Last updated November 10, 2021

Business License in Louisiana

After you form your Louisiana LLC, you need to comply with city and parish license and permit requirements.

Your requirements are determined by the industry you are in and where your business is located.

Not complying with license and permit requirements is risky and can result in penalties and fines, or worse, not being able to conduct business in Louisiana.

Types of licenses & permits you may need in Louisiana

Below are some license and permit examples:

• City business licenses/tax permits
• Building permit
• Health permit
• Occupational permit
• Signage permit
• Alarm permit
• Zoning permit
• Alcohol & tobacco permit
• Liquor license
• Sales and use tax permit
• Seller/reseller permit

Do it yourself in Louisiana

geauxBIZ Business License Checklist
You can create a business license checklist for your LLC using the geauxBIZ portal: https://geauxbiz.sos.la.gov/

• Click the “Sign in or Create Account” button
• Login or create a geauxBIZ account
• Click the “Getting Started” button at the top
• Select “Produce a list of possible federal, state and local licenses and permits required for your business” and click “Next”
• Click “Start Business Checklist”
• Enter your name and mailing address
• Work your way down the list: select your Sector, then Subsector, and so on
• If you can’t find your specific industry, or need help, you can contact the US Census Bureau (who administers the NAICS Codes) at 1-888-756-2427. This page also has answers to frequently asked questions
• Select your parish and location, then click “Submit Request”
• On the next page, you’ll be able to read/download a PDF which will give you a list of all the agencies and departments you may need to contact

Note: Your PDF checklist will mention “An assumed business name must be registered with” and then it will give you the phone number of your local Parish Clerk of Court. Please disregard this as it’s misleading. If you formed a Louisiana LLC and you’re doing business under that name (and not a different alias), then you can disregard this. You only need to do this if you’re “doing business as” under a name different than your LLC.

State Business License and Permits Resources Page
The state also has links to different agencies and departments where you may need business licenses and permits for your LLC. Please see geauxBIZ: Create a business license checklist.

Our Recommendation

There are nearly 20,000 licensing and permit jurisdictions in the United States and each has its own rules and regulations.

If you want to save time, we recommend hiring a professional service company (like IncFile) to do the research and prepare your applications.

They will provide you with a comprehensive package of all the licenses, permits and tax registrations required for your Louisiana LLC, as well as the necessary application forms:

Next Step

After you’ve researched and obtained the proper licenses and permits for your Louisiana LLC, you can then proceed to the next lesson: Louisiana LLC Taxes.

Matt Horwitz

Founder & Educator, LLC University®

Matt Horwitz has been the leading expert on LLC education for the past decade. He founded LLC University in 2010 after realizing people needed simple and actionable instructions to start an LLC that other companies weren't offering. He's cited by Entrepreneur Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and the US Chamber of Commerce, and was featured by CNBC and InventRight.
 
Matt holds a Bachelor's Degree in business from Drexel University with a concentration in business law. He performs extensive research and analysis to convert state laws into simple instructions anyone can follow to form their LLC - all for free! Read more about Matt Horwitz and LLC University.