Louisiana Secure Business Filings (SBF)

Imagine someone filing and requesting important documents related to your Louisiana LLC without your permission or authorization. Since many states have what is called “open filing” with their online filing systems, virtually anyone can access your information and use it to commit business identity theft or fraud.

Fortunately, Louisiana has developed a system designed to minimize your chances of becoming a victim of business identity theft: the Secure Business Filings Service (SBF).

What is Secure Business Filings (SBF)?

The SBF is a program where the Louisiana Secretary of State emails you anytime filings or amendments are made on behalf of your business. After you enroll in the program, you’ll be able to review any filings made, and then you’ll have the ability to approve or reject any request.

How does SBF work?
After you enroll in the program, you’ll receive a special PIN number which you’ll use to approve and reject filings.

How much does SBF cost?
The one-time enrollment fee is $40 and it lasts for the life of your business.

How long does it take to be approved?
Once you submit your SBF Authorization Affidavit (as described below) and submit your $40 via credit card in your geauxBIZ account, the state will approve your enrollment in 24-48 hours.

Once you are enrolled, you’ll receive an email notification from the state.

Complete, Sign and Notarize the SBF Authorization Affidavit

Download the SBF Authorization Affidavit

Business Name:
Enter your exact business name. Make sure it matches your approval documents from the Louisiana Secretary of State.

SBF Enrollee Name:
If someone other than you will be reviewing your filings, enter their name here.
If you will be reviewing your filing, leave this blank (since your name will be below on the “Authorizing Authority” line).

Printed Name of Authorizing Authority:
Enter your full name here.

Title of Authorizing Authority:
Enter your title, such as “Member” or “Manager” for an LLC, or “President”, “Director”, etc. for a different business entity.

Signature of Authorizing Authority:
Take this form to a notary and sign your name in front of them. Make sure to bring your ID.

Notary:
Bring this document to a notary and have them witness your signature. Then the notary will date, sign, and enter their notary/bar roll number at the bottom of the form.

Scan and Save to PDF:
Scan your SBF Authorization Affidavit to your computer and save in PDF format. We recommend renaming the file so you can find it easily in the future. For example, a good file name would be “SBF Authorization Affidavit – ABC Widgets”.
Submit your SBF Authorization Affidavit via geauxBIZ.

1. Login to your geauxBIZ account.

2. Click “My Businesses“, and then the “View” icon to the right of your business.

3. Click “Add or Change SBF Enrollment“, and then click “Next”.

4. Upload your completed and notarized SBF Affidavit (must be in PDF format), then click “Next”.

5. Review your information, click “Next”, read the Terms and Conditions, electronically sign the document (by entering your full name), and then click “Next“.

6. Review your signature one final time, click “Next“, select your payment method and enter your billing information on the next page. When finished, click “Checkout & File” to submit.

You will receive a message on the next page stating that your SBF enrollment has been submitted. Click “Close” and return to your geauxBIZ dashboard. You can check your SBF enrollment status anytime by going to your dashboard and looking under the “My Filings” section.

Approval

Upon approval (which is within 24-48 hours), the state will mark the business as “approved” in your geauxBIZ dashboard. You’ll also receive a 16-digit PIN which the state will send to your email address. We recommend making a copy of this information and keeping it in a safe place.

How to Use your SBF PIN

Now that your business is officially enrolled in the SBF program, you’ll use your PIN to authorize or reject any business filings.

If someone fraudulently filing a request on behalf of your business, before it is reviewed/approved by the state, you’ll be notified by email and asked to review the filing. You’ll enter your SFB PIN and be able to reject the filing.

On the other hand, if you are filing a document for your business and you want to skip the security email notifications from the SBF program, just enter your PIN during the online filing process and this will speed up the approval of your documents.

Louisiana Secretary of State Contact Info

If you have any questions about the Secure Business Filings program, you can contact the Louisiana Secretary of State at 225-925-4704.

Matt Horwitz

Founder & Educator, LLC University®

Matt Horwitz has been the leading expert on LLC education for the past decade. He founded LLC University in 2010 after realizing people needed simple and actionable instructions to start an LLC that other companies weren't offering. He's cited by Entrepreneur Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and the US Chamber of Commerce, and was featured by CNBC and InventRight.
 
Matt holds a Bachelor's Degree in business from Drexel University with a concentration in business law. He performs extensive research and analysis to convert state laws into simple instructions anyone can follow to form their LLC - all for free! Read more about Matt Horwitz and LLC University.