Form a PLLC, for licensed professionals.
A Professional LLC (PLLC) is the LLC built for licensed professionals: therapists, dentists, lawyers, accountants, engineers. Many states require regulated professions to form a PLLC or a PC rather than a standard LLC. It gives you an LLC's pass-through tax and lighter formality while meeting your licensing board's ownership rules. We prepare and file it, and handle the professional paperwork.
Right now, your license and your practice aren't the same thing.
You earned the credential. Turning it into a business means a specific structure, because most states won't let a licensed professional operate through a plain LLC. They require a PLLC or a PC, with rules about who can own it and what it can be called. You don't need to decode your state's professional-entity statute. You need one clear path, and a team that files these every day.
The first question your licensing board cares about: PLLC or PC?
What a PLLC protects: and what it can't.
A PLLC gives licensed owners a structure their state will accept for regulated work, with the things people like about an LLC: pass-through taxation by default and lighter formality than a corporation, no board or bylaws required. It separates the practice's debts and contracts from your personal assets, and you can still elect S-corp taxation later. The line it does not cross is your own professional conduct: a PLLC shields you from the business's ordinary debts and from a co-owner's malpractice, but not from a claim about your own work. Malpractice insurance covers that, and the two do different jobs.
- Your state requires licensed professionals to use a PLLC, and allows the LLC form.
- You want an LLC's pass-through tax and lighter upkeep, without a board or bylaws.
- You're a solo practitioner, or a group of owners all licensed in the same profession.
- You may later elect S-corp taxation to reduce self-employment tax once profit is steady.
- Your state requires a Professional Corporation for your license, not a PLLC.
- You want corporate structure, multiple owner classes, or plan to bring on non-owner investors down the road.
- Your profession is one your state permits to use a standard LLC.
- Still weighing the corporate side? Our LLC vs. corporation breakdown helps.
The detail that trips professionals up: in most states every member of a PLLC must hold an active license in the profession, and the name has to carry a marker such as "PLLC." Add a non-licensed co-owner and the filing is rejected, or worse, it puts your license at risk. Not every state offers a PLLC at all: some route certain professions to a PC. We confirm which your state and license accept, and verify ownership eligibility, before we file.
Going with a PLLC? Settle two things first.
Two-thirds of states have a PLLC. Yours might not
Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia recognize the PLLC. The rest route licensed professionals to a professional corporation, an RLLP, or in a few states an ordinary LLC. Check your column before you fall in love with the letters.
Alabama · Arizona · Arkansas · Colorado · Connecticut · D.C. · Florida · Idaho · Illinois · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Maine · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Montana · Nevada · New Hampshire · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Oklahoma · Pennsylvania · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia
In Connecticut and Illinois the PLLC is not just available, it is often the required path: licensed professionals generally cannot use a standard LLC.
Alaska · California · Delaware · Georgia · Hawaii · Indiana · Louisiana · Maryland · Missouri · Nebraska · New Jersey · New Mexico · Ohio · Oregon · Rhode Island · South Carolina · Wisconsin · Wyoming
California routes professionals to a professional corporation or RLLP. Delaware offers the PC and LLP. Oregon simply lets professionals use a standard LLC. Your licensing board's rules control everywhere.
In many states the sequence matters: your licensing board approves before the Secretary of State will accept the Articles, and a copy of the occupational license travels with the filing. A West Virginia speech-language pathologist, for example, needs board approval before the state will file anything. Illinois adds a step after approval: registering the new entity with the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. We sequence all of it in the right order for your state.
Most PLLC states require the designator in the name; Florida and South Dakota are the notable exceptions that do not. A few states regulate whose name may appear: Nevada requires an owner's surname past or present, Washington requires dental offices to carry every current member's last name, and Arkansas restricts using a non-member's name. One more honest nuance: in some states, notably Florida, you can remain personally liable for work performed under your direct supervision.
Physicians · Dentists · Attorneys · CPAs · Architects · Engineers · Chiropractors · Optometrists · Pharmacists · Physical therapists · Occupational therapists · Speech-language pathologists · Veterinarians · Psychologists · Therapists & counselors · Midwives · Dietitians · Land surveyors
Every state board publishes its own list. We verify yours against it before filing.
The two calls that stall founders: your name, and your state.
Make both right here. No signup: real 2026 filing numbers, and names you can check on the spot. Professional names carry extra state rules, so checking early matters.
Find a name that fits.
Type a word or two about your practice. We'll spark a set of ideas, then you can check any favorite live against state and USPTO records.
Add your professional marker (PLLC) when you file. Run a favorite through the live availability check, or open the full name generator.
What will your PLLC cost?
Our service fee for a PLLC is $149. You also pay the state's filing fee, at cost. Some states add a licensing-board certification step before or alongside the filing.
Not every state offers a PLLC. We confirm yours does. Full pricing on the pricing page.
Name picked, state chosen. Now the handoff.
A clean handoff, in four steps.
You make four decisions. We handle the professional filing, the naming rules, and the license paperwork the state wants.
Pick your state
Professionals form where they're licensed and practice. BosAI confirms your state offers a PLLC for your profession, since some route you to a PC instead.
Confirm your name
We check it against the state register and professional-naming rules, including the required "PLLC" marker, then reserve it if you're not filing today.
Add licensed members
List your members and their licenses, and appoint a registered agent, included year 1. Every member must hold an active license in the profession.
We file it
We submit your professional Articles of Organization and, where required, the licensing-board certification, then return the stamped approval.
Then the part you're actually waiting for.
The moment your practice becomes a company.
Timing is set by the state, and by any licensing-board step it adds. We file the moment your details and licenses check out, so nothing bounces back over an ownership or naming error.
