Business Entity Types

General Information

The Department of Financial Institutions ("DFI") is the filing office for creating a Wisconsin

• Corporation (Ch. 180, Wis. Stats.)
• Business
• Service (Professional occupations requiring state certification)
• Statutory Close
• Investment companies
• Limited Partnership (Ch. 179, Wis. Stats.)
• Limited Liability Company (Ch. 183, Wis. Stats.)
• Limited Liability Partnership (Ch. 178, Wis. Stats.)
• Cooperative Association (Ch. 185, Wis. Stats.)
• Unincorporated Cooperative Associations (Ch 193, Wis. Stats.)
• Common Law Trust (Ch. 226, Wis. Stats.)

or for licensing an existing foreign (out-of-state) entity to transact business in Wisconsin.

The person or persons forming the business have the responsibility of selecting the type of entity to use. The department cannot offer legal advice; accordingly, you may want to consider consulting your own legal advisor in making this decision. It is not mandatory to engage an attorney to prepare and submit your organizational instrument for filing.

Our examination of your organizational instrument is limited to determining the availability of the name selected for the entity and in ascertaining that the document sets forth the minimum information and satisfies the general filing requirements of the particular statutory chapter under which it is formed.

An entity created under one chapter of law may, or may not, be convertible to a type organized under a different chapter. Changing from one type of entity to another may entail filing fees and other complications.

Common use forms are available on this website. Click on the Forms link on this page, then on the type of entity. A page of form titles and numbers will appear and you may scroll down to the desired form.

If you do not have Internet access or cannot identify and download the form you need, contact DFI, Div. of Corporate & Consumer Services, Attn: Corporation Section:

• By Phone: (608) 261-7577, TTY: 711
• By FAX: (608) 267-6813
• By Mail: PO Box 7846, Madison WI, 53707-7846
• Office location: 4822 Madison Yards Way, North Tower, Madison WI, 53705

The forms published by the department include instructions for completing the form, filing fees, and filing procedures. You may also want to research the statutory chapter of law under which the entity is created.