newly established entity numbers you will need to make sure to include the letter “B” as part of the ID when conducting your search.
If you are a requestor of Bulk data, the new entity numbers will be reflected in the files.
How this will benefit business entities:
The benefit to expanding and transitioning to a character ID will assist with standardization and continuity of records related to continuing conversions.
If you have any questions about the update, please contact us at bizfile@sos.ca.gov.
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Welcome to bizfile California, the Secretary of State’s online portal to help businesses file, search, and order business records. Whether you are filing a financing statement pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), searching for a corporation (Corp), limited liability company (LLC), limited partnership (LP) filing or looking for an immigration consultant, this hub consolidates all information needs. For faster service file or order online at bizfileOnline.sos.ca.gov.
First-time users: To file a document or place an order online for your Corporation, Limited Liability Company or Limited Partnership, review the bizfile Online Account Setup and User Access Guide (PDF) OR watch our 2-minute video within the Video Resources Library for instructions on how to create a secure online account and access your entity's online record.
