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 Arkansas 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 organization (LLC) and the annual franchise tax report
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
File online through the Secretary of State’s Corporations Online Filing System. The certificate names a registered agent with an Arkansas street address. The franchise tax is a flat tax, not a report of activity, and it is filed with the Secretary of State rather than the tax department; miss it and penalties accrue until the LLC is revoked.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed whenever the business trades under any name other than the owner’s legal name or the LLC’s registered name. An LLC files with the Secretary of State and, outside Pulaski County, also sends a copy to the clerk of the county where its registered office sits.
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 in ATAP before the first sale and allow up to two weeks for the permit; the application asks for the signed lease and a bill of sale for any equipment or inventory bought from a prior business. The permit must be posted. Cities and counties add their own sales tax, collected on the same return, and many cities also levy an advertising and promotion tax on prepared food and drink that restaurants remit to the city’s A&P commission.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Arkansas has no statewide general business license, but most cities license every business inside their limits and check the zoning before issuing. Apply through the city after the lease is signed and before opening; the sales tax permit comes first.
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 needs building permits and inspections, and the certificate of occupancy comes before the city business license, the health permit and the ABC permit. In Little Rock the business license application itself goes through Planning and Development for the zoning check.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Submit the plans, the menu, the equipment list and the cost estimate through the plan review portal before building out, then pass the pre-opening inspection. Plumbing plans are reviewed separately. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all retail food establishments under the rules. Plan review appointments: 501-661-2678.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Every retail food establishment needs at least one supervisory employee with authority over food preparation and service who holds a food protection manager certificate from an accredited program; a new establishment has a grace period from the date its permit is issued. Establishments that sell only prepackaged or low-risk food are exempt.
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 has three or more employees (two for building or building repair work), and the Commission tells smaller employers to check before assuming they are exempt. Report each new hire or rehire within 20 days through the Division’s New Hire Registry.
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 filing fee schedule (revised January 2025, under Act 1041 of 2021); Secretary of State franchise tax pages; Arkansas Code 4-70-203; county clerk assumed name instructions (Benton, Saline and Carroll counties); Secretary of State fictitious name form (revised January 2025); IRS EIN page; DFA register for a tax account page; ATAP business registration; City of Little Rock, Starting a Business in Little Rock and Obtaining Permits and Licenses; municipal ordinances; City of Little Rock Planning and Development business start-up guidance; municipal ordinances; Department of Health food protection FAQ and plan review submission portal; Rules Pertaining to Retail Food Establishments; Department of Health food protection FAQ; 2019 retail food rules, certified food protection manager requirement; Division of Workforce Services employer UI information (2026 rates and wage base); Workers’ Compensation Commission basic facts; Arkansas Code 11-9-102; 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 organization (llc) and the annual franchise tax report, doing business under an assumed name (dba) certificate, employer identification number (ein), sales and use tax permit and employer withholding registration, city business license and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 3 more.
Arkansas Secretary of State, Your county clerk for a sole proprietor or partnership, Internal Revenue Service, Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Your city’s clerk or treasury office and Your city’s planning and building departments, and 2 more.
With certificate of organization (llc) and the annual franchise tax report (Arkansas Secretary of State, Business and Commercial Services), then doing business under an assumed name (dba) certificate. 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 Arkansas (2026) | DoorWorthy
