How To Register A Business In PA

Registering a Business in PA

In order to register to do business in PA, proceed as follows:

1. Visit http://www.dos.pa.gov/BusinessCharities/Business/RegistrationForms/Pages/default.aspx#.VkJU1OIcA0U
2. In the middle of the home page is a section entitled "Not sure where to start?"
3. Under this section is an item entitled "Submit a Corporate Filing".
4. Click this item and it will bring up a page entitled "Filing Guidelines".
5. At the bottom of the page is a listing of all types of businesses.
6. Choose the item that matches the type of business entity and click it.
7. The next page will provide instructions regarding necessary filings with the State of Pennsylvania and will include a link to the form to be completed. For instance, for "Pennsylvania Business Corporations", in the second paragraph is a link for a pdf entitled "docketing statement".

Perform a Search for Businesses Registered in PA

In order to perform a search for entities already registered to do business in the State of Pennsylvania, proceed as follows:

1. Visit https://www.corporations.pa.gov/Search/CorpSearch.
2. On the left side of the home page is a listing of items.
3. Click on “corporations".
4. This will bring you to a page entitled “Corporation Bureau".
5. The first word in the first paragraph is “search".
6. Click [search], this will bring you to a page entitled “Search for a Business Entity".
7. Enter the name that you are searching for and click [search].
8. This will provide you with a list of businesses matching your entry. You can then scroll through the list and expand the one that you are looking for.
9. Information such as owners, date registered, type of entity, etc. will appear. Note: this section is for all business types. It is not limited to corporations.