7 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the periodic report, statement of trade name (dba), employer identification number (ein), sales tax license and wage withholding account, home-rule city sales tax license, and any municipal business license and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 1 more.
How to open a business in Colorado
7 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page.
What licenses do you need to open a business in Colorado? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Colorado takes. A license specific to your kind of business comes from the agency that regulates it; if one of the twenty named businesses is close to yours, its page lists those too.
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 4Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC) and the periodic report
0 of 7 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Log in to save it to your account and pick it up anywhere.
Set up the business0 of 3
Colorado files everything online; there is no paper filing for articles. The articles name a registered agent with a Colorado street address. A missed periodic report puts the LLC into noncompliant and then delinquent status.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- coloradosos.gov
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Before the first hireOpens after step 3
Then pick the place
- The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the businesses already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
- The full reportWhether the rules allow a business at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
Have an address in mind?
Check the address freeNo account. The business check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Secretary of State business fee schedule; June 2024 press release on the periodic report fee; Secretary of State business fee schedule; IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue sales tax license pages and FYI General 14 (sales tax license and deposit); Department of Revenue guidance on self-collecting home-rule jurisdictions; municipal codes; Office of Economic Development and International Trade business start-up guidance; municipal codes; CDLE introductory premium rates table and 2026 chargeable wage base; FAMLI Division premium pages; Division of Workers’ Compensation insurance coverage page. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.