California Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  Statement / Certificate

Doing Business As  Contra Costa  dba  in California

FBN      DBA

Note:  Fictitious Business Name procedure for San Francisco is Different

Here's what this process includes: 

• After you purchase our service, you receive a confirmation email with a form and business name search links so you can do a state and local business name search to make sure no one is using your business name. 
• Sign the form and mail it to us  - takes one day to get to our office. Then, we will pay the fees and file, publish, and send you the certified, filed original copies. 
• Take these documents and open a bank account.  Four weeks later we file a proof of publication.  
• In general, it takes 4-7 business days for regular service, 2-4 days for Expedited, and One day for Expedited same day.

PROCESS

Payment for Our Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name Service (important: provide your  email and or fax when submitting your online credit card or check order ).

Reception of a  Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  Application Form by email fax .

Completion of the Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  form

Mailing of the Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  form - takes one day to get to our office ( or we pick it up for same day service).

Inspection and Correction of the  Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name form

Taking the form to government building for Filing of  the Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name

Taking the  Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  Certified, Filed Document to a Legally Adjudicated Newspaper for Publishing of the form

Mailing and / or faxing (faxing for expedited orders only and upon request) of  Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  Certified, Filed  form

Mailing and / or faxing  (faxing for expedited orders only and upon request) of publication receipt for payment of publication for the  Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name

Filing of proof of publication of the Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name

MORE DETAIL....

• FIRST . . . use a check or credit card to Purchase  a Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name (FBN) online, mail us a check or order by phone 
• You receive a confirmation email or fax with links for Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  business name search, instructions,  and forms. 

	Mail the Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  to us  the form by regular mail - you need to do that because the government needs an original signature - so  no faxes or emails of completed applications are accepted- Normally, it takes one day to get to our offices in the Los Angeles area.
	When we receive the Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name, we inspect it, and correct it if necessary; then,  we pay the filing fee and file  it with gov't office.
	Then we take the filed  Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name certified original copy  to  legally adjudicated  newspaper and pay for its publication  for four weeks
	Then, we mail you   the Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  certified original Contra Costa  Fictitious name copy, with receipt for payment of publication - that is all you need to open a bank account.  In certain cases, we fax you the copies, and a lot of banks let you open a bank account with the faxed copies.
	You take the original  Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name  certified copy and the publication receipt  to a bank and you open a bank account with it.
	After four weeks of the FBN's publication, we file a publication proof with the gov't .

 

 Benefits of a Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name FBN - Doing Business As Contra Costa  dba :

	It allows you to open a bank accounts in the Contra Costa  dba Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name so you can receive and write checks in the company's name.  Simply put, it is more professional to use a business name to do business than using your own name ( especially if no one can pronounce your name - as in my case.)
	You can sue others with the same Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name, if you have filed before them
	It allows you to do business with a Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name fitting to your business.   For example, you can call your company "Fly-By-Night," or "Rob'em & Cheat'em," if you think it will help your business ( by the way, I don't highly recommend any of the above names).
	More realistically speaking, it would make a difference if you were a computer consultant and named your company "Computek Guru," than going by your own name, for example "John Smith's Computer Advice".
	Can file as many names as you wish.  Note: imagine the possibilities.  Have 10 different names with 10 different Contra Costa  Fictitious names.  Obtain a Federal Tax Id for each Contra Costa  Fictitious Name. Build 10 different credit lines in the  10 different names - each with a different tax id.   Even if you could obtain $10,000 for each company name, you would end up having $100,000 credit line in a short time.
	Now, please tell me... what's most important when your running a business?  After having clients, the most important thing is CASH!   CASH is the most important thing to stay and succeed in business.   And I want to remind you . . . no one loves you  enough to loan you any serious  money ... except the banks ( because they make money out of it... of course).
	How you can justify so many companies?  The possibilities are endless: each part of your business could be a different company ( which I highly recommend for tax purposes).  For example, if you were selling widgets, you could have a marketing department/company, a purchasing department / company, a supplies department / company, a distribution department company, etc.  No one tells you to have one company for your company - split it up as many times as possible

Disadvantages 

• Other business or corporations may have the same name. 
• Other business may file the same name even after you file yours
•  

"Contra Costa  dba" or Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name (FBN).  What is it?

 

A Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name is simply a filing and publication  by the business or individual under which the Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name operates. 

It tells the community that John Doe, who lives on 1 Somewhere St. in Beverly Hills, CA 90210,  operates a business called "Getoll  De Muny," and his business address is 1 Nowhere St, Los Angeles California 90000. 

So now people and  banks can trust you (and I have no idea why) and they will issue  checks in the company's name and the  bank will open a bank account and let you cash the checks. NOTE THE BANK will not open a bank account unless you have a A Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name is simply a filing and publication  of   the business or individual under which the Contra Costa  Fictitious Business Name operates.

"Contra Costa  dba" means   "Doing Business As..."    A person or a company is using a business name other than their personal or corporation name. 

Example:  Tony Soprano starts a business called "Rob 'em and Cheat 'em".  Obviously, he does not want his name to be associated with the  business name , so a Contra Costa  dba registration is required, unless he uses "Tony Soprano" or even Tony Soprano, the Robber" as his business name because in the latter case his real name is incorporated in the business name. 

The same applies  when a Corporation, an LLC, a General Partnership, etc. wants  to do business in another name.   Example, your corporation name is "Rob 'em and Cheat 'em"  and you want to do business as "Rob 'em".  You need to obtain a Contra Costa  dba for that name.

• Do you need a
  • Federal  or State Tax Id    or a  
  • Seller’s Permit in California for your business?
  •  3. Tax IDs EIN Fed./State/Permits

Answer: 

1.      Generally you need a Fed tax id, if you have employees, and you need to separate

yourself from the company for tax purposes - however, you could do your taxes under your social security if you don't have employees.

·        However, the question is whether you want to  do business under your social security #. 

·        If you do, all of your personal assets are subject to civil suits, and creditors.

·        In addition, you can…YES you can build a separate credit line with a secured or unsecured business credit card or by obtaining a loan in the federal tax id.    So long as you make it clear in the contracts you enter into, your personal assets are not completely at stake, because if you have a fed Tax Id  (EIN), it is additional evidence that the party to the contract was dealing with a business and not an individual.  – however, keep in mind that   incorporation is the organization that really shields your assets and protects you from civil liability so long as you follow the corporate formalities.

2.      Do I need a State Tax ID? See "1" above: you need it if you pay employee(s) more than $100 per year.

3.      You need a seller's permit in California if you sell any type of products – YOU GET tax free purchases for ITEMS YOU BUY to resell.