Key Takeaways
- Colorado recognizes the PLLC as a distinct entity type for licensed professionals (C.R.S. Title 7, Article 80 (§ 7-80-103), with professional restrictions layered in from Title 12 practice acts (e.g., § 12-36-134 for medicine))
- Colorado does not require licensing board pre-approval as a condition of filing
- Filing fee: $50
- Not confirmed as a single universal answer — Colorado's profession-by-profession Title 12 approach makes multi-disciplinary eligibility something that depends on each involved profession's own practice act rather than one statewide PLLC rule. Confirm with both relevant boards before assuming a combined entity is allowed.
- Same-day PLLC formation available through LLC Attorney, at no markup on state fees
If you're a licensed professional in Colorado, you won't find a distinct 'Professional LLC' box to check at the Secretary of State — Colorado professionals file the exact same Articles of Organization as any other LLC. The professional restrictions instead come from your specific profession's Title 12 practice act, not from a unified PLLC statute.
This guide covers exactly how that architecture works in 2026 — why the $50 filing looks identical whether you're a plumber or a physician, where the real professional-entity rules actually live, and Colorado's genuinely quotable medical malpractice insurance parameters ($300,000 per claim, $900,000 aggregate, scaling with the number of licensees).
What Is a Colorado PLLC?
A Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC) is a special LLC designation for licensed professionals — doctors, lawyers, accountants, and similar occupations. It works like a regular LLC, but ownership is restricted to people who hold the same professional license, and formation often requires sign-off from your licensing board before the state will accept your filing.
Yes. Colorado recognizes the PLLC as a distinct entity type for licensed professionals (C.R.S. Title 7, Article 80 (§ 7-80-103), with professional restrictions layered in from Title 12 practice acts (e.g., § 12-36-134 for medicine)).
Who Needs a PLLC in Colorado?
Colorado doesn't maintain one master "PLLC" statute — professional-entity requirements are scattered across Title 12 practice acts and vary by profession. Physicians, dentists, accountants, attorneys, architects, engineers, optometrists, physical therapists, podiatrists, psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, and addiction counselors are among those whose practice acts impose professional-entity conditions on rendering licensed services.
Because there's no separate SOS-level PLLC filing category, every Colorado LLC — professional or not — is formed using the exact same Articles of Organization. Whether special ownership or naming conditions apply to your practice depends entirely on your profession's own Title 12 practice act, not on anything the Secretary of State enforces at filing.
Do I Need Licensing Board Approval First?
Not required as a pre-filing SOS gate. Colorado's individual practice acts impose ongoing licensure and ownership conditions that are enforced by the relevant licensing board over time, rather than through a one-time pre-approval certificate checked before the Secretary of State will file your Articles.
There's no before-vs-after sequencing issue at the SOS level since Colorado doesn't condition the filing on board approval at all. Ongoing compliance with your specific practice act (like the medical board's ownership rules under § 12-36-134) is a continuing obligation you maintain after formation, not a one-time gate before it.
How to Form a Colorado PLLC
- Filing agency: Colorado Secretary of State
- Form: Articles of Organization (the identical form used for any Colorado LLC — there is no separate professional-entity form)
- Filing fee: $50
- Processing time: Immediate to same-day, since Colorado files entirely online
- Name requirement: Standard Colorado LLC designator rules apply ("limited liability company," "LLC," or "L.L.C."); whether a "PLLC"/"P.L.L.C." designator is required for a professional-service LLC is disputed among sources and should be confirmed against your specific practice act and the current SOS name rules before filing
Who Can Own a Colorado PLLC?
Ownership restrictions live in Title 12 practice acts, not the LLC Act itself. For medicine specifically, § 12-36-134 requires all shareholders/members to be Colorado-licensed physicians who own their shares in their own right, except physician assistants may hold minority interests while physicians retain majority ownership. Other professions have their own separate rules under their governing practice act.
Not confirmed as a single universal answer — Colorado's profession-by-profession Title 12 approach makes multi-disciplinary eligibility something that depends on each involved profession's own practice act rather than one statewide PLLC rule. Confirm with both relevant boards before assuming a combined entity is allowed.
