Florida Business Search

A field guide to the public business registry, written beside the official search.

Florida Business Search

Business License Lookup

Quick answer. A business license lookup asks whether a city, county, or state agency authorized an activity. The secretary of state file does not answer that. A Florida business search can mean the Division of Corporations entity index, a fictitious-name filing, or a city or county business tax receipt. Those are different offices. This site keeps them apart and links the official desk for each.

Official office

Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations

Open the official search

Phone: (850) 245-6052

The Centre of Tallahassee, 2415 N. Monroe Street, Suite 810, Tallahassee, FL 32303

Search is online. Division phone lines are staffed on state business days.

Steps

  1. Decide which Florida record you need

    Entity or fictitious name: Sunbiz. Local tax receipt: the city or county. Professional license: the state board for that trade.

  2. For entities, open Sunbiz

    Use the Division’s name search. Copy the document number. Do not stop on a similar name.

  3. For a DBA, use the fictitious-name search

    Sunbiz’s fictitious-name inquiry is not the same result list as the corporation search. Read the registrant.

  4. For a receipt, switch to the local office

    Search the address or the business name on the county or city site linked from the county page.

  5. Write down which office answered

    A note that says only “Florida business search clear” is incomplete. Name Sunbiz, the county, or the board.

A license is not the charter

Florida local business tax receipts and California city business licenses are issued locally. A statewide professional license, when one is required, sits with that profession’s board.

Match the license to the activity and the address. An active LLC can still lack the local receipt it needs to operate at a given site.

Three Florida records people collapse into one

Sunbiz, run by the Department of State at dos.fl.gov/sunbiz, is the entity and fictitious-name index. A florida sos business search in that sense starts at search.sunbiz.org. It shows formations and registered fictitious names. It does not show a Miami business tax receipt.

Local business tax, still called an occupational license by many people, is imposed by counties and cities. The receipt number and the expiration live on that local portal. A state professional license, when the trade needs one, is a third file at the licensing board.

County pages on this site point at the local portal we have on file for that county. Confirm the fee and the current URL on that portal before you pay. Statewide entity status stays on Sunbiz.

Common mistakes

  • Treating a Sunbiz active status as a local business tax receipt.
  • Searching only the corporation index for a fictitious name.
  • Using a DBPR professional license as proof of a city receipt.
  • Assuming every county uses the same receipt portal.

Questions

Is Sunbiz the Florida business search?

Sunbiz is the Division of Corporations search for entities and fictitious names. Local business tax receipts are issued by cities and counties.

How much is a Florida business license?

There is no single statewide price. Local business tax is set by the city or county. Sunbiz filing fees are on the Division’s fee schedule and are a different bill.

Do I need a business license in Florida?

Many local governments require a business tax receipt, and some trades need a state license. The entity filing alone does not answer either question.

Sources reviewed