About this data
What the site shows, where it comes from, and how far to trust it.
What this is
A research aid for US small businesses. Pick a business type, industry and place, and it lists the registrations, licenses, filings and deadlines that usually apply, in the order you would do them.
It is not a filing service and it does not give legal, tax or accounting advice.
Where the data comes from
Government sources: the IRS, state agencies and local governments. Every item names the authority that issues it so you can check it yourself.
Coverage today: 51 states and 431 city and county pages. State rules apply everywhere; city and county items appear where they have been researched.
How a plan is built
Your answers (business type, industry, employees, whether you sell taxable goods, and the place) go into an open rules engine. It returns the items that apply, then orders them into phases from formation to opening day, with planned dates and dependencies.
Fees are added up only where the data holds a known amount. Many fees depend on your facts and are shown without a total.
How current it is
Data version 2026-10-13, rules version 2026-10-13.2. Cities and counties carry the date they were last checked against official pages.
A tag such as "not individually checked" means the item comes from a general rule that has not been confirmed for your exact place. Treat those as a lead, not a fact.
How we measure the site
We use Google Analytics and PostHog, and only after you accept analytics in the banner. We use them to see which pages and features help. If you decline, neither loads. You can change your choice any time with the cookie settings link below.
If you leave your email to hear about rule changes, it is stored for that purpose only and is not shared.
Who maintains this
Business obligations is built and maintained by Alisa Belousova, the author of the open-source business-obligations rules engine (MIT license) that produces every plan on this site.
Review and responsibility
- The maintainer chooses the sources, writes and updates the rules, and is responsible for the content. An item's checked date records when it was last compared with the official page it cites.
- Automated tests run on every change to the rules and to this site.
- No attorney, accountant or other licensed professional reviews this content. If that changes, this page will name the reviewer and say what they reviewed.
Corrections and contact
Every item has a report-an-error link that opens a data-correction issue in the public repository. Include the official page that shows the right answer. Accepted corrections are made in the open.
Anything else: open an issue on GitHub.
Source code
Disclaimer
General compliance information, not legal, tax or accounting advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Requirements depend on facts this library cannot see and change often; data is compiled from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date (see each item's provenance and the result's dataVersion). Confirm requirements with the cited authority or a qualified professional before relying on them.