How to File a DBA in Texas Online: SOSDirect and County Clerk

To file a DBA in Texas online, the route depends on your business structure. LLCs, corporations, limited partnerships, LLPs, registered series, and foreign entities file an Assumed Name Certificate (Form 503) through the Secretary of State’s SOSDirect portal for a $25 fee.¹ Sole proprietors and general partnerships file with the county clerk instead, and whether that filing can happen online depends on the county.

State Filing or County Filing

Your entity type decides the office. Corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, registered series of LLCs, and foreign entities registered to do business in Texas all file at the state level with the Secretary of State.²

Sole proprietors and general partnerships file with the county clerk in the county where the principal office sits. If there’s no principal office in Texas, the certificate has to be filed in every county where the business operates under the assumed name.¹ A freelancer running a business from home files with their home county’s clerk, not the Secretary of State.

What to Have Ready Before You Log In

The certificate itself asks for the same core information whether you file with the state or a county:

The assumed name you want to use publicly.
Your legal name — your personal name if you’re a sole proprietor, or the name on the certificate of formation for an entity.
Entity type (sole proprietorship, general partnership, LLC, corporation, or other).
Principal office address.
The period the certificate should stay active, up to a maximum of ten years.
The Texas counties where you’ll use the name.

State filings also require the file number assigned by the Secretary of State and the jurisdiction where the entity was formed.¹

A quick availability check is worth doing even though Texas doesn’t reserve assumed names. Filing a DBA does not give you exclusive rights to the name, and nothing stops another business from filing the same one. The SOSDirect portal lets you search existing business records for $1 per search.³ For county filings, contact the county clerk about conflicts in their records.

Filing Online Through SOSDirect

SOSDirect is available around the clock. You can create a permanent account or use a temporary login to submit a single filing. The form is the Assumed Name Certificate, Form 503. Complete the required fields — entity name, file number, assumed name, duration, and counties of use — and submit electronically.

The filing fee is $25.¹ Paying by credit card adds a 2.7% convenience fee.⁴ State-level filings through SOSDirect are often processed within hours.

Filing Online With a County Clerk

For sole proprietors and general partnerships, the online experience varies. Some larger counties offer online portals or downloadable forms you can complete digitally and submit electronically. Others require an in-person appearance, and some still require the certificate to be notarized. There is no single statewide online system for county filings.

County fees generally fall between $15 and $30, and some counties charge extra for additional pages. Check the county clerk’s website or call the office to confirm the fee, accepted payment methods, and whether online submission is available. Processing times depend on the county.

After the Filing Is Accepted

You should receive a confirmation — usually an email for SOSDirect submissions, or a stamped copy from the county clerk. Keep it with your business records. Banks, contract counterparties, and anyone who needs proof that you can operate under the assumed name will ask for it.

How Long the Certificate Lasts

The certificate stays active for the term you chose, up to ten years.¹ Texas has no formal renewal. When your certificate expires, you file a new one with the same information and pay the fee again. Letting it lapse while still operating under the name puts you back in the same position as never having filed.

Abandoning a DBA You No Longer Use

If you stop using an assumed name, file a statement of abandonment in the same office where the original was filed. At the state level, that’s Form 504 with the Secretary of State, and the fee is $10, plus the 2.7% credit card convenience fee when applicable.⁴ The abandonment form requires the assumed name being dropped, the date the original certificate was filed, and the registrant’s name and address as they appear in the filing office’s records.² County abandonments go through the county clerk where the original was filed.

What Happens If You Skip the Filing

The consequence most businesses feel first isn’t the criminal one. If you operate under an assumed name without filing the required certificate, you cannot maintain a lawsuit in Texas courts on any contract or business you conducted under that name.² A court can stay your case until you file. If a client refuses to pay a $50,000 invoice and you sue to collect, the case can be halted until the paperwork is in order. You can still defend yourself in a lawsuit, and your contracts remain valid. But the bar on bringing your own claims is a real risk that dwarfs the filing fee.

Knowingly operating without a required certificate is also a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $4,000, up to one year in jail, or both.⁵ A separate civil penalty of up to $500 per violation applies, with each day counting as a separate violation.² Criminal prosecution for DBA violations is rare in practice; the civil penalties and the litigation bar are the everyday exposure.

What a DBA Does Not Do

A DBA is a name registration and public notice, nothing more. It does not grant exclusive rights to the name and won’t stop another Texas business from filing the same one. Brand protection is trademark territory, which runs through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rather than the Secretary of State.⁶ A properly filed DBA also does not protect you from infringing someone else’s trademark; if your assumed name matches an existing registered mark, the trademark owner can still sue.

An assumed name certificate does not create a separate legal entity either. A sole proprietor with a DBA remains personally liable for every business debt and obligation. It doesn’t register your business with the state for tax purposes, satisfy any professional licensing requirement, or replace a certificate of formation. If you need liability protection or a formal structure, form an entity through the Secretary of State separately.

1
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Form 503 – Instructions for Assumed Name Certificate
2
State of Texas. Texas Business and Commerce Code Chapter 71 – Assumed Business or Professional Name
3
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. SOSDirect – Online Searching and Filing
4
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Instructions for Abandonment of Assumed Name Certificate
5
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 12.21 – Class A Misdemeanor
6
United States Patent and Trademark Office. About Trademark Infringement