Your Client's Annual Report Won't Change Their Entity Name — Here's What Will
Every May, someone on a roster of Florida entities logs into Sunbiz, pulls up a client's annual report, types the client's new entity name into the box — and nothing happens. The filing goes through. The name on Sunbiz doesn't change. A week later the client calls asking why their old name is still showing up on a certificate of status.
This isn't a glitch. Florida's annual report was never built to change a name, and Sunbiz says so directly: "The annual report will not allow you to change the name of the entity." It's one of the most common filing mix-ups for firms that manage several clients' entities, because the annual report does let you update almost everything else — which makes it easy to assume a name change works the same way.
What the annual report can actually change
Filed online, by credit card, and reflected on the record within minutes, the annual report can update:
- The names and addresses of officers, directors, managers, and managing members (for a limited partnership's general partners, only the address — not who they are)
- The registered agent and registered office address
- The principal office address and mailing address
- The FEI/EIN number on file That's a meaningful amount of housekeeping for a firm tracking a whole client roster — a registered agent change, an address move, a new manager — all through one $138.75 (LLC) or $150 (for-profit corporation) filing, due by May 1 each year. But it stops there. The entity's legal name, and a general partner's identity on an LP or LLLP, are off-limits to this filing no matter how the form is filled out.
What actually changes the name: Articles of Amendment
To change an entity's legal name in Florida, you file Articles of Amendment (Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Organization, for an LLC) directly with the Division of Corporations — a separate filing from the annual report, with its own fee and, notably, its own process: a name-change amendment can't be filed through the online annual-report portal. It has to be mailed, faxed (with a Sunbiz E-File account), or delivered in person, with a cover letter identifying the entity and filer.
The filing fee depends on entity type:
| Entity type | Amendment fee | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| LLC | $25.00 | Fla. Stat. §605.0202 |
| For-profit corporation | $35.00 | Fla. Stat. §607.1006 |
| Nonprofit corporation | $35.00 | Fla. Stat. §607.1006 (Ch. 617 incorporates by reference) |
| Limited partnership / LLLP | $52.50 | Fla. Stat. Ch. 620 |
Beyond a name change, the same Articles of Amendment filing is also the correct vehicle for changing an LLC's principal address, registered agent, or authorized managers outside of annual-report season, and — specific to limited partnerships and LLLPs — for adding or removing a general partner, which the annual report explicitly cannot do either.
The filing that's neither of these: a Statement of Correction
A third, smaller filing sometimes gets confused with an amendment: the Statement of Correction (§605.0209 for an LLC, §607.0124 for a corporation). This one isn't for substantive changes at all — it's for fixing a filing that already contains an inaccuracy or defect at the time it was made, like a misspelled entity name or a typo in a filed document, not for making a change the entity has since decided on. If the name on file is simply wrong because of a clerical error, that's a correction. If the entity is choosing to go by a new name, that's an amendment. Using the wrong one means paying a fee for a filing that doesn't do what's needed and then having to file again.
Why this matters for a multi-client roster
None of this is one filing to remember — it's three filings, three fee schedules, and three different situations, repeated across every client entity a firm tracks. A CPA or attorney managing a dozen client entities across LLCs, corporations, and an LP or two doesn't want to be the one who finds out, mid–name-change, that the annual report they just filed didn't do what the client assumed it would. Having every client's entity type, current legal name, and Sunbiz status in one dashboard — rather than re-pulling each one's record from Sunbiz.org individually — is what turns "wait, is this the right filing?" into a five-second check instead of a support call per client.
Quick reference
- Need to update a registered agent, address, or officer/manager list? → Annual report (if it's during the current filing year) or an amendment (any time).
- Need to change the entity's legal name? → Articles of Amendment, mailed/faxed/in person, never through the online annual report.
- Need to add or remove an LP/LLLP general partner? → Amendment, not the annual report.
- Filed something with a typo that needs fixing, not changing? → Statement of Correction, not an amendment.
Sources: Sunbiz Annual Report Instructions; Florida Division of Corporations — Update Information; Florida Division of Corporations — Forms & Fees; Florida Statute §607.1006; Florida Statute §607.0124; Florida Statute §605.0209; Florida LLC Amendment process