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North Carolina is one of the few states where the county files the paper and the state keeps the index. You file with a register of deeds, and the register passes the data on. Anyone can then look the name up in one place.
Where do you file a North Carolina DBA?
Before you start doing business under an assumed business name, file an assumed business name certificate with the register of deeds of the county where you do or will do business. That rule is in G.S. 66-71.4, the Assumed Business Name Act. It applies to individuals, partnerships, LLCs, corporations and trusts alike. For an LLC, an assumed name is any name other than the one in its articles of organization.
If you work in several counties, you file in only one of them and list every county on the certificate. One certificate may carry up to five assumed names. Use a separate certificate for each name beyond that.
What goes on the certificate?
The statute lists five items: the assumed name, a real name of the person doing business under it, the nature of the business, the street address of the principal place of business, and each county where you use the name. The statutory sample form says post office boxes are not acceptable as the street address. An LLC gives the exact name registered with the Secretary of State and its SOS ID number.
A certificate is signed by an officer, or by a manager of an LLC, or by another authorized person. Since the law was rewritten, the Secretary of State's page says, you no longer need a notary.
We did not find a statewide filing fee. The register of deeds sets the charge on its own schedule, so ask the office before you go.
What name is not allowed?
You cannot put corporation, incorporated, LLC, limited liability company or a similar form in an assumed name unless the entity is organized as that kind of business under the matching chapter. The same goes for limited partnership and limited liability partnership terms. See our LLC name search guide to test the name first.
What do you do when things change?
File a certificate of amendment with the register of deeds within 60 days of any change in the information on the certificate. It cites the book and page of the original filing and the SOS ID the Secretary of State assigned. When you stop using the name, file a certificate of withdrawal in the same county office.
How do you search a North Carolina assumed name?
The Secretary of State runs a separate assumed name search from its business registration search page, linked from the Business Registration division. The law requires the Secretary of State to keep a searchable online database that the public can use. Registers of deeds must send a scanned image of each certificate to the state, and enter the key data, within 30 days of filing.
The database covers filings made on or after the new law took effect on December 1. For older filings, ask the county register of deeds. Our DBA search guide explains the general method.
How does it fit with the LLC?
Form the LLC first, then file the assumed name for it. A DBA does not give liability protection, as our DBA vs LLC comparison explains. The North Carolina LLC page covers the formation filing, and our how to file a DBA page shows the common steps.
What this page does not cover
The county fee, transition rules for older filings, and the full online search steps were not on pages we could read. This is general information, not legal advice. For taxes and licenses, see North Carolina business license. The state hub covers the entity search.