What Liability Protection Does a PLLC Actually Provide?
A PLLC protects you from business debts and from a co-owner's malpractice — but it never shields you from your own malpractice. If you personally provide negligent professional services, you remain personally liable for that regardless of the entity structure.
A Colorado professional-service LLC shields members from each other's malpractice and from ordinary business debts, but never from a member's own negligent professional acts — that liability follows the individual professional regardless of the entity structure.
For medicine, § 12-36-134 sets specific insurance parameters: up to $300,000 per claim and $900,000 in aggregate, scaling with the number of licensees in the practice. For attorneys, Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 265 provides a liability shield conditioned on carrying prescribed minimum malpractice insurance — an opt-in structure rather than a blanket statutory mandate across all professions.
How Is a Colorado PLLC Taxed?
By default, a PLLC is taxed exactly like a regular LLC — pass-through to the owners' personal returns, with the option to elect S-corp or C-corp taxation if that fits your situation better. The professional designation changes ownership eligibility and licensing oversight, not the default federal tax treatment.
Colorado has a flat 4.4% state personal income tax, so a professional-service LLC's default pass-through profit is taxed at that flat rate on members' personal returns in addition to federal tax.
Colorado has no franchise tax beyond the $25 annual Periodic Report fee that every Colorado LLC — professional or not — owes to stay in good standing.
Colorado is architecturally distinct from most states in this guide — professional-entity rules live in scattered Title 12 practice acts rather than a unified PLLC statute, so the specific requirements you face depend entirely on which profession you're in.
How to Set Up Your Colorado PLLC Step by Step
If You Do It Yourself
Step 1 — Confirm you need a PLLC (not a plain LLC) for your profession.
Colorado doesn't maintain one master "PLLC" statute — professional-entity requirements are scattered across Title 12 practice acts and vary by profession. Physicians, dentists, accountants, attorneys, architects, engineers, optometrists, physical therapists, podiatrists, psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, and addiction counselors are among those whose practice acts impose professional-entity conditions on rendering licensed services.
Step 2 — Get licensing board sign-off if required.
Not required as a pre-filing SOS gate. Colorado's individual practice acts impose ongoing licensure and ownership conditions that are enforced by the relevant licensing board over time, rather than through a one-time pre-approval certificate checked before the Secretary of State will file your Articles. There's no before-vs-after sequencing issue at the SOS level since Colorado doesn't condition the filing on board approval at all. Ongoing compliance with your specific practice act (like the medical board's ownership rules under § 12-36-134) is a continuing obligation you maintain after formation, not a one-time gate before it.
Step 3 — File your formation documents.
File the Articles of Organization (the identical form used for any Colorado LLC — there is no separate professional-entity form) with Colorado Secretary of State, $50.
Step 4 — Appoint a registered agent.
Colorado calls this role a "Registered Agent" — required at formation.
Step 5 — Confirm ownership eligibility for every member.
Ownership restrictions live in Title 12 practice acts, not the LLC Act itself. For medicine specifically, § 12-36-134 requires all shareholders/members to be Colorado-licensed physicians who own their shares in their own right, except physician assistants may hold minority interests while physicians retain majority ownership. Other professions have their own separate rules under their governing practice act.
Step 6 — Address malpractice insurance requirements.
For medicine, § 12-36-134 sets specific insurance parameters: up to $300,000 per claim and $900,000 in aggregate, scaling with the number of licensees in the practice. For attorneys, Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 265 provides a liability shield conditioned on carrying prescribed minimum malpractice insurance — an opt-in structure rather than a blanket statutory mandate across all professions.
Step 7 — Handle ongoing state compliance.
Colorado has no franchise tax beyond the $25 annual Periodic Report fee that every Colorado LLC — professional or not — owes to stay in good standing. Colorado has a flat 4.4% state personal income tax, so a professional-service LLC's default pass-through profit is taxed at that flat rate on members' personal returns in addition to federal tax.
Step 8 — Watch for Colorado-specific PLLC traps.
The most common Colorado-specific mistake is assuming Colorado works like a typical PLLC state with one governing statute — instead, you have to identify and comply with your own profession's Title 12 practice act, since the LLC Act itself (Article 80) doesn't create special professional-entity rules at all.
