www.serviceontario.ca
On-Line Small Business Registration Tip Sheet
Register or renew your sole proprietorship or partnership (non-incorporated) business through the Ministry of Government & Consumer Services (formerly Ministry of Consumer & Business Services) on-line at www. serviceontario.ca. Available 8:30 am – 6:00 pm Monday-Friday for instant document issuance (you must have a printer) and your document will also be emailed to you within 2 business days (you must have an email address.)
www.serviceontario.ca
Help Line 1800 268-8758
Finding the exact link takes 5 more clicks:
Click 1 of 5: On the right side of the ServiceOntario Home Page, find the “Search, Register, Renew a Business Icon” & click on it.
Click 2 of 5: Read about different forms of business organizations, and decide which is best for your situation. Click on the appropriate one. i.e. Sole Proprietorship is the one-person ownership of a nonincorporated business.
Help Line: 1-800-268-8758
www.serviceontario.ca
Click 3 of 5: On the centre of the page, find “Register/renew a business name”, and click on the blue word “Online”
Click 4 of 5: On the centre of the page, find “INTEGRATED BUSINESS SERVICES APPLICATION”. Click on this link.
Click 5 of 5: At the bottom of the page, click on the blue oval that says “Integrated Business Services Application” to finally begin your business name registration.
Help Line: 1-800-268-8758
www.serviceontario.ca
Tip #1 Home Page: Choose what you want to do (name search, register a new business name, change existing registration information *limited changes allowed*, cancel a business registration
Tip #2 Getting Started: To Get Started, scroll to the bottom of this second page and click on the blue hypertext “Integrated Business Services Application”, then click “ok” when the permission box appears.
Tip #3 Client Consent Page: You must click “yes” to continue.
Tip #4 Business Services Selection Page: If you wish to search the name you hope to use for your business, to ensure that no one else in Ontario is using that name, click on the “Enhanced Business Name Search” radio button. Name searches are not mandatory, but are recommended. The computer will allow you to duplicate a pre-existing name, however, the owner of the first business registered by that name has the right to demand that you cease using it. The owner may or may not pursue this right. If you’re considering a name search, do it prior to registering your business name. If you are not going to search your name, skip to Tip 8.
Help Line: 1-800-268-8758
www.serviceontario.ca
Tip #5 Enhanced Business Name Search Intro and Criteria Pages: For name searches for new business registrations, type in the business name you hope to use; leave “City” and “Ontario Business Identification Number” fields blank. We recommend the “Exact Search”, but the “Enhanced Search” will tell you not only if there is an exact match, but what similar names also exist. Leave the type of report on the default “Detailed Business Names Report”.
Tip #6 Make Payment Page (Name Search): When entering your credit card number, enter all 16 digits with no spaces or dashes.
Tip #7 Completing the Name Search & Printing your results document The search will take less than half a minute; go to the next page and look for pale blue underlined text that says Click here to view and print your report. Click on the hypertext to launch a new window, which shows either “No Match Found” (good news – print a “statement of no match found”) or a list of existing business(es) already using that name. If someone already has the name, you can click on that listed company to print out further details. While we recommend that you register a name unique to you, there are circumstances where duplicating a name will not cause any problems; the computer will allow to you duplicate someone else’s name should you decide this is acceptable in your situation. Use the printer icon on this new window to print a copy of your report, and then close this new/small window. Click through the next few pages, following the same procedure as above to print your receipt. Once you log off, you are directed back to the home page, where you can conduct a second name search if needed, or you can proceed with registering your business.
Tip #8 Registration Intro, Business Type, Business Name Information & Eligibility Pages
Help Line: 1-800-268-8758
www.serviceontario.ca
These pages are all straightforward. After answering questions by clicking on the appropriate radio buttons and clicking “next”, you will get a Summary Page. Be sure to review your answers before moving on – it is not possible to make changes to your answers after this summary page (you cannot use the back browser button on this site).
Tip #9 The next few pages ask about Ontario Retail Sales Tax, Employer Health Tax, & WSIB. Again,
click the appropriate radio buttons, and review your Summary Page before moving on. Tip #10 Registration Payment Page You will now be asked to provide credit card information to make the $60 registration payment. You still have quite a bit of data entry to complete after your credit card is approved (your contact information, your business name, nature of the business, start date etc. etc.)
Tip #11 Printing Your Master Business Licence Once you’ve made payment, you will continue entering data for 10-15 minutes. As in Tip #7, watch for the pale blue underlined text that says Click here to view and print your report. Click on the hypertext to launch a new window, which shows your Master Business Licence (MBL). Print a couple of copies. Now close the MBL window. Tip #12 Print Summary Page & Receipt The last few pages give you the option of printing a summary of all of the questions and your answers; you may wish to keep a record of how you answered the questions so go ahead and indicate yes, then print a copy. Next, you definitely should print a copy of your receipt. Once again, watch for the pale blue underlined text that says, “Click here to view and print your receipt”. Click on the hypertext to launch a new window, which shows your $60 receipt. Print a copy to use as a business write-off. Finally, be sure to sign off, to close the session.
Help Line: 1-800-268-8758