What is a DBA?
Every business has a ‘legal’ or ‘true name’. In the case of a sole proprietorship or partnership, that legal name is the name of the business owner or owners. In the case of a corporation, limited liability company (LLC) the legal name is the one on its formation document. If the person or company does business under another name, this is a DBA name. DBAs are also referred to as an “assumed name”, “fictitious business name” or “trade name”.
What is the purpose of registering a DBA name?
The purpose of registering a DBA name is to notify the public that a particular person or business entity is conducting business under a name other than its legal name. Assumed name (DBA) laws are consumer protection laws. Registration is required so that the public knows the actual owner of the businesses they buy from or deal with. This is designed with the belief that potential clients have the right to have full disclosure from the people they are doing business with.
Do I Need A DBA For My Business?
In the vast majority of cases, a DBA is only required if you are using a business name other than your legal business name. There are some states that require one for certain business entity types. An example of this would be that New York requires partnerships to have a DBA. Furthermore, if you are operating a sole proprietorship or partnership, and you are using a name other than your own, you will need a DBA to open a business bank account or to be listed in certain business directories.
How do I file a DBA?
To do business under a DBA, you must complete and file the appropriate DBA forms and pay a filing fee, you will then receive a DBA certificate. Depending on the state you are doing business in you may be able to file with a local or county clerk’s office, with a state agency, or both. Make sure you verify all the relevant local governing authorities for DBA filings in the states you are or plan to be doing business in. Then confirm all the DBA filing requirements for your business or entity type.
In some states, filings are made in different offices for sole proprietors and general partnerships than they are for corporations, LLCs and other statutory entities. The forms may be different too. Upon successful completion of the filing and receiving a fictitious name certificate, you may begin using your DBA name.
Follow these steps
Hopefully you can see now that the process is not complicated for the average business owner and can be easily attained if you follow these simple steps. After reading this guide be sure to check out this site which will help you go through everything I am about to explain. Read more
Select your state
You will need to select your state you are going to do business in and see the specific requirements for your business. As previously discussed different states have different rules so make sure you know more about this before you continue.
Complete a DBA name search
Before you file, please check that the name you want to use isn’t taken by someone else or isn’t too similar to some other business that already exists, your filing might be rejected if it runs into any of these problems.
Register your DBA in your state
You will need to file your DBA with the state or with the county/city clerk’s office depending on your location and business structure, Several states require you to register a DBA with more than one level of government. For example, a sole proprietorship may have to file at the state and county level in one state, while another state may require that same sole proprietorship to file with just the county.
