By asking CARDON Media to help you with your DBA filing, you can rest assured the process will be handled correctly and quickly. We will assist you in identifying whether your desired name is available, preparing and filing the DBA form, and more.
A DBA is a name that’s different from the company's legal name. It is a name the business wants to use when marketing itself to the public and dealing with customers. A sole proprietor, LLC or corporation is said to be “doing business as” whatever fictitious name it has filed.
You may have heard DBA (Doing Business As) referred to in a variety of ways. Some other names for DBA include:
A DBA lets the public know the true owner of a business. The DBA or fictitious business name designation was created as a form of consumer protection, to prevent unscrupulous business owners from operating under a different name to avoid legal trouble. When a business files a DBA with its county or state, it must typically submit a notice to the local newspaper so that the community can see who is behind the business.
Sole Proprietor or General Partnership
A DBA is needed when operating under a business name that doesn’t include the owner’s first and last name.
For example, if Noelle Rodriguez wants to do business by the name “First Move Forward Leadership Consulting” rather than “Noelle Rodriguez Leadership Consulting,” she would need to apply to the state to use First Move Forward Leadership Consulting as a fictitious business name.
LLC or a Corporation
In the case of an LLC or a corporation, filing a DBA enables a company to operate multiple businesses without creating separate legal entities. For instance, if an entrepreneur plans to open a series of retail boutiques, that business owner might opt to set up one corporation with a relatively generic name and then file a DBA for each store to give each one its distinct brand identity.
A hypothetical example would be if a company registered as “NR, Inc.” wants to open two stores—a handbag boutique called “Hometown Handbags” and a shoe store called “Hometown Shoes”—NR, Inc. would need to file a DBA for each of those store names.
Sometimes companies file website URLs as DBAs. Using our pretend company here as an example, if NR, Inc. wants to engage in e-commerce to sell handbags and shoes under the names “hometownhandbags.com” and “hometownshoes.com,” it would file DBAs for those names.
It helps keep businesses required to have DBAs in good standing with the state.
Businesses that don’t file for fictitious names when required could face fines or other penalties. They also put their status of good standing with the state at risk, which could result in the suspension of their business operations.
It costs less and demands fewer compliance formalities than registering a separate business entity.
For sole proprietors and owners of general partnerships who don’t want to use their first and last names in their company names, a DBA allows them to call their business by a different name without incurring the expense and formality of forming a business entity. Doing Business As is typically the least expensive way to legally conduct business under a trade name.
For LLCs and corporations, filing DBAs allows them to control costs and avoid extra complexity as they grow and expand their businesses. Filing fictitious names is less costly and time-intensive (from the start and on an ongoing basis) than registering stores or locations as separate legal business entities.
It satisfies bank requirements for opening accounts in the business name.
Usually, banks will require sole proprietors and partnerships to provide a copy of their DBA before they can open a bank account and receive payments from customers in their business name.
It may deter competitors from using the business name.
Also, although a DBA doesn’t offer the same legal protection as registering a business entity and filing for a trademark, it might dissuade other businesses from using the name.
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