9 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 ice cream shops in Alabama say.
9 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 5Set up the business. Now: Certificate of formation (LLC) and the business privilege tax return
0 of 9 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
Reserve the name first (the certificate of name reservation is attached to the filing), then file online or by mail through the Secretary of State. The certificate names a registered agent with an Alabama street address. The privilege tax is owed each year the LLC stays registered, even with no activity, so dissolve a company you stop using.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Alabama does not require a trade name to be registered: a business may trade under a name other than the owner’s or the LLC’s registered one without filing anything. Registration puts the name on the state record and must be filed after the name is already in use. Banks often ask for it before opening an account in the trade name.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the state tax registration. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Register through My Alabama Taxes before the first sale; the same registration opens the withholding account once you hire. Alabama adds county and city sales taxes on top of the 4% state rate, and some cities collect their own, so check which localities you file with. Since 2020 every sales tax license is renewed online each year at no charge, and the 2025 renewal also asks for a NAICS code and business description.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Buy the state and county license at the probate office before opening and for each place of business; the handbook lists the license for each trade (restaurant, store, beauty shop, barber shop and so on). Nearly every city also licenses businesses inside its limits and police jurisdiction under its own ordinance, and the city license is usually where the zoning sign-off and the health permit are checked. Ask the city before signing the lease.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Alabama adopts its commercial building and fire codes city by city, so confirm the zoning allows your use before signing; a change of use needs building permits and inspections, and the certificate of occupancy comes before the health permit, the city license and the liquor license. Outside a city with its own inspector, the State Fire Marshal inspects places of assembly such as restaurants and bars.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Submit plans to the county health department before building out or converting a space, pass the opening inspection, then post the permit and its score. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all food establishments under the rules; Jefferson County, which runs its own health department, charges its own plan review and permit fees and requires food handler training as well.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
A priority category 3 or 4 establishment (most restaurants, bars and kitchens that cook, cool or reheat food) must have a person in charge holding a certificate from an accredited food protection manager program present during all hours of operation, a rule in force since January 1, 2020. A coffee shop or bakery in a lower category needs only a person in charge who can show food safety knowledge at inspection.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 4
Workers’ compensation insurance is required once the business regularly employs five or more people, counting part-time staff; smaller employers may still buy it. Report each new or rehired employee within seven days, online for employers with five or more employees; the fine is up to $25 per missed report. The Department of Labor was renamed the Department of Workforce in 2025, and older forms still carry the old name.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the ice cream shops already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow an ice cream shop at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The ice cream shop check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Secretary of State LLC pages and certificate of formation form (Code of Alabama 10A-1-4.31); Department of Revenue business privilege tax pages and 2026 form PPT instructions; Code of Alabama 8-12-6 through 8-12-10 (trade name registration); Secretary of State trademarks and trade names pages; IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue sales tax license FAQ and annual tax account license renewal notices (October 2025); Department of Revenue Handbook of Privilege and Store Licenses; Code of Alabama 40-12-2 and 40-12-151; Code of Alabama 11-51-90 (municipal business licenses); Municipal zoning and building ordinances; State Fire Marshal (Alabama Department of Insurance) inspection pages; Alabama Department of Public Health Food Establishment Sanitation rules (420-3-22); county health department food permit and environmental fee pages (Baldwin, Etowah, Jefferson); Food Establishment Sanitation rules 420-3-22-.02 (management and personnel); Department of Workforce unemployment compensation employer information; new hire reporting pages (portal replaced December 2025); Code of Alabama 25-5-50 and the Workers’ Compensation Division benefits guide; 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.
9 items, in order: certificate of formation (llc) and the business privilege tax return, trade name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), sales tax license and withholding account (my alabama taxes), state and county business privilege license, and the city business license and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 3 more.
Alabama Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, Alabama Department of Revenue, Your county probate judge or license commissioner, Your city or county building and zoning departments and Your county health department, and 2 more.
With certificate of formation (llc) and the business privilege tax return (Alabama Secretary of State; Alabama Department of Revenue), then trade name registration (dba). The steps run structure, tax, space, permits and employer, in that order.
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 an ice cream shop in Alabama (2026) | DoorWorthy
