Forms and Publications

The Forms section of this site contains many of the state permits, licenses, registrations, and forms needed to start a business. However, depending on the business activity, additional forms may be required. PA Open for Business is an evolving tool for new and existing businesses and enhancements are continually made to the website.

The Online Business Registration Interview (OBRI) currently allows users to file the forms below electronically.  These forms are from the Pennsylvania Departments of Labor & Industry, Revenue, or State - the three core agencies with statutory and regulatory responsibility in the Commonwealth.

• Application for Certificate of Authority
• Articles of Incorporation - Profit and Nonprofit Corporation
• Application for Registration of Fictitious Name
• Certificate of Organization
• Statement of Registration
• Certificate of Limited Partnership
• Certificate of Insurance
• PA-100 Enterprise Registration

The online version of the Enterprise Registration Form (PA-100) allows users to register an enterprise for taxes and services with the Pennsylvania Departments of Labor & Industry and Revenue, but does not register the enterprise with the Department of State. It is based on the paper PA-100.  The online version of the Pennsylvania Enterprise Registration Form (PA-100) is targeted toward:

• Users who are familiar with the PA-100 process and know the taxes and services for which they need to register
• Out-of-state sole proprietors or general partnerships that are registering as transient vendors in Pennsylvania
• Out-of-state enterprises that employ Pennsylvania residents who work outside of Pennsylvania and conduct  business activity within Pennsylvania

However, users who:

• are unfamiliar with Pennsylvania taxes, services, and business registration requirements
• have  not registered their Limited Liability Company, Corporation, Limited Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership, or Fictitious Name with the Department of State

are encouraged to use the Online Business Registration Interview (OBRI).  The OBRI guides users through the process of registering an enterprise with the Departments of Labor & Industry, Revenue, and State

All of the forms on the PA Open for Business web site are stored in either Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format or Microsoft Word (DOC) format. Free viewers are available to download and view files of these types. Microsoft Word viewers are available in two formats, 16-bit and 32-bit. Download the 16-bit version if you are running Microsoft Windows 3.1 or earlier. Download the 32-bit viewer if you are running Microsoft Windows 95 or later.

Download Adobe Reader 6.0

Download Microsoft Word 16-bit Viewer

Download Microsoft Word 32-bit Viewer

After you have the proper viewer installed on your system, clicking the form link will open the form in your browser window (at this point, the form is downloaded, but not saved to your hard drive). If you have found the correct form, you can either print it from this interface or select “File” “Save As” from the menu. Select a place on your hard drive to save the file, and then complete the save. Now you can open the file from your hard drive whenever you need it.