8 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page.
8 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: Articles of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 8 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 at biz.sosmt.gov; the articles name a registered agent with a Montana street address. Watch for mailed solicitations from unaffiliated companies that charge to file the annual report; the state office warns about them each spring.
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. Filed online with the Secretary of State, not the county; the office sends a renewal reminder before the registration lapses.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the Department of Revenue withholding account. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Montana levies no statewide sales tax, so there is no seller’s permit to get and nothing to collect at the register. Register through the TransAction Portal (TAP) once you have employees, because any business that pays Montana wages must hold a withholding account. A few resort towns, Big Sky, Whitefish, Red Lodge and West Yellowstone among them, collect a local resort tax that the town registers you for.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Montana issues no general business license, but most cities license every business operating inside the city limits, Billings from the first day of business and Missoula once gross receipts pass $6,000 a year. The city application asks for the zoning approval, and the state food and liquor licenses are separate.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Cities and counties may run their own certified building code programs (Billings, Missoula and Bozeman do); everywhere else the state program issues the building permits through ebiz.mt.gov, and some counties issue no certificate of occupancy at all. Zoning is always local, so confirm the use is allowed before signing a lease; a change of use needs permits and inspections before the health and liquor licenses are issued.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Laser hair removal and other laser or light treatments are the practice of medicine in Montana and are forbidden to cosmetology and esthetics licensees; they and injectables are performed by a physician, physician assistant or advanced practice nurse, or by a nurse under such a provider’s order and supervision. A person with no professional license may own the spa, but must not present the business as a medical practice without one.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 4
Workers’ compensation coverage is required from the first employee, with no size threshold, and the Employment Relations Division fines uninsured employers. Register the unemployment account through the Department’s eServices portal when you hire, and report each new hire within 20 days.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the med spas already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a med spa at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The med spa check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Secretary of State business services fee schedule; Secretary of State notice waiving the 2026 and 2027 annual report fee; Secretary of State business services fee schedule (assumed business name registration and renewal); IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue withholding account pages and form GenReg; City of Billings business license information and business tax determination form; City of Missoula business licensing fee schedule (Resolution 8887); Department of Labor and Industry Building Codes Program pages; MCA Title 50, chapter 60; Board of Nursing and Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists medical spa FAQs; ARM 24.156.501 (laser use is surgery) and ARM 24.121.1509; Unemployment Insurance Division 2026 rate explanation (Schedule 1, $47,300 wage base) and new employer rate insert; Employment Relations Division insurance compliance pages; DPHHS new hire reporting guide; 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.
8 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the annual report, assumed business name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), wage withholding account (montana has no general sales tax), city business license and zoning approval, building permits and certificate of occupancy, and 2 more.
Montana Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, Montana Department of Revenue, Your city’s finance or licensing office, Your city or county building department where it runs a certified program and Montana Board of Medical Examiners and Board of Nursing, and 1 more.
With articles of organization (llc) and the annual report (Montana Secretary of State, Business Services), then assumed business 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 a med spa in Montana (2026) | DoorWorthy
