Washington Business Entity Search

Official agency: Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division

Open Official Government SearchOpens ccfs.sos.wa.gov in a new tab. This is the official government site, not EntityLocator.

Direct links on the official site

Search methods offered

Basic searchBusiness Name or UBI.
Advanced: Business Type and Business Name
Advanced: Business StatusACTIVE, ACTIVE PENDING, ADMINISTRATIVELY DISSOLVED, CONSOLIDATED, CONVERTED, DELINQUENT, DOMESTICATED, EXPIRED, INACTIVE, JUDICIALLY DISSOLVED, MERGED, TERMINATED, VOLUNTARILY DISSOLVED or WITHDRAWN.
Advanced: datesExpiration Date, and a Start and End Date for Incorporation, Formation or Registration (MM/DD/YYYY).
Advanced: Registered Agent or GovernorFor an agent, enter Registered Agent Name and optionally Agent Address (Address 1, Address 2, Zip, City). For a governor, enter Governor Name.

How to search

Open CCFS using the button above and scroll down to Corporation Search, which is below the account-login area.
Enter a Business Name or UBI. Use Advanced Search if you want to filter by type, status, dates, registered agent or governor. At least one search parameter is required, and several can be combined to narrow results.
Select Search in the Corporation Search section, not in the separate charity or trademark sections.
Select a business name in the results.
Read Business Information and Registered Agent Information, and scroll down for Governors where they are shown.
Select Filing History to see filings and notices. Let the page finish loading. During our review it briefly displayed “No Value Found” before the history appeared.
Use View Documents on a filing when available. The official help says this opens a document-selection popup. We didn’t test that final step.

What you can expect to find

The results table has the columns Business Name, UBI#, Business Type, Principal Office Address, Registered Agent Name, Status and Nonprofit EIN. Some rows are alternate or previous names with sparse columns, so don’t treat each row as a separate active entity or expect an EIN for a profit company.
A record can show the business name, UBI, type, Business Status, principal office street and mailing addresses, Expiration Date, jurisdiction, Formation/Registration Date, period of duration, Inactive Date, nature of business, and the registered agent’s name and addresses.
A Governors table shows Title, Governors Type, Entity Name, First Name and Last Name. The record we reviewed used a placeholder instead of listing individuals, so don’t assume it names every governor.
Filing History shows Filing Number, Filing Date Time, Effective Date, Filing Type and Action, and includes official notices as well as filed documents. Name History and Print are also offered.

Limitations, fees and notices

Public search, record details and history worked without a login or payment. Printouts from public search are not certified copies.
Paid records are separate: a Certificate of Existence/Good Standing, a Certificate of Fact on Record and a long-form existence certificate are listed at $20 each. Photocopies of recorded documents are $10 for a single document, $20 for charter documents and $10 for annual reports, and certified copies are $10 plus copy fees. Files over 100 pages carry a $13 surcharge for each 50-page increment.
Additional charges can apply. The official help also mentions a $20 online processing fee for filing services and record requests, and $100 for online expedite per item. Don’t treat the base certificate fee as your final checkout total. No checkout was tested.
The official help says verification checks such as Cloudflare or reCAPTCHA can appear. None blocked our test search, but one may appear for you.
The official help says records inactive for more than 10 years are no longer in the online system. For historical records, see the Washington State Digital Archives. We didn’t search the archives.
The Department of Revenue Business Lookup is a different system. It covers only business licenses, tax accounts and reseller permits issued by that department, and names on tax accounts and licenses may differ from the Secretary of State’s record. It doesn’t replace the Secretary of State’s entity status and filing history.
A name match in CCFS is not a determination that a name is available. No formal availability check was done.

Sources and research notes

Sources reviewed: November 4, 2026. Official sites change; always confirm current details on the government site.

Research for this guide used the official Washington sites in a web browser. A name search, one corporation record and its filing history were tested; no document order or checkout was tested.