10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page, and what the Census counts of bars in Wisconsin say.
10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 6Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 10 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Members keep a dated, noted plan for each saved location in the workspace.
1Set up the business0 of 3
File through the Department’s online formation service or the One Stop Business Portal; the fee is not refundable and expedited handling adds $100. The articles name a registered agent with a Wisconsin street address. The paper surcharge dates from March 2024, so file online. A missed annual report leads to administrative dissolution after notice.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
An LLC may trade under a name other than its registered one without a state filing; the seller’s permit and the local licenses are issued to the LLC with the trade name listed. Registering the name with the Department gives public notice only: as the Department’s FAQ puts it, trademark rights come from use, not from the registration, and the registration does not stop another business using the same name.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the Business Tax Registration. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Register online through My Tax Account before the first sale. The seller’s permit must be displayed and is the document the landlord and the municipality ask for; the renewed Business Tax Registration certificate carries the permit’s new expiration date. The same registration opens the withholding account once you hire, and county and Milwaukee local sales taxes go on the same return.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
The clerk’s office is where the liquor and operator licenses and any local kennel or pet shop license are filed, and in Milwaukee, Madison and the other agent jurisdictions the local health department licenses food in place of the state. Ask the clerk before signing the lease.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Confirm the zoning allows your use before signing; a change of use or a build-out needs building, plumbing and heating permits, with plans reviewed by the Department of Safety and Professional Services or a municipality it has certified, and the occupancy approval comes after the final inspections. The food license and the liquor license both ask for it.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Restaurant licensing moved from the health department to DATCP in 2016. Submit the floor plan, menu and equipment list for review before building out, pass the pre-licensing inspection, then post the license. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all retail food establishments; a tavern selling only packaged snacks falls in the prepackaged category.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
A retail food establishment serving meals must have a certified food manager who holds a Wisconsin certificate from the Department after passing an accredited exam; a new establishment, and one whose manager leaves, has 90 days to put one in place. The person in charge must still show food safety knowledge at every inspection.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Alcohol permitsOpens after step 4
Apply on the Department’s form AT-106 to the clerk; the application is published, the licensing committee hears it and the council votes, which takes 30 to 60 days. Where the quota is full, buy a business holding a license and apply for its transfer, or take a reserve license at the $10,000 fee. Every bartender and manager who serves holds a municipal operator’s license after responsible beverage server training, and the licensee or a named agent completes the same course.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 5
Worker’s compensation insurance is required from the day a third employee, full or part time, is hired, or by the tenth day of the next quarter once one or more employees have been paid $500 or more in wages in any calendar quarter; post the notice. Report each new hire, and each rehire after a break of more than 60 days, within 20 days.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the bars already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a bar at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The bar check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
DFI online LLC formation directions and annual report form CORP5 (May 2026); DFI-CCS 10.01 (paper surcharge, March 2024); Wis. Stat. 183.0201; DFI trademark and trade name registration FAQ; Wis. Stat. chapter 132; IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue Business Tax Registration FAQ; form BTR-101; Wisconsin One Stop Business Portal, opening your business pages; municipal ordinances; Department of Safety and Professional Services commercial buildings program; municipal zoning and building ordinances; DATCP retail food establishments serving meals pages and license fee schedule; ATCP 75.08 (fees); Wis. Stat. 97.30; ATCP 75 certified food manager rule and the Wisconsin Food Code manager certification requirement; Wis. Stat. 125.51(3)(e) and 125.51(4); Department of Revenue alcohol beverage laws for retailers FAQ; municipal license fee ordinances; DWD 2026 tax rate schedule for employers (Wis. Stat. 108.18); DWD worker’s compensation employer pages (Wis. Stat. 102.04); DWD new hire reporting (DWD 142); U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.
Questions about opening here.
10 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the annual report, trade name or trademark registration (optional), employer identification number (ein), seller’s permit and business tax registration (withholding account), local licenses and zoning approval and occupancy approval, and 4 more.
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Internal Revenue Service, Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Your city, Your municipality’s zoning and building inspection departments and Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, and 3 more.
With articles of organization (llc) and the annual report (Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Corporate and Consumer Services), then trade name or trademark registration (optional). The steps run structure, tax, space, permits, alcohol and employer, in that order.
Yes, to sell it: class b combination (beer and liquor) license. The local license usually comes first.
Each item's fee, renewal cycle and official page are shown to members, as the agency published them on the date checked. Cities and counties add their own fees.
How to open a bar in Wisconsin (2026) | DoorWorthy
