Assumed-Name (DBA) Registration Requirements in Massachusetts

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Who files and where

Chapter 110, § 5 reaches "any person conducting business in the commonwealth under any title other than the real name" of the operator, whether individually or as a partnership. The certificate is not statewide. It goes to "the clerk of every city or town" where the business has an office, so a business with offices in two municipalities files in both.

The certificate identifies each person conducting the business, each person's residence, the business address, and the business title. Each named operator executes it under oath before the clerk, the clerk's designee, or another person authorized to take oaths (§ 5).

Fee and four-year renewal

The statewide fee schedule sets a $1 default for the initial certificate, but its opening language lets a city or town adopt a different fee by local action (ch. 262, § 34(20)). Check the filing municipality's current schedule rather than assuming the statutory default is the amount collected at the counter.

A certificate remains effective for four years and must be renewed every four years while the business continues. Without renewal, it "shall lapse and be void" (§ 5). A sworn statement is also required when an operator withdraws, changes residence, or changes the business location.

The continuing monthly fine

Section 5 makes noncompliance a continuing violation: it authorizes "a fine of not more than three hundred dollars for each month during which such violation continues." The provision is a monthly fine, not a one-time filing surcharge.

What trips people up

• One office does not cover every Massachusetts location. The statute says every city or town where the business has an office. Opening an additional office in another municipality can create another certificate filing.
• The listed $1 is only the statutory default. Chapter 262, § 34 expressly allows cities and towns to set different clerk fees by local action, so actual municipal charges vary.
• A location or residence change is its own sworn filing. Do not wait for the next four-year renewal after moving; § 5 separately requires a change statement with the same clerk.
• The certificate does not state a blanket exclusive right. Separate corporate-name law recognizes existing trade names when testing a proposed corporate name, but filing the municipal certificate is not the same as registering a trademark.

Common questions

Must I keep a copy at the business? Yes. Section 5 requires copies to be available at the business address and furnished during regular business hours when a customer who bought goods or services asks for one.

Is the business certificate also my business license? No. It creates a public record of the operators and the name. State and local licensing, tax, zoning, and professional rules are separate.

Statutes and sources

• Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 110, § 5 — filing trigger, every-municipality office, sworn contents, changes, four-year term, customer copies, and monthly fine. Current legislature text (accessed 2026-08-17).
• Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 262, § 34(20)–(22) — local fee-setting authority and statutory default fees. Current legislature text (accessed 2026-08-17).
• Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 156D, § 4.01(b) — existing trade names in the corporate-name similarity rules. Current legislature text (accessed 2026-08-17).
• Mass.gov, Business certificates (DBA) in Massachusetts — public-record and municipal workflow guidance. Official guidance (accessed 2026-08-17).