7 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 1 more.
How to open a business in Montana
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 Montana? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Montana 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 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 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
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- sosmt.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 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; 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. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.