11 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page, and what the Census counts of restaurants in Montana say.
11 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 6Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 11 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
Apply through the local sanitarian, who reviews the plans, inspects the space and forwards the application and fee to the state; DPHHS takes no applications directly. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all retail food establishments, the license is not transferable, and a new owner needs a new one.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Every retail food establishment must have at least one manager or supervisor holding a certificate from an ANSI-accredited food protection manager course, within 90 days of a new license, and must replace a departing manager within 45 days. A food handler card does not qualify; a shop selling only commercially prepackaged food can ask for a waiver.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Alcohol permitsOpens after step 4
The Division keeps a quota sheet by town. When a quota opens, the new license is sold by competitive bid with a minimum bid of 75% of market value; otherwise you buy and transfer an existing license, and the Division approves the buyer, the premises and the floor plan before anything is poured. The all-beverages license also allows gambling machines; a beer and wine licensee cannot pour spirits.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
For a restaurant that earns at least 65% of its gross income from food, serves dinner at least four nights a week and pours only to seated diners who order food; the Division audits the food share. Quotas apply by town, with new licenses sold by competitive bid when one opens, but these licenses trade for far less than an all-beverages license.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 5
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 restaurants already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a restaurant at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The restaurant 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; MCA 50-50-205 (2025); DPHHS retail food license application; ARM 37.110.238; ARM 37.110.262; county health department CFPM guidance (Lake, Cascade and Missoula counties); MCA 16-4-201, 16-4-430 and 16-4-501; Department of Revenue all-beverages license and on-premises beer and wine license guides; MCA 16-4-420; Department of Revenue restaurant beer and wine license guide; 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 County Business Patterns 2023; 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.
11 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 5 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 Your county or city-county health department, and 2 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, alcohol and employer, in that order.
Yes, to sell it: all-beverages license (or the on-premises beer and wine license) and restaurant beer and wine license. The local license usually comes first.
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 restaurant in Montana (2026) | DoorWorthy
