Most people expect the paperwork to be the hard part, and it isn’t. Washington runs almost everything through a single form filed with one agency, and the state fee to open your first location is $50. A Washington state business license is really a registration packet: it opens your tax account, attaches your city and state endorsements, and issues the number every other agency asks for.
Fees and timelines briefly
| Item | Cost (2026) | Timing |
| Business License Application, first location | $50 | About 10 business days online |
| Other filing purposes (hiring, adding a trade name or endorsement) | $10 | About 10 business days online |
| Additional location or city non-resident endorsement | $0 | Filed with the same form |
| Trade name registration | $5 per name | Processed with the application |
| Annual renewal | $5 plus endorsement fees | Renew up to two months early. |
| Late renewal penalty | Half your endorsement fees, capped at $150 | Charged after the expiration date |
| Secretary of State LLC or corporation filing | $180 online | Before you file the application |
| Paper application by mail | Same fees | Up to six weeks |
Key takeaways
- One form, the Business License Application, covers state registration, trade names, hiring, and more than 400 city endorsements.
- Budget $50 to open, $5 per trade name, and whatever your city charges on top.
- Form your LLC or corporation with the Secretary of State first, then license the business.
- Endorsements stretch the wait by two to three weeks, so file early.
- Your UBI number arrives with the license and follows the business everywhere.
Who has to register?
Revenue lists specific triggers, and hitting any one of them means you register. You apply if your gross income reaches $12,000 a year or more. You apply if you trade under a name other than your own full legal name. Apply as well if you plan to hire within 90 days, or you sell anything that requires collecting sales tax.
Register too if your city, county, or the state demands an endorsement for your work. Apply if you owe taxes or fees to Revenue. Out-of-state sellers who meet the nexus reporting thresholds fall under it too. The rule names buyers and processors of specialty wood products separately.
A hobby seller earning $4,000 a year under their own name, with no endorsement requirement, sits outside all of that. Very few businesses stay there for long, and the threshold counts gross receipts rather than profit.
What it costs in 2026
The rule sets the handling fees, so nobody invents them per applicant. According to the Washington State Department of Revenue, under WAC 458-02-200, which took effect on December 6, 2024, opening a first location costs $50. Other filing purposes cost $10, adding a location costs nothing, and renewal costs $5.
Those numbers are only the handling charge. Endorsements carry their own prices, and they vary wildly: a food handler endorsement is cheap, a liquor license is not. Add $5 for every trade name you register, and add your Secretary of State filing if you are forming an entity. Run the arithmetic before you file. A simple marginal cost calculator shows what each added location or endorsement does to your first-year budget. Fees do change by rule. If the figure at checkout differs from anything you read here, the checkout figure is the current one. Confirm it on the Department of Revenue site.
How to apply for a Washington State business license
Work in this order. Skipping ahead is how applicants end up filing twice and paying the fee twice.
- Pick your legal structure. Sole proprietor, general partnership, LLC, or corporation. This decides whether the next step applies to you.
- Register the entity with the Secretary of State. LLCs and corporations file a certificate of formation, currently $180 online, and get a UBI number at that point.
- Get your federal EIN from the IRS. It is free, takes minutes online, and you need it if you have employees or a multi-member entity.
- Run the Business Licensing Wizard. Revenue’s tool is secure. dor.wa.gov asks what you do and where, then lists every endorsement your answers trigger.
- Create a My DOR account. Filing online is faster and cheaper in time than mailing the paper form to the Business Licensing Service in Olympia.
- Complete the Business License Application. Enter your entity details, owners, physical and mailing addresses, opening date, and estimated gross income.
- Add your trade name and endorsements. Register each name you trade under at $5, and select the city endorsements for every city you operate in.
- Pay and submit. Card or bank transfer. Save the confirmation, because it is your proof of filing while approvals run.
- Watch for approval and post the license. Some endorsements require the printed license to be displayed before you open to the public.
File no sooner than 90 days ahead of your opening date. Earlier than that, the department will ask you to refile.
How long it takes
Online applications are processed in about 10 business days. Attach city or state endorsements and expect another two to three weeks while each authority reviews its piece. Paper applications mailed to Olympia can take up to six weeks.
