A Hays County DBA is a ten-year filing, not a business license

Say you're opening 'Blanco River Landscaping' as yourself, not as an LLC. Before you put that name on a sign or a checking account, Texas wants it recorded as an assumed name (a DBA) with the Hays County Clerk. You download the form, sign it in front of a notary, and bring or mail it to the Clerk's office near the courthouse square in San Marcos. The filing is good for ten years from the date it's recorded, then you re-file.

People tend to think a DBA does more than it does. It's just a public-record name filing. It is not a business license, and it grants you no exclusive right to the name, so someone else can file the same one. It also doesn't touch the other approvals your business might actually need. A restaurant still needs a food permit, anything serving alcohol still needs TABC, a contractor may still need city permits, and most sellers still need a state sales-tax permit from the Comptroller.

If you've formed an LLC or corporation through the Secretary of State, a DBA used by that entity is filed at the state level instead of the county. The county filing is for the unincorporated businesses — the sole proprietors and general partnerships working under a trade name.