Certificate of Assumed Name for Domestic and Foreign Business Corporations

A domestic or foreign corporation may conduct or transact business under an assumed name (commonly referred to as a D/B/A) by filing a Certificate of Assumed Name pursuant to Section 130 of the General Business Law.

General Business Law §130

• Complete and file the Certificate of Assumed Name with the Department of State. 
• The completed Certificate of Assumed Name, together with the appropriate filing fee (please see instructions), should be forwarded to:
  • New York Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231.  All checks greater than $500 must be certified.

The Certificate of Assumed Name must be typed or printed in black ink. All printing and signatures must be of sufficient clarity and darkness to permit recording and reproduction by the Department of State.

• Paragraph 1: Insert the exact name of the entity. The exact name can be found on the filing receipt issued by the Department of State when the entity was formed or authorized to do business in New York State or on any amendment filed. It will also appear in any certified copies of these filings that you may have in your possession, which were issued by the Department of State. The name should be taken directly from one of these documents for insertion in the Certificate of Assumed Name form. Do not abbreviate or make other changes to the name. To determine the exact name of the entity, you may write to the Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231-0001, call the Division of Corporations at (518) 473-2492, or search the Corporation/Business Entity Database.
• Paragraph 1a: Foreign Entities Only. If applicable, insert the fictitious name the entity has agreed to use in New York State.
• Paragraph 2: Check the appropriate box to indicate the law of this state under which the entity was formed or authorized to transact or conduct business.
• Paragraph 3: Insert the assumed name for the business. An assumed name cannot contain words such as "Corporation," "Incorporated," "Limited," "Limited Liability Company," "Limited Partnership," or their abbreviations.
  • Please note that certain words may be used in a certificate of assumed name only with consents or approvals which would permit the use of the word. Restricted and prohibited words are set forth in subparagraph (3) through (11) of paragraph (a) of Section 301 of the Business Corporation Law; subparagraph (3) through (9) of paragraph (a) of Section 301 of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law; paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 121-102 of the Revised Limited Partnership Act; and subdivision (d) through (i) of Section 204 of the Limited Liability Company Law.
• Paragraph 4: Insert the address of its principal place of business in New York State. The address must be set forth in terms of a number and street, city, state and zip code. A post office box is not acceptable. If the entity does not have a principal place of business in New York State, insert the principal out-of-state address.
• Paragraph 5: Indicate the county or counties in which the entity does business or intends to do business in this State. Please note that New York City consists of five counties.
• Paragraph 6: Insert the address of each location where business will be carried on or transacted under the assumed name. The address must be set forth in terms of a number and street, city, state and zip code. Please note that the address(es) reflected in paragraph 6 must be within the county(ies) circled in paragraph 5. If the entity does not have a specific location where it will conduct business under the assumed name, please indicate so.
• Signing Requirements: The Certificate of Assumed Name must be signed on behalf of the entity. The certificate must be signed by an officer of a corporation; by a general partner of a limited partnership or by a member or manager of a limited liability company. In all cases the certificate of assumed name may be signed by an attorney-in-fact or an authorized person for such entity. If the Certificate of Assumed Name is signed by an attorney-in-fact, include the name and title of the person for whom the attorney-in-fact is acting. (Example, John Smith attorney-in-fact for Robert Johnson, president.)
• Filer: Insert the name and mailing address of the individual filing the Certificate of Assumed Name. The filer is the person where the receipt, evidencing the filing, will be mailed. The address of the filer may be set forth in terms of a number and street or a post office box.

Filing Receipt: Upon the filing of the Certificate of Assumed Name, the Department of State will issue an official filing receipt. The filing receipt will reflect the date your Certificate of Assumed Name was filed, the name of the corporation or other business entity, the assumed name and the accounting of the fees you paid. Please verify the information on the receipt to ensure that the information has been recorded correctly by our office. The receipt is your proof of filing. This receipt should be maintained in a safe place. The Department of State does not issue duplicate filing receipts to replace those lost or destroyed.

$25 filing fee for Certificate of Assumed Name. 

• In addition to the $25 New York Department of State filing fee, an additional county filing fee is collected based on the county or counties in which the corporation does business or intends to do business. The county filing fee is $25 for each county, except for the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx, and Richmond for which the additional fee is $100 for each county.

All fees must be paid by cash, check, money order, MasterCard, Visa or American Express.

• To pay for a fee using your credit card or debit card, complete and sign the Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form and submit it to the Division of Corporations with your request for service.
• Checks and money orders should be made payable to the “Department of State.” Please do not send cash through the mail.  All checks over $500 must be certified.

• Expedited Handling Services: (optional) The NYS Department of State's Division of Corporations offers expedited processing of time-sensitive documents. For an additional fee, the Department of State will process a document within the following time frames for the additional fee indicated; $25.00 per document for processing within 24 hours, $75.00 per document for processing within the same day, or $150.00 per document for processing within 2 hours.
• The additional, non-refundable fee for expedited processing service must be paid by a separate check or money order or indicated in the appropriate space on the Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form.
  • The Division of Corporations accepts MasterCard, Visa and American Express for the payment of fees. To pay for a fee using your credit card or debit card, simply complete and sign the Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form and submit it to the Division of Corporations with your request for service.
  • The Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form submitted with any request for services must specifically indicate the level of expedited service requested.
  • The envelope bearing documents for filing and other requests for expedited processing services must be marked with the notation "Expedited Processing" on the envelope.

The name of the corporation or other business entity provided on this certificate must exactly match the records of the Department of State. This information should be verified on the Department of State’s website.