If LLC Attorney Does It for You
- Submit your profession, license number, and ownership details at llcattorney.com.
- LLC Attorney forms your Colorado PLLC, coordinating any required licensing board approval before filing.
- Receive your finished formation documents and registered agent service, plus access to flat-fee attorney consultations (no retainer) for ownership or licensing questions.
When Should You Talk to an Attorney About Your Colorado PLLC?
Talk to an attorney before forming your Colorado professional-service LLC if you're not sure which Title 12 practice act governs your profession's ownership and naming rules, if you're structuring ownership that includes a minority non-licensed or differently-licensed member (like a physician assistant in a medical practice), or if you need to confirm your specific malpractice insurance obligations rather than assume a one-size-fits-all rule.
Is Colorado a State Where PLLC Formation Is More Complex?
Colorado is more complex than it first appears because there's no single PLLC statute to read — professional-entity requirements are scattered across dozens of Title 12 practice acts, each with potentially different ownership rules, insurance parameters, and naming expectations. What applies to a medical practice under § 12-36-134 (majority-physician ownership, specific malpractice insurance minimums) may look nothing like what applies to an architecture or accounting practice under its own Title 12 chapter.
What You Actually Get With LLC Attorney's Colorado PLLC Formation
The part of Colorado professional-entity formation that trips people up isn't the SOS filing — it's figuring out which Title 12 practice act actually governs your profession's ownership and insurance rules, since Colorado doesn't spell that out in one place. LLC Attorney identifies the right rules for your specific profession from the start.
- PLLC formation in Colorado, starting at $149.
- Licensing board coordination and ownership-eligibility review handled for your specific profession.
- Filing paperwork drafted for Colorado's actual requirements — not a generic multi-state template.
- Access to professionally trained Business Success Advisors at no charge, plus flat-fee attorney consultations (no retainer) for licensing and ownership questions.
Colorado's scattered, profession-by-profession approach to entity restrictions means the real work is knowing which practice act applies to you — LLC Attorney handles that identification correctly instead of leaving you to guess.
Ready to Form Your Colorado PLLC?
LLC Attorney forms Colorado PLLCs for licensed professionals, coordinating the licensing board approval step and serving as your registered agent once your PLLC is approved. See our full pricing for all service tiers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Functionally yes, but structurally unusual: Colorado has no separate 'Professional LLC' filing category at the Secretary of State. Professionals file the exact same Articles of Organization as any LLC under C.R.S. Title 7, Article 80 — the professional restrictions come from Title 12 practice acts, not the LLC Act itself.
Professions enumerated across Title 12 practice acts — including physicians, dentists, accountants, attorneys, architects, engineers, optometrists, physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, and various counselors — have their own professional-entity rules layered on top of the standard LLC filing.
Not as a pre-filing SOS gate. Colorado's individual practice acts impose ongoing licensure and ownership conditions enforced by the relevant licensing board over time, rather than through a one-time pre-approval certificate checked at filing.
The Colorado Articles of Organization filing fee is $50 — the same as any other Colorado LLC. An annual $25 Periodic Report fee applies afterward to stay in good standing.
Ownership rules come from your profession's own Title 12 practice act rather than the LLC Act. For medicine specifically, all shareholders/members must be Colorado-licensed physicians who own their shares in their own right, except physician assistants may hold minority interests while physicians retain majority ownership.
Not confirmed as a single universal answer — Colorado's profession-by-profession approach means multi-disciplinary eligibility depends on each involved profession's own practice act, not one statewide PLLC rule.
A Colorado professional-service LLC shields members from each other's malpractice and from ordinary business debts, but never from a member's own negligent professional acts.
It depends on the profession. For medicine, § 12-36-134 sets specific parameters — up to $300,000 per claim and $900,000 aggregate, scaling with the number of licensees. For attorneys, malpractice insurance is an opt-in condition for a liability shield under Rule 265, not a blanket mandate.
Yes. LLC Attorney helps licensed professionals in Colorado form the correct entity type for their profession, starting at $149.