How to File a DBA in Texas: Form 503, the County Clerk, and the Fees

How an LLC or corporation files Form 503

An entity needs a certificate if it “regularly conducts business or renders professional services in this state under an assumed name” (Section 71.101). The Form 503 instructions say an entity may use more than one assumed name, “but a separate assumed name certificate must be filed for each assumed name.”

The assumed name cannot be your exact legal name. The instructions say a certificate will be rejected if the assumed name “is exactly the same as the legal name of the entity on file with the secretary of state.” The Secretary of State’s FAQ gives an example. If the legal name is ABC, Inc., you may file for “ABC” but not for “ABC, Inc.”

1. 1Item 1: Write the assumed name you will use.
2. 2Item 2: Write the entity’s legal name as it appears in the Secretary of State’s records.
3. 3Items 3 and 4: Check the entity type, such as Limited Liability Company. Add the Secretary of State file number if the entity has one. The instructions say providing it is recommended.
4. 4Item 5: Give the state or country where the entity was formed.
5. 5Item 6: Give the principal office address. The form labels this line “Street or Mailing Address.”
6. 6Item 7: Choose how long you will use the name. You can pick 10 years, a shorter number of years, or an end date no more than 10 years away.
7. 7Item 8: List the counties where you will use the name. The choices are all counties, all counties except some, or only some counties.
8. 8Sign it. The signer must be an officer, general partner, member, manager, representative, or attorney in fact of the entity.

You can file online through SOSPortal, or by mail or in person with a check or money order. The instructions list the mailing address as P.O. Box 13697, Austin, TX 78711-3697. For online filing, the instructions say credit card payments “include a convenience fee of $0.25 plus 2.25% of total fees.” Online filers get the evidence of filing by email. Mail and in-person filers get it by mail.

Form 503 does not need a notary. The Secretary of State’s FAQ says “Assumed name certificates filed with the secretary of state do not need to be notarized,” and faxed copies and photocopies of signed certificates are accepted.

How a sole proprietor or partnership files with the county clerk

A sole proprietor needs a certificate only if the business name is an assumed name. Section 71.002 says that for an individual, an assumed name is “a name that does not include the surname of the individual.” A name with your surname can still count if it suggests other owners, with words such as “& Associates” or “Brothers.”

The county certificate must be “executed and acknowledged” by each individual named in it (Section 71.053). On the Travis County form, a notary or a deputy clerk completes that acknowledgment. Each county clerk has its own form, fee, and steps. The Secretary of State’s FAQ says people who file at the county level “should contact the applicable county clerks’ offices for information on fees and on filing a certificate.”

Travis County, which includes Austin, is one example. Its DBA page says you can first search the county’s assumed names records, and that the clerk will search for you “For a $10.00 fee.” For a walk-in filing, you submit an application online, and “All owners must be present with valid government issued identification for recording.” By mail, you send a notarized form with a cashier’s check, money order, or check.

Travis County’s page states the fee this way: “Filing fee is $23.00 for business name and one owner. Additional owners are $.50 each filed on same statement.” The page adds $2.00 for each acknowledgment done in the office. Chapter 71 itself sets a county clerk fee of $2 per certificate and 50 cents per indexed name. Travis County’s posted total is higher than that figure, so check the page of the county where you will file.

Which address goes on the certificate

The address line is different for each office. On Form 503, Item 6 asks for “The entity's principal office address,” and the line is labeled “Street or Mailing Address.” Section 71.102 says the certificate must state “the street or mailing address of the registrant's principal office in this state or outside this state.” So an LLC’s principal office does not have to be in Texas.

The county certificate asks for more. Section 71.052 says an individual’s certificate must state “the individual's full name and residence address.” The Travis County form also asks for the “PHYSICAL ADDRESS OF BUSINESS.” A general partnership lists its office address and the residence address of each individual partner. Our guide to the Texas DBA and a sole proprietor’s home address explains that residence line in detail.

An address change also triggers a new filing. Section 71.152 says a change in the “location of a registrant” makes the certificate materially misleading. You then have 60 days to file a new certificate in the same office. Our state-by-state DBA address comparison shows how other states handle the address on a DBA.

How long a Texas DBA lasts, and how to renew or abandon it

A certificate lasts for the period you choose, up to 10 years. Section 71.151 says the certificate is void at the end of its term unless you file a renewal certificate “within six months preceding the certificate's expiration date.” You can renew for any number of terms, and each term can be up to 10 years.

Texas has no amendment form for a DBA. The Form 503 instructions say “There is no procedure for an amendment to or correction of an assumed name certificate.” If the information becomes materially misleading, you file a new certificate within 60 days. The FAQ lists “a change in the registrant's name, address, or business structure” as a material change.

When you stop using the name, you may file a statement of abandonment in the office where you filed the certificate (Section 71.153). For a Secretary of State filing, use Form 504. The FAQ says the Secretary of State collects “$10 for each statement of abandonment.” For a county filing, the FAQ says “do not use Form 504,” because different signing rules apply. Use the county clerk’s own abandonment form.

One reason to abandon a county DBA is moving a sole proprietor’s business into an LLC. The LLC then files its own Form 503. Our guide on whether you can transfer a DBA to an LLC covers that switch.

What filing does and does not do

Filing gives notice to the public. The Form 503 instructions say “The effect of filing is to give notice to the public that the entity is conducting business under that name.” Filing does not protect the name. The Secretary of State’s FAQ says Chapter 71 “does not authorize rejection of an assumed name certificate on the basis of a name conflict.” So more than one business can have the same assumed name on file.

Skipping the filing has consequences. Section 71.201 says you may not bring a lawsuit in a Texas court over a contract or act that used the assumed name until a certificate is filed. A court can also make you pay the other side’s costs of finding and serving you. Section 71.202 makes it a Class A misdemeanor to do business under an assumed name while intentionally violating the chapter.

Item 6 asks for the street or mailing address of the LLC’s principal office, and that office can be outside Texas. Before you list an address, our free address checker shows how USPS classifies it. Our pages for a Silicon Valley business address and a Los Angeles business address describe the business addresses save office offers.