Starting a Business in San Francisco: Registration, DBA, and Addresses

The city registration also reaches businesses outside the city

Inside San Francisco there is one city, so the question of which neighboring city governs an address does not come up the way it does in Los Angeles County. That question is covered in the guide to business registration in Los Angeles. San Francisco has a different feature: its registration can apply to businesses that are based somewhere else.

The Treasurer lists the situations that generally require registration. They include keeping “a fixed place of business within San Francisco,” performing work or rendering services in the city “for all or part of any seven days during one tax year,” soliciting business in the city on seven days in a tax year, and having “more than $500,000 in total gross receipts allocated to the City during the tax year.” A consultant based in Oakland who works on client sites in San Francisco on seven days during the tax year, even scattered ones, can meet the second test.

We checked how this shows up in the city’s own Registered Business Locations dataset, which the city says is updated daily. We counted locations with no location end date, no business end date, and no “Administratively Closed” flag. As of our October 11, 2026 count, there were 127,446 of them.

The city column is typed in by registrants, so it has spelling variants such as “San Francsico” and “SF.” For that reason we counted by state, and by exact city names that are clearly outside San Francisco, instead of counting each row that does not say “San Francisco.”

Two of those names show a trap. Daly City and South San Francisco are separate cities in San Mateo County. As of October 1, 2026, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) rate table lists 8.625% for San Francisco and 9.875% for both Daly City and South San Francisco. An address that says South San Francisco is in a different city, a different county, and a different sales tax rate. Its business license rules come from that city.

The San Francisco business registration

The Treasurer says San Francisco’s Business and Tax Regulations Code requires a person engaging in business in the city to register “within 30 days after commencing business within the City,” whether or not the business owes tax. A registration is “generally valid for one year April 1st through March 31st,” and it is renewed each year by the last day of February. Starting in 2026, the renewal is part of one Annual Business Registration and Tax Form, a change the Treasurer ties to Proposition M.

Not every business is required to register. The Treasurer lists exceptions, such as a person whose only business is renting out “One residential structure consisting of fewer than four units” or one condominium, and drivers whose only activity in the city is for a taxi or a Transportation Network Company.

The fee depends on San Francisco gross receipts. For the registration year that started April 1, 2026, the Treasurer’s table is based on 2025 San Francisco gross receipts. It lists $55 for $0 to $100,000, $95 for $100,000.01 to $250,000, and $160 for $250,000.01 to $500,000, plus a $4 state fee on each tier. Businesses that qualify as administrative offices pay by payroll expense instead.

Registration and the gross receipts tax are separate. Under the Treasurer’s gross receipts tax page for 2025, most businesses are “required to file a return” only if they had “more than $5,000,000 in combined taxable San Francisco gross receipts.” A small business can owe the registration fee without owing a gross receipts tax return.

The two address lines on the city registration

The registration has two kinds of address lines, and the Treasurer treats them differently.

The business mailing address comes first. The Treasurer says it is “the ONLY address to which this office will mail documents and correspondence,” including your filing PIN, renewal notices, and refunds. It also says “Any valid mailing address (including a postal box) is acceptable,” that a business “can only have one mailing address,” and that “This address does not need to be located in San Francisco.” The office checks the address against a United States Postal Service database.

The location address is separate. The application asks for “The address of each location in San Francisco where you do business,” and each location, trade name, or DBA is listed as its own location. The certificate the city mails out “must be conspicuously displayed at your place of business.” So the location line is for the place where the business operates.

The application also asks for each owner’s mailing address. The Treasurer says notices go only to the business mailing address, not to the owner addresses.

Here is what the Treasurer says becomes public. It lists these items as “available to the public via DataSF.org, listed on your registration certificate, and/or available through public record requests”:

• Business/Ownership Name and DBA Name
• Third party tax collection, meaning whether the business is subject to collecting or remitting parking tax or transient occupancy tax
• Business Start Date and Location Start Date
• Mailing Address
• Location Address
• Business Account Number
• Business Activity Code / NAICS code, and License code (if applicable)

Owner addresses are not on that list, and the Treasurer says “All other information provided is considered confidential.” The dataset matches the list. Its columns include “Street Address” (the business location street address) and “Mail Address,” “Mail City,” “Mail State,” and “Mail Zipcode.”

Many businesses use one address for both lines. As of our October 11, 2026 count, 43,397 of the 102,245 active locations listed with the city name San Francisco show a mailing address line whose text is the same as the street address line. Small formatting differences would not match, so the real number of shared addresses may be higher. If you run the business from your home and use your home for both lines, both public columns will show it.

First Year Free does not cover home-based businesses

San Francisco has a fee waiver program called First Year Free. The Treasurer says it waives “initial registration fees, initial license fees, first-year permit, and other applicable fees for qualifying businesses,” and that enrollment is automatic when you register a new business or location. The Board of Supervisors extended it through June 30, 2027, “or until all funds appropriated to reimburse departments for the waived fees have been expended, whichever comes first.” The Treasurer reported 15,424 businesses enrolled as of October 5, 2026.

The rules tie the waiver to the location. A new business or location that began on or after July 1, 2023 qualifies only if it has $5,000,000 or less in San Francisco gross receipts, has “a registered location that is for commercial use,” and is not “a home-based business or a short-term rental.” The Treasurer defines commercial use as “any non-residential use businesses, other than home-based businesses and short term rentals.” Home-based businesses were removed from eligibility in July 2023.

