Start A Business In Washington

Forming & Maintaining a Washington Business

There are a lot of reasons Washington State is a great place to start a business. Washington individuals don’t file personal income tax returns with the state. And for small businesses, the first $43,000 of revenue is tax-free in Washington. Before you can reap these benefits, however, you have to make it through the actual Washington state business formation process, which can be formidable.

Washington Registered Agent LLC has you covered from A to Z when it comes to incorporating in our state. If you’d like to leave the bureaucracy to a local expert you can trust, hire us to form your Washington LLC or Washington corporation, obtain your master business license application, get your EIN, and even apply for your contractor’s license.

Our corporate filing experts could do all of this in their sleep!

Hire the Experts to Start Your WA Business Today

Step-by-step guide to starting a business in Washington

If, however, you’d rather save a little money, simply hire us as your registered agent, and let the following guide walk you through step-by-step. Depending on the nature of your business, some steps may not apply:

File your formation document with the Secretary of State
Wait for processing and your UBI number
Submit your Business License Application
Apply for other licenses and permits
File your Initial Report
Obtain a Federal Tax ID Number (EIN)
Pay taxes to the Department of Revenue
Get Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment Insurance
Stay compliant

1. File your formation document with the Secretary of State.
Whether you’re forming a WA corporation or a WA LLC (or a nonprofit, or a partnership), you should start here. You might find advice, even on official websites, to start with the Department of Revenue by applying for your business license. But trust us: Starting anywhere else will only slow you down. And you can check this step off fairly quickly if you play your cards right.The document you’ll need to submit is either called Articles of Incorporation (for corporations) or a Certificate of Formation (for LLCs).

Exact company name
Street address and PO box of principal office
Effective date of formation
Tenure (duration)
Class of shares (for corporations only)
Management type (for LLCs only)
Name, physical address and mailing address of Washington registered agent
Signature of registered agent
Names, addresses, phone numbers and signatures of of signer(s)

As you can see, you’ll need a WA State registered agent’s name, addresses, and signed consent. We recommend hiring a registered agent, rather than filling that role yourself. You can silence that worry in the back of your mind that a process server might show up at your business—or worse, might miss you because your office isn’t open. Hiring a Washington registered agent service you can trust takes care of this—and other headaches—so you can focus on the actual purpose of your business.

While you may file your Washington LLC or corporation by paper, online filing is straightforward and much faster.

2. Wait for processing and your UBI number.
If you filed online, your filing will be processed within 5 days. If you file by mail without expediting, it may be up to 3 weeks to receive confirmation. The Secretary of State will send you an email confirming that your business is formed, and providing you with your 9-digit UBI number. UBI stands for “Unified Business Identifier,” which means that multiple Washington state use the UBI to identify your business. The key is to make sure you receive your UBI number from the Secretary of State—otherwise you could get duplicate numbers from multiple agencies, and you may waste valuable time trying to sort that out, instead of forming your WA company.

3. Submit your Washington Business License Application.
With your UBI number, you’re ready to apply for your business license—that isn’t really a business license—with the Business Licensing Service. The Washington Business License Application is really a business registration that lets each related agency know what you’re up to, so you can pay taxes, employment insurance, etc. In some cases, you can file this application online (with 5-day processing), and in other cases, you must file by paper (up to 21-day processing).

It’s important to fill this 4-page application out with care, because the way you fill out each section alerts specific agencies to the reports, fees and other requirements you’ll need to submit to them. The last thing you need is extra paperwork, zero returns, etc. That’s one reason we offer the application for a Washington business license as an optional service when you incorporate with us. At Washington Registered Agent, LLC we file these almost every day.

4. Apply for other licenses and permits.
Depending on what business you’re in, you may be able to apply for your specialty license with your Washington Business License Application. See the links below to learn about which specialty licenses you can apply for at the same time as the business license, and which ones will require you to file by paper.

In some cases, additional fees and paperwork will still be required even if your specialty license is included, but you’ll receive a packet of information from the proper agency. Most cities in Washington require you to get a license to do business within the city limits. You may apply for a license for a few cities via the Washington Business License Application. You may also need to apply for zoning and permits, or a contractor’s license. Check out the links below for more information:

5. File your Initial Report.
For WA State corporations and LLCs, an initial report is due 120 days after the day you filed your formation document. If you filed online, you can file your initial report online as well. You’ll need your UBI number and the application ID you were given during your online filing process when you formed your business.

6. Obtain a Federal Tax ID Number (EIN).
If you will need to pay federal taxes as a business or will have employees, you are required to get an EIN. You can obtain one yourself online, or hire us to get one for you.

7. Pay taxes to the Department of Revenue.
If you checked certain boxes on your business license application, you should be receiving a packet of information from the Department of Revenue. Washington State has no personal income tax, but they do have what’s called a B & O tax on your gross income. Find out more on our Washington taxes page.

8. Get Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment Insurance.
If you indicated that you have employees on your Washington business license application, the WA Department of Labor & Industries will automatically set up a workers’ compensation account for you. Then the WA Employment Securities Department will set up your unemployment insurance account. Within 2 weeks, you’ll receive information packets from L&I and Employment Securities, including how much money to deduct from employees’ paychecks, quarterly report instructions, your workers’ comp rate, and workplace health and safety information.

9. Stay in good standing.
The state of Washington requires businesses to file an annual report every year. The fee is $70, and you may file online. Your registered agent will receive an Annual Renewal Notice in the mail 45 days before the due date, which is the last day of the month you formed your company—your anniversary month.

If you choose to work with us for your Washington business, we offer a Renewal Service to have our office automatically handle your annual report filing on your behalf. There’s no fee to enroll, and when it’s time to file, we’ll take care of it for just $100 plus the state fees.

Hire Our Professional Business Filing Team

If you’re less than enthused about tackling a lot of busy work, you have options with Washington Registered Agent, LLC. Our formation service includes a year of our registered agent service, preparation and submission of your state filing, and free business license research.

Our free business license research service is optional, but if you check the box when you sign up, you’ll get a comprehensive report of which local, county, state, and federal licenses you need, put together by our team of local experts. And at no extra cost to you!

Plus, once you’re signed up you can pick and choose other filing services inside your client account that can make keeping up with state requirements that much easier. Add the Washington Business License filing, EIN filing, and Annual Report filing, as well as many others.

Let us free up your time and frustration so you can focus on growing your business right here in Washington.