6 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the annual report, assumed business name certificate (dba), employer identification number (ein), business registration for sales and use tax and withholding (nc-br), zoning approval, certificate of occupancy and local business registration and unemployment insurance account, new hire reporting and workers’ compensation.
How to open a business in North Carolina
6 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 North Carolina? 6, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in North Carolina 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 17, 2026.
Step 1 of 4Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 6 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. The articles need a North Carolina registered agent with a street address. Missing the annual report leads to a notice and then administrative dissolution.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- sosnc.gov
Checked Oct 17, 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 fee schedule for limited liability companies; G.S. 66-71.4; Durham and Brunswick County Register of Deeds instructions; IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue online business registration (form NC-BR); Secretary of State business licensing guidance; local ordinances; Division of Employment Security employer pages and 2026 tax rate table; Industrial Commission employer requirements. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.