NC Assumed Business Name Act: Filing, Renewal, and Penalties

To file a DBA in North Carolina, submit an assumed business name certificate to the Register of Deeds in any county where you do business, pay the $26 filing fee, and you’re done. One filing covers you across the entire state, and there’s no renewal to worry about. The rules come from the state’s Assumed Business Name Act in Chapter 66, Article 14A of the General Statutes.¹ The filing itself is simple. The details that trip people up are the name restrictions, the 60-day deadline for changes, and the difference between a DBA and a trademark.

When You Need a DBA

You need to file if you operate under any name that doesn’t match your legal identity, and you need to do it before the business opens.² The rule applies to individuals, partnerships, limited partnerships, LLPs, LLCs, corporations, trusts, joint ventures, and essentially any other legal or commercial entity.³

Your “legal identity” depends on what you are. For an individual, it’s your real name. For an LLC, it’s the name on the articles of organization filed with the Secretary of State. For a corporation, it’s the name on the articles of incorporation. A limited partnership uses the name in its certificate of limited partnership, and a trust uses the name in the trust instrument or the trustee’s name with a trust designation.³

So if Jane Doe opens a bakery called Sunrise Pastries, she needs a certificate because customers can’t tell from the name who owns the business. If a corporation called Apex Holdings, Inc. starts selling gear as Blue Ridge Outfitters, the corporation needs a certificate too, because the trade name doesn’t match what’s on file with the Secretary of State.

If you plan to run several trade names off the same person or entity, one certificate can list up to five assumed names. Beyond five, you need a separate certificate.²

What Goes on the Certificate

The statute requires five pieces of information:⁴

The assumed business name you’ll use with customers.
Your real name. Individuals list their legal name; entities list the name on file with the Secretary of State. Partnerships must list up to five general partners.
The nature of the business, in a brief description.
The principal place of business as a street address, not a P.O. box.
Every county where you use or plan to use the assumed name.

Match your existing legal documents exactly. If your LLC’s articles of organization list your address as “100 Main Street, Suite 3” and you write “100 Main St.” on the certificate, that mismatch can create problems later when a bank or a court tries to verify your filing.

Names You Cannot Use

Certain terms are off-limits unless they accurately describe your entity. You cannot include Corporation, Incorporated, Corp., or Inc. unless you’re actually a corporation organized under North Carolina law. The same rule applies to Limited Liability Company and its abbreviations (LLC, L.L.C.), Limited Partnership (LP, L.P.), and Limited Liability Partnership.⁴ A sole proprietor who tries to file “Sunrise Pastries LLC” without actually forming an LLC will have the certificate rejected.

Before you commit to a name, search the Secretary of State’s assumed business name database to see whether someone else is already using it.⁵ The Act doesn’t prohibit two businesses from filing the same assumed name, but sharing a name with an established competitor invites confusion and potential legal exposure, especially if the other business has trademark rights.

Where to File, Who Signs, What It Costs

You submit the certificate to the Register of Deeds in any county where you operate. If you do business in more than one county, you only need to file in one of them, and the filing covers you statewide once it’s uploaded to the Secretary of State’s database.²

Who signs depends on your business structure:⁶

Individuals sign themselves.
Partnerships and limited partnerships: a general partner signs.
Corporations: an officer signs in the corporation’s name.
LLCs: a manager or another authorized person signs in the company’s name.

Notarization is not required under the current version of the Act. Official forms are available through the Secretary of State’s website and your county Register of Deeds office.

The fee is set by statute at $26 for the first 15 pages, plus $4 for each additional page.⁷ A typical assumed name certificate runs one or two pages, so most filers pay $26 total. Payment options vary by county; most offices accept cash, checks, and credit cards, and many take submissions by mail.

After You File: The Statewide Database

Once the Register of Deeds records your certificate, the information goes to the Secretary of State, who maintains a searchable online database of every assumed business name filed across the state.⁵ That’s what replaced the older system of filing in every single county where you operated. A potential customer, a lender, or an opposing attorney can now look up who stands behind a trade name from any computer.

Changes, Withdrawals, and Renewal

If any information on the original certificate changes — your address, your ownership, your counties of operation — you have 60 days to file an amendment with the same Register of Deeds office where you filed the original.⁸ That window is tighter than many owners expect. An LLC that moves offices in January and doesn’t update the certificate until June is well past the deadline. Set a reminder the day the change happens.

When you stop using an assumed name or close the business, file a certificate of withdrawal with the Register of Deeds office where the original was recorded.⁹ That removes the name from active status in the statewide database.

Certificates filed under the current version of the Act (effective December 1, 2017) remain valid until withdrawn. There is no expiration date and no periodic renewal. You only go back to the Register of Deeds if your information changes or you stop using the name.

What Happens If You Skip the Filing

The Act itself doesn’t impose fines or criminal penalties for operating without a certificate. That doesn’t make it free of consequences. A business that never files may struggle to enforce contracts, because the other side can argue it failed a basic registration requirement. For LLCs and corporations, the larger risk is personal liability. If someone signs a contract with Blue Ridge Outfitters without knowing the real party is Apex Holdings, Inc., the individual who signed may be treated as personally responsible instead of as an agent of the company. Disclosing the true entity behind the trade name is the whole point of the Act, and a recorded certificate is the simplest way to establish that disclosure.

A DBA Is Not a Trademark

This is where new business owners get confused. Filing an assumed name certificate is a transparency requirement, not a branding tool. It tells the public who you are. It does not stop anyone else from using the same name.¹⁰

A trademark registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office gives you nationwide legal ownership of a brand name as used on specific goods or services. A DBA simply tells the state of North Carolina which person or entity is behind a particular trade name. Trademarks go to the USPTO; trade names go to the state. Neither one substitutes for the other.¹⁰ If your assumed name is central to your marketing and you want to keep competitors from using it, trademark registration is the tool for that job.

Taxes and Banking After You File

Your EIN Stays the Same

Adopting a new trade name does not require a new Employer Identification Number. The IRS is explicit that sole proprietors, partnerships, LLCs, and corporations do not need a new EIN just because they change their business name.¹¹ Your existing EIN carries over.

If you want the IRS to associate your assumed name with your account, enter it on Line 2 of Form SS-4, which has a dedicated field for the trade name of the business. The IRS instructs filers to pick either the legal name or the trade name and use it consistently across all tax returns to avoid processing delays.¹²

Opening a Business Bank Account

Most banks won’t let you deposit checks made out to your assumed name unless you can prove the name belongs to you. Your recorded assumed name certificate is the document that connects the trade name to your legal identity. When you open a business bank account, expect the bank to ask for your EIN (or Social Security number for a sole proprietorship), your formation documents, ownership agreements, and your business license alongside the DBA certificate.¹³ Some institutions ask for more, but the assumed name certificate is nearly always on the list. File it before you head to the bank.

1
Justia. North Carolina Code Chapter 66 – Article 14A – Assumed Business Name Act
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 66-71.4 – Filing of Certificate; Exception
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 66 – Article 14A – Section 66-71.3
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 66-71.5 – Contents of Certificate
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 66-71.9 – Secretary of State Searchable Database
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 66 – Article 14A – Section 66-71.6
7
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 161-10 – Uniform Fees of Registers of Deeds
8
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 66 – Article 14A – Section 66-71.7
9
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 66-71.8 – Withdrawal of Assumed Business Name
10
United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark or Trade Name?
11
Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN
12
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
13
U.S. Small Business Administration. Open a Business Bank Account