A master business license is essential to owning a sole proprietorship or a partnership. It gives your business the legitimacy required of it. As of October 2021, a master business license (MBL) in Ontario is now called a Business Name Registration (BNR). A BNR is a registration for your business, containing your business’s name, type, address, and registration number.
An MBL allows you to operate under the business lawfully. You can open bank accounts and tax accounts and acquire checks under the business name. It’s one of the easiest licenses to acquire in terms of business. Although it’s not the best option for big businesses, it’s a starting point for sole proprietors and partnerships. So before you decide to get a Master Business License, here are a few things you should know:
- An MBL Isn’t For Everyone
A master business license isn’t necessary if your business’s name is the same as yours or your partner’s. It’s only necessary if you want your business to operate under a different name: it needs to be registered to operate lawfully. An MBL is also not necessary if you choose to incorporate your business. Incorporating your business means it would be working with its corporate name and doesn’t need to be given a Master Business License. However, if you want your incorporated business to operate with another name that’s not its corporate one, you will need an MBL.
- It Doesn’t Offer Liability Protection
Although a master business license protects your business from being illegal, it doesn’t protect your business name the way incorporated businesses do. An incorporated business can use a name identical to yours, and you can’t take any legal action against them. Furthermore, an MBL has no liability protection. If you go bankrupt, your business debts are automatically transferred to your personal accounts outside your business. So an MBL might not be the best choice for you if you want your assets protected and separated from your business.
- They Have A Validity Period
An MBL allows you to use your business name, market your goods, and open bank accounts under the business name lawfully. However, this has an expiration date. A master business license is only valid for five years. And after that, they expire, meaning if you want to continue operating your business legally, you have to reapply every five years.
- How To Apply For A Master Business License
If you’re a partnership company, you need to know how to register for your master business license. You can bring forth your application in person if you’re in Ontario. But if not, you should consider sending your application via a business email. Also, you can use the fastest way to get your application done through online registration. You can do this by using the registration portal.
- Registration Requirements
If you want to register for a master business license, you must know the requirements to help you qualify. The requirements include the appropriate age and the cost of the license.
If you want to apply for an MBL, ensure you’re eighteen or above. As long as you’re within this age range, you can file your application, whether or not you’re a Canadian citizen.
Of course, you need to have registration money, as you can’t get through the process without it. For in-person registration and via email registration, you should have about CAD$80. For online registration, you could prepare about CAD$60.
Also, it’s a requirement to come up with a unique name for your company so that it gets registered. So, to know if the name you want to use for your company hasn’t been registered before, consider running a name search. That’ll help you avoid any inconveniences (e.g., you’ll know ahead of time whether or not the name you like to use has already been registered). Therefore, you have to prepare between CAD$8 and CAD$26 to get through with the name search. Once you get all these done, it means you’re good to go.
- It Can Be Amended
Another thing to know about getting an MBL is that you can amend it or cancel it when you need to. However, you have to take note that you’ll have to cancel the previous permit and re-register afresh for a new name. You don’t have to worry about traveling to Ontario to cancel or amend your license because you can do it online. In this case, you can use the Change of Business Tool that’s available online.
Conclusion
If you’re a partnership and you’d want to register for a master business license, then you have to know how you can do it before you even start. This will help save you from making first-time mistakes. Plus, if you’re a business person, you don’t have time to waste doing the same process over and over again. This article has introduced you to how you can apply for a master business license.
