7 items, in order: articles of organization (llc); no annual report, fictitious name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), missouri tax registration: retail sales tax license, employer withholding, and the sales tax bond, city or county business license and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 1 more.
How to open a business in Missouri
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 Missouri? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Missouri 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); no annual 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
File online through the Secretary of State’s business filing system. The articles name a registered agent with a Missouri street address. Only corporations file an annual registration report; an LLC’s record stays as filed until you amend it ($25).
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- sos.mo.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 corporations FAQ and form LLC-1 (fee schedule); Small Business Startup Guide; RSMo 417.200 to 417.230; Secretary of State fictitious name registration (form Corp. 56) and schedule of fees; IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue business registration pages (form 2643, MyTax Missouri); 12 CSR 10-104.020 (sales and use tax bonds); RSMo 144.087; Kansas City business license FAQ (forms RD-105 and RD-103); City of St. Louis graduated business license fee schedule; Secretary of State Small Business Startup Guide; Secretary of State Small Business Startup Guide (local requirements); city and county building and zoning ordinances; Division of Employment Security tax rates page (2026 new employer rates and taxable wage base); Division of Workers’ Compensation employer insurance page. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.