This is where the location line matters. The program looks at the registered location, which is where the business operates. An address where you only receive mail belongs on the mailing line. We did not find guidance from the Treasurer saying that a mail-only address counts as a commercial location for First Year Free, so do not plan on the waiver unless the business actually operates from a commercial space.

Running the business from home in San Francisco

San Francisco lets residents run a business from home under rules that its Office of Small Business sets out in a guide to home-based businesses. The guide lists these: “You cannot have clients coming to your home,” “You cannot have employees who do not live there coming to the home,” and “You cannot use more than 1/3 of the total floor area of the unit for commercial purposes.” It says some services traditionally practiced at home, such as acupuncture and psychiatry, can have clients, and that salons and massage therapy may not be in homes in San Francisco.

The same guide speaks to the address question directly. On registering your business, it says: “You can get a separate business address or you can use your personal address for your registration.” Read that together with the Treasurer’s rules. The mailing line can be any valid mailing address. The location line describes where you do business, and the guide refers readers to the Planning Department’s Accessory Uses for Dwelling Guide for the detailed home office rules.

Filing a DBA with the County Clerk after the city registration

A fictitious business name statement is California’s DBA filing. Business and Professions Code section 17900 defines a fictitious business name for an individual as “a name that does not include the surname of the individual or a name that suggests the existence of additional owners.” For an LLC, it is “any name other than the name stated in its articles of organization.”

You file in the county of your principal place of business. Section 17915 says the statement “shall be filed with the clerk of the county in which the registrant has his or her principal place of business in this state.” The City’s page adds: “If your business is outside of San Francisco County, you must file your FBN with the County Clerk of that county.” A business with no place of business in California files with the Clerk of Sacramento County.

In San Francisco, the order of filings matters. The County Clerk asks for “A copy of your Business Registration Certificate or Temporary Verification of Registration (TVR) issued by SF Treasurer & Tax” for new accounts and for changes to the DBA, business location, or ownership. The Treasurer’s application also tells businesses with a San Francisco location that uses a fictitious name to register that name with the County Clerk. So register with the Treasurer first, then file the DBA.

The County Clerk’s fee list shows new fees effective July 1, 2026: $69 to file a statement, $17 for each additional name or registrant at the same location, and $11 to file the affidavit of publication.

Section 17913 sets out the two address lines in the statement:

• The business location: “the street address, and county, of the registrant’s principal place of business in this state.”
• The registrant: for an individual, “the registrant’s full name and business mailing address if it differs from the business address.” For an LLC, “the name and business mailing address of the limited liability company, as set out in its articles of organization on file with the California Secretary of State, and the state of organization.”

The City’s filing requirements page still lists “Residence address of registrant(s)” on October 11, 2026. The current text of section 17913, as posted by the California Legislature, uses business mailing address for the registrant line. If you see the older wording, ask the clerk which form to use before you file.

Newspaper publication and the 45-day clock

The statement is designed to be public. Section 17900 says the filing “is designed to make available to the public the identities of persons doing business under the fictitious name.” Section 17917 requires the registrant to publish “a statement in the form prescribed by subdivision (a) of Section 17913,” which includes the address lines above. Government Code section 6064 sets the schedule: “once a week for four successive weeks.”

In San Francisco, the county and the statute agree on the deadline. Section 17917 says publication must happen “Within 45 days after a fictitious business name statement has been filed.” The City’s publication page says “Your first publication must be within 45 days from the day you filed your FBN Statement,” in “a San Francisco court approved newspaper.” It also warns: “If your first publication appears after the 45 day requirement, you will need to file a new FBN Statement and pay the fees again.” Newspapers may not publish right away, so contact one soon after you file.

After the fourth publication, you file proof. Section 17917 says the affidavit is filed “within 45 days after the completion of the publication.” The City notes that some newspapers file it for you, but it tells readers to double-check.

A statement lasts five years, or ends sooner. Section 17920 says it expires “five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk,” and also “40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement.” Moving the business changes one of those facts. Under section 17917, a refiling after expiration does not need to be published if nothing has changed and it is filed within 40 days of the expiration date.

Matching each address line to what San Francisco publishes

Both San Francisco filings put addresses in front of the public. DataSF republishes the location and mailing addresses from the city registration in a dataset updated daily, and the county DBA statement prints the principal place of business in a newspaper for four weeks. If you run the business from home and list your home on each line, your home address goes on both.

Each line on the two forms asks for something different. On the city registration, the location address is where the business operates in San Francisco, and the mailing address is the one place the Treasurer sends mail, which can be a PO box or an address outside the city. On the county statement, the principal place of business line is the street address where you run the business, and the registrant line asks for a business mailing address (for an LLC, the one in its articles). An address where you only receive mail belongs in the mailing lines.

If you are based outside San Francisco, the city may still expect a registration once you work or solicit there on seven days in a tax year. If you are based in a nearby city whose name includes “San Francisco,” that city’s rules apply to your location.

Before an address goes on the Treasurer’s mailing line, our free address checker shows how it is classified. Information about business addresses in the city is on our San Francisco page.