Guides / Which license
Find the license that matches where you operate and what you do.
You need a city or county general business license plus any state industry license that matches your activity. Which ones apply depends on where you operate and what the business actually does.
No single form covers every business. A shop, a lender, a collector, and a money transmitter do not share one checklist. This guide does not choose your activity for you. It points you to the tool that fits the question you have now.
LicensingMadeSimple, Licensing Navigator, LicenseStore, FastLicence, and Cornerstone Licensing sit in the same owner network. The list below is ordered by job.
Open Licensing Navigator when the question is which licenses you need.
Navigator builds a checklist from your industry and your state. You answer where you operate and what you do. You get a personalized list to work from. That is the which-license job, so this pick is first.
Treat the checklist as a working map. It does not issue the license. It does not file the form. It does not replace the agency page.
Answer the activity questions in plain words. If you are not sure you collect debts, make loans, move money for others, or work in mortgage, do not force a label. Write down what you are unsure about and verify it before you apply. A wrong activity label sends you to the wrong license.
Open the LicensingMadeSimple directory when you want to read the rules yourself.
The directory is a 50-state research path. It covers collection and accounts receivable management, lending, money transmitters, and mortgage, plus adjacent overviews. Each topic shows who needs a license and where to file.
This is the DIY path. You pick the activity, open the state, and read the scope. The directory does not decide that your business fits a category. You make that call. Then confirm it with the agency that would issue the license.
Two other LicensingMadeSimple pages help you order the work. The roadmap wizard on the home page lays out a step sequence. The first business license guide covers the local license to handle before a state industry license.
Keep the order straight. Put the city or county general business license first. Add the state industry license only if your activity is regulated. A city or county general business license and a state industry license are separate filings.
If you will operate in more than one state, read each state. Do not assume one state's rule copies to the next.
Open LicenseStore compare when you already know the license and you need published cost facts.
LicenseStore publishes government and NMLS fees next to provider facts. Use it to read what those sources publish. It does not choose your license.
This guide does not quote fees. Fee tables change. A copied number goes stale. Open the compare page and read the figure for your license there.
A government or NMLS fee and a provider price are different. The public table shows published charges. A provider price to prepare a file is quote-only. Ask for a quote that names your state and your license type. Do not budget off a guess.
Open FastLicence when you know the license and you need a cited clock.
FastLicence publishes timelines for the licenses it covers. This article does not invent day counts. Go to the live page for your license and read the clock printed there.
A cited clock is a published figure. Your file can finish on a different date. Missing documents and the agency queue both move the date. Check the page again before you set a launch date. The cited figure can change.
Look up timing only after the license name is clear. A clock for the wrong license will not help you plan.
Open Cornerstone Licensing when you want a firm to prepare and file a regulated application.
Cornerstone prepares and files. You bring the activity and the states. You still have to describe the business accurately. If the facts are wrong, the filing will be wrong.
The published track record is 28 years, 525,000+ filings, and a 99.995% on-time filing rate. Cornerstone and the LicenseStore review publish those figures. This guide does not add other stats.
Pricing is quote-only. Do not look for a fee in this article. Ask Cornerstone for a price on your license and your states.
Hiring a filer does not skip the earlier jobs. Name the license with Navigator or the directory before you ask Cornerstone to file it.
Write one sentence on what the business does and where it does it. Say whether it collects, lends, transmits money, or handles mortgage. If none of those fit, say that too. The general business license may be the whole job.
Run the finder or read the directory with that sentence in hand. Pull the city or county license and any state industry license the pages point to.
Check cost on LicenseStore compare only after the license name is stable. Check timing on FastLicence the same way. If the work is regulated and you do not want to prepare the file, request a quote from Cornerstone.
If the activity is still unclear, ask the issuing agency or a qualified lawyer. A checklist cannot settle a legal classification.
Start with the city or county general business license where you operate. Then check whether your state requires an industry license for the work you do. This guide will not name that industry license for you. Your activity and your state decide it.
Read each state on its own. The directory is a 50-state path so you can do that. A license in your home state does not automatically cover the next state. Confirm each state before you offer a regulated service there.
You can hire help. You should still know what you are filing. Cornerstone Licensing prepares and files regulated applications. Navigator and the directory show you the list first. Give the filer a clear activity description so the application matches the business.
Published government and NMLS fees are on LicenseStore compare. Cited clocks are on FastLicence. This article leaves both blank on purpose. Open the live page for your license.
No. This list matches jobs. It does not publish star scores. Open the page that fits the question you have.
No. License rules turn on facts this page does not have. Use the tools to build a list. Then confirm with the issuing agency or a qualified lawyer before you file or pay.
If you need a checklist by industry and state, start with Licensing Navigator. If you want to read who needs what and where to file, open the LicensingMadeSimple directory or the roadmap wizard.
Come back to cost, timing, or a filing quote only after the license name is clear. Keep the first line of the plan local. City or county general business license first. Then the state industry license that matches what you actually do.