Someone wants to see your LLC’s paperwork before they sign a contract. You’re about to send a deposit to a "Texas company" you found online and want to confirm it’s real. Or you picked a name for your own LLC and need to know if it’s already taken. All three of these start the same way: a Texas business entity search.

The catch is that Texas splits this function across two different state agencies, and most guides online blur them together as if they’re interchangeable. They’re not. Here’s what each one actually shows you, and which one you need.

Two tools, two different jobs

Texas doesn’t have one central "look up any business" website. It has two, run by two separate offices, answering two different questions.

The Texas Comptroller’s Taxable Entity Search tells you whether an entity is current on its franchise tax and has the legal right to transact business in the state. It’s free and doesn’t require an account.

SOSDirect, run by the Secretary of State, is the actual legal record: registered agent, formation date, filing history, and certified copies of documents. It costs $1 per search and requires a client account.

If you just want a fast check that a company is legitimate and hasn’t been shut down administratively, the Comptroller’s tool is usually enough. If you need a registered agent’s address, a certified copy of formation documents, or anything you’d hand to a bank, a court, or a title company, you need SOSDirect.

Go to the Comptroller’s Taxable Entity Search at mycpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa and search by one of three things: the entity name, the 11-digit Comptroller’s Taxpayer Number or 9-digit EIN, or the File Number assigned by the Secretary of State.

The result shows the entity’s franchise tax status (active, not yet due, or forfeited), whether it currently has the right to transact business in Texas, and basic contact information. That’s the full extent of it. No formation date, no registered agent, no owner names.

This is the right tool when someone sends you an invoice from "ABC Holdings LLC" and you want a fast gut check before you pay it.

Using SOSDirect for the full record

SOSDirect at direct.sos.state.tx.us is where you go for anything official. You’ll need a free client account first, then you fund it, since every search carries a $1 statutory fee. Texas doesn’t waive that fee just because you didn’t end up ordering anything, though it is dropped if you place an order or filing directly on your search results.

Once you’re in, SOSDirect shows the registered agent’s name and address, the formation date and current status, the full filing history, and certified copies of formation documents, amendments, and mergers.

If you need something you can actually hand to a third party as proof, order a Certificate of Fact, sometimes called a Certificate of Existence or Status. It costs $15 and confirms the entity was validly formed and is currently in good standing. Need the filing history attached too? The Long Form Certificate of Existence runs $25. Certified copies of the underlying documents cost $1 per page plus $15 per certificate; an uncertified plain copy, if you just want to read it yourself, is $0.10 a page.

What a forfeited status actually means

A "not in good standing" or forfeited result almost always means one thing: the entity missed a franchise tax filing or payment, and the Comptroller pulled its right to transact business. We cover exactly how that happens, and the current no-tax-due threshold, in our Texas LLC guide. Short version: most small LLCs owe $0 in actual franchise tax, but they still have to file the Public Information Report every year by May 15, and skipping that filing is usually what triggers forfeiture, not the tax bill itself.

If it’s your own entity that comes back forfeited, reinstatement costs $75 through the Secretary of State, on top of getting current with the Comptroller. If it’s someone else’s entity you’re checking before doing business with them, treat a forfeited status as a real reason to slow down.

Checking if a name is available before you file

If your search comes back empty, or nothing close enough to conflict, you can lock the name in before you file. A name reservation through SOSDirect holds it for 120 days for $40, renewable if you need more time. It’s optional, not required, but worth doing if you’re not ready to file yet and don’t want to risk someone else taking the name first. The Secretary of State also publishes a name availability rules document that explains what counts as "too similar" to an existing name, since the standard is stricter than an exact word match.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Texas business entity search free?

The Comptroller’s Taxable Entity Search is free and doesn’t require an account. SOSDirect, which has the fuller legal record, charges $1 per search and requires a client account.

Can I search by owner name instead of entity name?

Not directly. Neither tool lets you search by a person’s name to pull up every LLC they own. You can search by entity name, the Comptroller’s Taxpayer Number, an EIN, or the SOS File Number.

How current is the information?

Both databases reflect filings as they’re processed, not in real time. A document filed today can take a few business days to show up, especially for paper filings.

What if the entity doesn’t show up at all?

That usually means it doesn’t exist under that exact name, was never registered in Texas, or is registered under a slightly different version of the name, like an abbreviation or a "doing business as" name. Try searching just part of the name before concluding it isn’t real.

Neither of these tools requires a lawyer or a paid third-party lookup service to use. Between the two of them, official and either free or nearly free, you can answer almost anything you need to know about a Texas entity before you sign something or send money.