Nothing about the process is instant, so treat the timeline as a scheduling constraint. If your lease starts in a month and you need a city endorsement, file now rather than after the keys arrive.
Your UBI number
Your Unified Business Identifier is a nine-digit number that identifies your business to every state agency at once: Revenue, Labor and Industries, Employment Security, and the Secretary of State. Some people call it a tax registration number or a state ID.
If you formed an LLC or corporation, the Secretary of State assigns the UBI at formation, and your license application reuses it. Sole proprietors get theirs the day Revenue issues the license. You can start using it for business purposes as soon as it is issued, though a few endorsements still require you to hang the physical license first.
When the Secretary of State also gets involved
Registering with the Department of Revenue does not create a company. It registers an existing one. If you want liability separation, the Secretary of State handles formation, and that filing comes first in the sequence.
Sole proprietors and general partnerships skip formation entirely. LLCs and corporations file a certificate of formation for $180 online, then file an initial report and an annual report each year afterward. Franchise owners have a longer list because the franchisor’s agreements sit on top of the state requirements. Anyone comparing concepts should study real numbers such as the Raising Cane’s franchise cost breakdown first.
Hiring employees changes the filing.
Select “hire employees” as your purpose, and the same application opens your workers’ compensation account with Labor and Industries and your unemployment insurance account with Employment Security. Both agencies then send account numbers and filing instructions directly.
Two obligations catch new employers out. Paid Family and Medical Leave covers every Washington employer, and it needs its own sign-up with a copy of your application attached. You must also report new hires to the state within 20 days. Quarterly wage reports go to both Labor and Industries and Employment Security, and you file them even in quarters when nobody worked.
Once payroll and licensing are settled, the operational side takes over. Businesses moving physical goods should get the terminology straight early. The difference between logistics and supply chain management is a useful place to start before you sign with a carrier.
City endorsements are not optional.
More than 400 Washington cities have handed their licensing to the state system, so their endorsements appear inside the same application. Others still run their own portals, most commonly FileLocal.
Seattle is an example worth pricing, because its charge dwarfs the state fee. According to the City of Seattle Finance Department, the 2026 tax certificate costs $73 for businesses under $20,000 in city income. Businesses in the $20,000 to $499,999 band pay $147. Above $5 million, it reaches $3,210. Branch locations add $10 each.
Check every city you physically work in, not just the one on your mailing address. A contractor with a Tacoma address who takes jobs in Seattle and Bellevue needs endorsements in all three.
Renewals
Most city and state endorsements renew annually on the expiration date printed on your license. Revenue mails a renewal notice the month before, and you can renew up to two months early.
Miss the date and the penalty is half your endorsement fees, capped at $150. That is painful on an expensive endorsement and trivial on a cheap one, but a lapsed endorsement can also stop you from doing business legally. Set a calendar reminder for six weeks before expiration and renew inside My DOR.
Conclusion
Obtaining a Washington State business license is a relatively streamlined process, but the total cost and requirements depend on your business structure, activities, locations, trade names, and local endorsements. Most businesses begin through the Washington Department of Revenue’s Business License Application, while LLCs and corporations generally register with the Secretary of State first. Checking the required endorsements and filing early can help prevent delays and ensure your business is properly registered before opening.
Your next step
Open the Business Licensing Wizard at secure.dor.wa.gov, answer the questions about what you sell and where, and let it build your endorsement list. Then file the application in My DOR with $50 ready, plus $5 for each trade name. File it today if you are opening within the next 90 days, because endorsement review is the part of the calendar you cannot compress.
FAQ
Yes, once your gross income reaches $12,000 a year, you collect sales tax, or you trade under a name other than your own. Marketplace sellers with nexus in Washington register too.
Yes. Sole proprietors and general partnerships apply with the same form and skip the Secretary of State step entirely.
$50 to open your first location, $10 for most other filing purposes, $5 per trade name, and $5 to renew. Endorsement and city fees are charged on top.
No. The UBI is a state number issued in Washington. The EIN is a federal number issued by the IRS, and most businesses need both.
You stay liable for the taxes you should have reported, plus interest and penalties, and endorsement holders risk enforcement from the city or the licensing authority.
Yes. Renewal is tied to the license, not to Revenue, and quarterly reports are still due even when the figures are zero.