Marcus Reed Therapy, PLLC
Professional Articles of Organization, filed with the Secretary of State. Membership and licenses verified before submission.
Marcus opened his therapy practice.
We filed his PLLC and cleared the state's board step. Within the week he had his EIN, a business bank account, and malpractice coverage in the practice's name, and he saw his first clients under the new company.
Approval is the start, not the finish. Here's your first 30 days.
What to do once it's filed, in order.
These make the practice bankable, compliant, and safe to see clients under. A couple are specific to licensed work.
Get your EIN
Your practice's federal tax ID, needed to open a bank account, run payroll, or file taxes. It's free from the IRS, and we file it the same day.
Adopt an Operating Agreement
It sets who owns the practice and how it runs, and for a PLLC it records that every member is licensed and restricts transfers so ownership stays inside the profession. It's the first document a bank or partner asks to see.
Put malpractice insurance in the company's name
Your PLLC shields you from the business's debts and a co-owner's malpractice, not your own. Professional liability coverage fills that gap and is often required to see clients or bill insurers.
Open a business bank account
Keeps the practice's money separate from yours, which preserves the liability shield and simplifies the books insurers and the board may want to see.
Track your annual report and license renewals
Keep the entity in good standing with the state, and every member's license current, since a lapsed license can put the PLLC at risk. Consider an S-corp election once profit is steady. A compliance calendar tracks it all.
You can do these one by one. Or hand the whole sequence to one team.
File once, or stay protected year-round.
- Professional Articles of Organization filed
- Membership + license eligibility review
- Professional Operating Agreement template
- EIN walkthrough
- Everything in one-time
- Registered Agent year 1
- Annual report autopilot
- 47-signal compliance monitoring
- Year-round protection, cancel anytime
State fees vary by jurisdiction and are passed through at cost. See full pricing →
And this is where most filing companies stop. We're just getting to the part that matters.
Your practice is now a company. Let's build everything that comes next.
Formation is one line in a much longer story. Every stage below already lives on one platform, so you're never starting over with a new provider.
Everything above happens inside File.Business: one platform, from your first client to the day you sell or hand off the practice. It's where you form your PLLC, and where you run the whole company.
The license stays yours. The liability stops being personal
The board wanted the right letters after my practice name and a licensed owner on every membership line. The filing handled the board's list, and the platform handled everything the board never mentions: the agent, the annual report, the EIN, the bank letter. I see patients. It sees deadlines.
Representative composite drawn from customer outcomes.
Ask the question your licensing board makes you ask
My board says I need a PLLC, not an LLC. What actually changes?
Does the PLLC protect me if I make a clinical mistake?
We are three dentists about to open a second location across the state line.
Read like someone whose license depends on it
LLCs & PLLCs for Medical Practices
Entity rules when the state medical board has opinions.
Read the guide → GuideProfessional Services Structures
Consultants, advisors, and licensed firms compared.
Read the guide → FoundationsWhat Is an LLC, Actually?
The base structure a PLLC professionalizes, explained.
Read the guide → CornerstoneHow to Start an LLC, Step by Step
The full formation playbook, all 51 jurisdictions.
Read the guide →The questions professionals ask right before they file.
PLLC or PC: which do I need?
It depends on your state and profession. Some states require licensed professionals to use a PLLC, some require a Professional Corporation, and some allow either or even a standard LLC. The PLLC keeps an LLC's pass-through tax and lighter upkeep; the PC gives you a corporate structure with the same S-corp option. We confirm which forms your state accepts for your license before you file, so you don't choose the one it will reject.
Who is allowed to own a PLLC?
In most states, every member of a PLLC must hold an active license in the same profession the company practices. A therapist's PLLC is owned by licensed therapists, a law firm's by attorneys. Adding a non-licensed investor or spouse as a member usually isn't allowed and can jeopardize the entity or the license. If you need outside capital, that's a structure conversation to have before filing, and we can walk you through the options.
Do all members really need a license?
In the large majority of states, yes: ownership of a PLLC is limited to individuals licensed in the profession, and often the managers must be licensed too. A few states allow a small share of non-licensed ownership in certain professions. Because the rules vary and the penalty for getting it wrong is high, we verify every member's eligibility against your state's professional-entity statute before submitting, and your operating agreement is written to keep ownership inside the profession.
Does a PLLC protect me from malpractice?
No, and be wary of anyone who implies otherwise. Your own professional mistakes stay your responsibility, which is exactly what malpractice insurance is for. What the PLLC shields is everything else: a partner's error, the lease, business debts, a vendor dispute. Business risk stops at the entity, professional risk stays with the license, insured. On the tax side a PLLC can still elect S-corp treatment when the numbers favor it; the LLC tax guide walks that decision.
Does every state offer a PLLC?
No. Most states have a PLLC, but a handful, notably California, don't offer one and route licensed professionals to a Professional Corporation or another structure instead. The rules also differ on which professions may use a PLLC and what the name must include. This is exactly the kind of state-and-license mismatch that gets a filing rejected, so we confirm your state offers a PLLC for your profession before we submit anything.
See the full state-by-state map above.Can a non-US resident form a US PLLC?
Only if the licensing requirement can be met. A PLLC's members generally must hold the relevant US professional license in the state of formation, so licensure matters far more than residency. If you, or your co-owners, hold an active license, non-residents can form a PLLC, and we obtain the EIN from the IRS without an SSN so the company can bank and pay taxes.
What happens if a member's license lapses?
It's the risk unique to professional entities: if a member stops being licensed, most states require that person to leave the ownership within a set window, which is why a PLLC's operating agreement includes transfer restrictions. Left unaddressed, a lapsed license can put the entity's good standing in question. We track your annual report, and a compliance calendar can flag renewal dates so a lapse never quietly becomes an entity problem.
Still specific to your situation? Ask BosAI ↑