Starting a business in Atlanta is not difficult, but it involves more separate agencies than most founders expect. The state forms your company, the IRS issues its tax ID, the Georgia Department of Revenue registers it for state taxes, and a city or county authorizes it to operate at a specific address. Each step has its own forms and its own order, and skipping one tends to surface months later as a notice, a penalty or a bank that will not open an account.
This guide walks through how to start a business in Atlanta, GA in the order that works, from choosing an entity to the recurring filings you are signing up for.
Step 1: Decide what kind of entity you need
The legal structure affects liability, taxes, paperwork and how easily you can bring in partners or investors later.
- Sole proprietorship. No Secretary of State filing is required to create one, although local licenses, trade name filings and tax registrations may still apply, and there is no liability separation between you and the business.
- Limited liability company. The most common choice for small businesses. An LLC separates business liabilities from personal assets, and by default a single-member LLC is taxed like a sole proprietorship and a multi-member LLC like a partnership.
- Corporation. Usually the right structure for companies planning to raise venture capital or issue stock to employees. A corporation is taxed as a C corporation unless it elects S corporation status.
Tax classification is a separate decision from legal structure. An LLC can elect to be taxed as an S corporation once profits are high enough that the payroll tax savings outweigh the added cost of running payroll for the owners. Our new business formation team helps founders compare the options with real numbers.
Step 2: Form the entity with the Georgia Secretary of State
LLCs and corporations are formed by filing with the Corporations Division of the Georgia Secretary of State, which can be done online.
- Check name availability. The name must be distinguishable from other entities on record. A search of state records is the starting point, and a trademark search is worth doing if the brand matters.
- Appoint a registered agent. Every Georgia LLC and corporation needs a registered agent with a registered office at a Georgia street address, not a P.O. box, to receive legal notices.
- File the formation document. Articles of organization for an LLC, or articles of incorporation for a corporation, with the state filing fee.
- Publish notice, if you incorporated. Georgia requires a newly formed corporation to send a notice of incorporation to the county’s legal organ newspaper no later than the next business day after filing, for publication once a week for two consecutive weeks. This requirement does not apply to LLCs.
- Prepare internal documents. An operating agreement for an LLC or bylaws for a corporation. Georgia does not collect them, but banks, partners and investors will ask for them.
Step 3: Get an EIN from the IRS
An employer identification number is the federal tax ID for the business. Most LLCs and all corporations need one, and so does any business that will have employees. It is issued free of charge by the IRS, and the online application, available when the responsible party has a Social Security number or ITIN, generally issues the number immediately once the information passes IRS validation. Be wary of websites that charge for this step.
Step 4: Register with the Georgia Department of Revenue
If the business will sell taxable goods or services, it must register for a sales and use tax number before making taxable sales. If it will have employees, it must register for Georgia withholding tax. Both registrations are handled through the Department of Revenue’s online Georgia Tax Center. Employers also register separately with the Georgia Department of Labor for state unemployment insurance, which the Department asks employers to do immediately after paying their first Georgia payroll.
Step 5: Get local approval to operate
This is the step founders most often get wrong, because it depends on exactly where the business is located.
- Inside the City of Atlanta, businesses generally need a City of Atlanta business tax certificate, and a physical location will go through zoning review. The city extends into both Fulton and DeKalb counties.
- Outside city limits, the certificate comes from a different city, such as Sandy Springs, Brookhaven or Dunwoody, or from the county if the address is unincorporated. An Atlanta mailing address does not mean the business is inside the City of Atlanta.
- Commercial space may require a certificate of occupancy or tenant-change approval before opening, depending on the use and any work performed.
- Regulated professions and trades, from contractors to cosmetologists to accountants, need licenses from the relevant state licensing board in addition to local approval.
Step 6: Set up the money side before the first sale
- Open a business bank account in the entity’s name. Banks typically ask for the formation documents, the EIN and the operating agreement or bylaws.
- Keep business and personal spending fully separate from the first day. Mixing them undermines liability protection and makes the books hard to trust.
- Set up bookkeeping with a chart of accounts that fits the business, and decide on cash or accrual accounting deliberately.
- Time the S corporation election. If S corporation tax treatment makes sense from the start, the election generally must be filed no later than two months and fifteen days after the beginning of the tax year it is to take effect, which for a new corporation is measured from the date it first has shareholders, acquires assets or begins business.
The recurring filings you just signed up for
Forming a business creates a calendar. The core items for a typical Atlanta business:
- Georgia annual registration with the Secretary of State, due each year between January 1 and April 1. Newly formed corporations may also have an initial registration due soon after incorporation.
- Local business tax certificate renewal with the city or county.
- Business personal property return to the county board of tax assessors, covering equipment, furniture and inventory owned on January 1, filed between January 1 and April 1.
- Sales tax returns on the schedule assigned by the Department of Revenue.
- Payroll filings every quarter and year-end forms generally by January 31, or the next business day when it falls on a weekend, if you have employees.
- Federal and Georgia income tax returns, with estimated tax payments during the year for owners of profitable businesses.
Where new Atlanta businesses get stuck
- Signing a lease before confirming the space is zoned for the intended use.
- Licensing with the City of Atlanta when the address is actually in another jurisdiction, or the reverse.
- Collecting sales tax before registering, or making taxable sales without collecting at all.
- Paying contractors or employees without the right registrations and forms.
- Electing S corporation status too early, before profits justify owner payroll.
Starting a business with Manay CPA
Manay CPA’s Atlanta office handles LLC formation, corporation formation, EIN applications, state tax registrations and business license registration, then sets up the books and tax plan so the company starts clean. For industry-specific guides, see our post on starting a service business in Atlanta. We have served businesses from Georgia since 2001.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to start an LLC in Georgia?
Online filings with the Georgia Secretary of State are generally faster than mail filings, although processing times vary and expedited service is available, and an EIN can usually be obtained online the same day. Local business tax certificates, zoning review and state registrations can add several weeks, so plan the full sequence rather than just the state filing.
Do I need a business license to operate in Atlanta?
Generally yes. Businesses located inside the City of Atlanta need a City of Atlanta business tax certificate. Businesses in other cities or unincorporated areas get their certificate from that city or county instead.
Does a Georgia LLC have to publish a notice in the newspaper?
No. Georgia’s newspaper publication requirement applies to newly formed corporations, not to LLCs.
When should a new business elect S corporation status?
When expected profits are high enough that paying the owner a reasonable salary through payroll and taking the rest as distributions saves more in self-employment tax than the added payroll and compliance costs. The election has filing deadlines, so the decision should be modeled before the tax year starts where possible.
Talk to us
If you are starting a business in Atlanta and want the formation, registrations and books set up correctly from the first day, we can handle the sequence for you. Book a consultation with our Atlanta team.
