A one-person business in California starts with six filings, in a fixed order. Most of them are free or under $100. The six steps are: choose the structure, get the federal tax number, register for sales tax if you sell goods, register with your city, file a trade name if you use one, and get the permit your trade needs. An LLC adds two state filings and an $800 tax. Each step below lists the agency, the fee and the date.
The Secretary of State says on its own site that no single source lists every filing requirement. This page lists them for the common case: one owner, no employees, in California. The City of Los Angeles is the local example.
Step 1. Choose the structure
Sole proprietor. You file nothing with the state. Skip to step 2. Your list is steps 2 to 6.
LLC. You file Articles of Organization, Form LLC-1, with the Secretary of State. The fee is $70. The filing is online. Three obligations start that day:
- Statement of Information. Due within 90 days, then every two years. Fee $20.
- The $800 annual tax. Paid to the Franchise Tax Board by the 15th day of the 4th month of your tax year. In the first year, the month you filed counts as month one.
- Form 568, the LLC's return. Due every year. The dates are on the $800 page.
Whether an LLC is worth $800 a year to you is a question for a lawyer or a CPA. This page does not answer it.
Step 2. Get the EIN
The EIN is the business's federal tax number. The IRS issues it free, online, at once. An LLC uses an EIN for most registrations, including the City of Los Angeles. A sole proprietor with no employees can use a Social Security number instead. Most sole proprietors get an EIN anyway, to keep the Social Security number off forms.
Step 3. Get the seller's permit, if you sell goods
The CDTFA is the state's sales tax office. If you sell taxable goods outside a registered marketplace, you register with the CDTFA before your first sale. The permit is free. The CDTFA sets your filing schedule at registration. You owe sales tax on your taxable sales whether or not you charged it. Who needs the permit and who does not is on the seller's permit page.
Step 4. Register with your city
California has no general state business license. Your city issues the license, or in a few places your county.
In the City of Los Angeles the license is the Business Tax Registration Certificate, the BTRC. Every business inside the City needs one, "from LLC to 1099" in the City's words. You register when you start. You renew by the last day of February every year. A registered business with worldwide gross receipts of $100,000 or less owes no City tax if it renews on time.
Other cities set their own license, fee and date. CalGold, the state's permit finder, lists yours by city and business type. The full picture is on the business license page.
Step 5. File the trade name, if you use one
A fictitious business name statement is required when you trade under a name that is not your own legal name or your LLC's name. You file it with your county clerk. In Los Angeles County the fee is $26 for one name and one owner. You file within 40 days of first using the name. Publication in a newspaper begins within 30 days of filing under the county's page, 45 under the statute. The notice runs once a week for four weeks. Then you file the proof of publication. The statement expires five years from filing.
Step 6. Get the permit for your trade
State boards license some trades, contractors and cosmetologists among them. County health departments permit food businesses, and food made at home runs through the state's cottage food registration. CalGold lists what your kind of business needs in your city. These permits come before your first sale.
Step 7. Put every date on one calendar
| Filing | Agency | Fee | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization, LLC only | Secretary of State | $70 | once, to form the LLC |
| Statement of Information, LLC only | Secretary of State | $20 | within 90 days of forming, then every two years in the six-month window that ends with your formation month |
| $800 annual tax, LLC only | Franchise Tax Board | $800 | the 15th day of the 4th month of the tax year; first year, the filing month counts as month one |
| EIN | IRS | free | once |
| Seller's permit and returns | CDTFA | free; the tax is on your taxable sales | before the first sale; returns on the schedule CDTFA assigns |
| City license, in Los Angeles the BTRC | your city | in Los Angeles, a tax on gross receipts; $100,000 or less worldwide owes nothing if registered and renewed on time | when you start; in Los Angeles, renew by the last day of February every year |
| Fictitious business name, if used | county clerk | $26 in Los Angeles County | file within 40 days of first use; start publishing within 30 days of filing; expires after five years |
| Trade permit | state board or county | varies | before the first sale |
Fees and dates were checked against the agencies in October 2026. Other cities and counties set their own.
If you hire someone
The day you pay someone to work for you, a second list starts. You register as an employer with the Employment Development Department, you pay payroll taxes, and you carry workers' compensation insurance. This page does not cover that list.
Why owners miss steps
Five agencies hold the filings: the Secretary of State, the Franchise Tax Board, the IRS, the CDTFA and your city or county. No agency sends you the other agencies' dates. The LLC's dates start the day you file, not in January. The first City of Los Angeles renewal falls in February of the year after you start, when nothing has been due yet. The seller's permit is free, so owners assume it is optional. Each step is easy alone. The misses come from the gaps between agencies.
After the first year, the list becomes small business compliance: the same filings, kept current.
Where Khanna's comes in
If you want help reviewing your small business compliance, email us at daksh@khannasllc.com with your business and your city.
Common questions
Do I have to form an LLC to start? No. A sole proprietor starts with steps 2 to 6 and files nothing with the Secretary of State. A lawyer or a CPA can tell you whether an LLC is worth it in your case.
How much does it cost to start a one-person business in California? As a sole proprietor in Los Angeles: $26 for the trade name, plus the permit your trade needs. The EIN, the seller's permit and the City registration cost nothing to file. As an LLC: $70 to form, $20 for the first Statement of Information, and the $800 annual tax in the first year, plus the same items.
How long does it take? The IRS issues the EIN online at once. The Secretary of State posts its current processing times for LLC filings. The City of Los Angeles issues a temporary certificate at registration and mails the permanent one within 4 to 6 weeks.
Do I need a business license from the State of California? No. The state licenses some trades through its boards and issues the seller's permit through the CDTFA. The business license comes from your city, or in some places your county.
General information for California owners as of October 2026, with the City of Los Angeles as the local example. Khanna's is not a law firm or an accounting firm, and this is not legal or tax advice. The main fees and dates above link to the agency pages that state them. For your own situation, check with those agencies, a lawyer or a CPA.