Starting a Business in Green Bay: Licenses, Registrations & Checklist
A step-by-step plan to open a business in Green Bay: what to file first, what depends on what, and which permits come before opening day. Change the business details to fit yours.
Permits and registrations specific to Green Bay, WI
- Form the business: Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions
- Register for state taxes: Wisconsin Department of Revenue
- Register as an employer: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (UI)
Startup sequence and prerequisites in Green Bay
This example plan has 26 steps. What you file first decides what you can do next: later registrations and licenses wait on the ones below.
Do these first
- Maintain a registered agent in Wisconsin
- File formation documents with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions
- Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Then, once those are done
- Register for unemployment insurance (Wisconsin) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Register for state income tax withholding (Wisconsin) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Wisconsin seller's permit (Wisconsin) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Register for and file Wisconsin entity-level taxes — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Notify residents and regulators of a data breach within 45 days (Wisconsin) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Local permits — Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Obtain food service establishment / health permit — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Ensure certified food protection manager on staff — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Obtain certificate of occupancy for premises in Green Bay — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Report new hires to the Wisconsin new hire directory — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Carry workers' compensation insurance (Wisconsin) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Display required federal labor law posters — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Complete Form I-9 for each new hire — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Display required Wisconsin workplace notices — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Known charges: $25.00 per year.
Total incomplete: some fees unknown
24 of 26 steps have no fee amount in our data. The figures above count only the 2 steps with a recorded fee. Check each agency's fee schedule. Fees that depend on your situation: File wage reports and pay unemployment insurance contributions (Wisconsin).
Things the formation documents depend on: a registered agent and any professional approvals.
File the formation documents with the state.
Obtain the EIN (and apply for tax-exempt status, for nonprofits). Most registrations need it.
State tax accounts, trade name, foreign qualification and publication requirements.
Licenses and permits you need before you operate: state, industry, local and professional.
Insurance, employment paperwork, new-hire reporting and workplace notices.
Recurring filings and payments, in the order they fall due.
Common questions about Green Bay
The state licenses your industry through its own regulator, and the city and county add local permits. These are the authorities and local items on record for Green Bay:
- Contractor licensing: Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (dwelling contractor qualifier)
- Real estate licensing: Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- Alcohol licensing: Wisconsin Department of Revenue (with municipal licensing)
- Child care licensing: Wisconsin Department of Children and Families
- Health facility licensing: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
In the example restaurant plan above, the licenses and permits are: Wisconsin seller's permit (Wisconsin); Obtain food service establishment / health permit; Ensure certified food protection manager on staff; Local permits — Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin; Obtain certificate of occupancy for premises in Green Bay. Change the industry in the form to see yours.
Sources: dfi.wi.gov, revenue.wi.gov, dwd.wisconsin.gov
In the example plan for Green Bay, requirements come from four levels. Wisconsin sets formation, state taxes and employer rules; the city and county add local licenses and taxes.
- Federal (8): Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN); File federal income tax return: Form 1040 with Schedule C; Deposit federal payroll taxes; File Form 941 (Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return)…
- State (14): Maintain a registered agent in Wisconsin; File Annual Report (Wisconsin); Register for and file Wisconsin entity-level taxes; Wisconsin seller's permit (Wisconsin)…
- County (1): Obtain food service establishment / health permit
- City (2): Local permits — Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin; Obtain certificate of occupancy for premises in Green Bay
Sources: dfi.wi.gov, revenue.wi.gov
- Register for unemployment insurance with Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (UI).
- Workers' compensation: Wisconsin DWD Worker's Compensation Division. Required when: 3 employees, or $500 of payroll in a calendar quarter
- Register to withhold Wisconsin income tax from wages.
- The example plan adds these employer steps: Report new hires to the Wisconsin new hire directory; Carry workers' compensation insurance (Wisconsin); Display required federal labor law posters; Complete Form I-9 for each new hire; Display required Wisconsin workplace notices.
Sources: dwd.wisconsin.gov, dwd.wisconsin.gov, revenue.wi.gov