Find every license your business actually needs.
Our license search checks federal, state, county, and city requirements for your specific industry, address, and activity. Then we file the licenses you need and track their renewal dates.
Business Licenses, plainly.
Forming an LLC is not the same as being licensed to operate. Most businesses need additional licenses at one or more levels of government: a federal license if regulated (food, alcohol, firearms, broadcast, transport), a state license (most professional services, healthcare, contractor, retail liquor, child care), a county license, a city or municipal business license.
The license requirements depend on three things: what industry you are in, where you are physically located, and what specific activities you do. A landscaping LLC in Phoenix needs different licenses from a landscaping LLC in Atlanta. A SaaS company in San Francisco needs a city business license. A restaurant needs maybe 8 separate licenses.
Our license search asks specific questions about your business type and looks up the exact requirements for your address. We then handle the filings, including any required preliminary steps (fingerprinting, background checks, professional licensing, zoning).
Common situations.
What is included.
- License search across federal, state, county, city levels
- Industry-specific requirements
- Filings for each required license
- Background check and fingerprinting coordination where required
- Zoning and home-occupation permit assessment
- Renewal calendar for every license
- Updates when your address or activity changes
- Coordination with state board licensing where required
Four steps. We handle the rest.
How we compare.
- Search included free
- $99/license, transparent
- Renewal calendar built in
- Background coordination included
- Document vault storage
- Cancel anytime
| CorpNet | LegalZoom | Local consultants | File.Business | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search | $99 | $199 | varies | included |
| Per-license filing | $99 | $199+ | varies | $99 |
| Renewal calendar | no | no | no | yes |
| Background checks coordinated | extra | extra | varies | included |
| Stored in vault | no | no | no | yes |
“Between cosmetology license, salon license, city business license, and the inspections, I would have missed at least two. The search caught all four plus the home-occupation thing nobody mentions.”
The File.Business Promise
If we miss a deadline on a service you pay us to manage, we cover the penalty. If you change your mind within 60 days, we refund our fee in full. Your data stays yours, always.
Common questions.
How many licenses does a business need?
Federal licenses, when?
Professional licensing?
Home-based business?
What if my activity changes?
Background checks and fingerprinting?
Renewal periods?
What if I miss a renewal?
Multi-state operations?
Is the search free?
Run a license search in about 5 minutes.
Tell us a few details. We do the rest. You get a single dashboard for everything.
On the $129/yr Compliance Annual Filings plan, we cover state late fees.
When you autofile your annual report through the $129/yr plan and we miss the deadline, we pay the state's late fee. The guarantee applies to that specific plan and the filings it includes. Other File.Business services are billed at the prices on this page.