Starting a service business in Nebraska

Form your business in Nebraska

You form a Nebraska LLC by filing a Certificate of Organization with the Secretary of State. The form asks for the company name (it must include "Limited Liability Company," "LLC," "L.C." or a similar ending), the street address of the designated office, and a registered agent with a Nebraska street address. The fee is $100 online or $110 in office, as listed by the Secretary of State in October 2026, and online filing runs through the office's eDelivery system. Filing is only half of it. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 21-193, notice of the new LLC must be published for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper of general circulation near the company's designated office, and proof of publication is then filed with the Secretary of State. Call the local paper before you file so you know what the notice will cost; the paper sets that price, and it is often larger than the state fee.

Ongoing state filings

Nebraska LLCs report every two years, not every year. The Secretary of State's reporting page says LLC biennial reports are due by April 1 of odd-numbered years and become delinquent June 16, and a company that misses the delinquency date is administratively dissolved. The filing fee is $25 filed electronically or $30 on paper under Neb. Rev. Stat. 21-192 as it read in October 2026. The next due year after 2026 is 2027, so an LLC formed this fall reports next spring.

Using a business name (DBA)

A trade name (DBA) is registered with the Secretary of State, not a county. The Application for Registration of Trade Name costs $100 online or $110 in office, as listed by the Secretary of State in October 2026, and the registration runs ten years. Like the LLC itself, a trade name comes with a newspaper step: the form quotes Neb. Rev. Stat. 87-219, which requires the registration to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation where the business is located, with proof filed within 45 days or the registration is canceled. Renewal is filed in the six months before expiration under Neb. Rev. Stat. 87-211.

Not sure whether you need an LLC at all? Read LLC vs sole proprietor for contractors, then get your free EIN from the IRS.

Licensing for service trades

Two state programs matter most for home-service owners. First, the Nebraska Department of Labor runs contractor registration: its page says all contractors doing business in Nebraska must register, and it defines a contractor as any person or business who engages in or arranges for work on real property other than their own. That reaches well past builders, so a fence installer, a handyman or a landscaper who sets retaining wall block should read it closely. Registration is renewed each year, and the fee is $40 as listed by the Department of Labor in October 2026 (the page notes the increase took effect August 1, 2026). Second, the State Electrical Board licenses electrical work: under the State Electrical Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-2106), no one may plan, lay out or supervise electrical wiring for another person unless licensed as an electrical contractor, Class B electrical contractor or Class A master electrician, and the board also issues journeyman and residential journeyman licenses. Plumbing and gas fitting are handled at the city level in the places we checked. Lincoln, for example, issues its own master, journeyman and apprentice plumbing and gas fitter licenses. Rules differ from one city to the next, so ask the building department in every town where you plan to pull permits, including Omaha.

• Nebraska Department of Labor, Contractor Registration: Annual registration for contractors and subcontractors working on real property they do not own
• Nebraska State Electrical Division: Electrical contractor, master, journeyman and residential journeyman licenses; apprentice registration
• City of Lincoln Building and Safety: Plumbing, gas fitter and water conditioning licenses inside Lincoln

Workers' compensation

The Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court says the Workers' Compensation Act covers employers with one or more employees in the regular trade or business of the employer, so your first hire triggers it. You buy a policy from a private insurer licensed by the Nebraska Department of Insurance; self-insurance is limited to large, established employers approved by the court, and the court points employers who can't find voluntary coverage to the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Insurance Plan. Penalties for going without include a civil fine of up to $1,000 per violation, with each day counted separately. Coverage also ties back to contractor registration: the Department of Labor requires any registered contractor with one or more employees to keep a current certificate of insurance on file, listing the department as certificate holder, and drops contractors from the registered list when coverage lapses.

More on coverage: business insurance for contractors.

Sales tax on services

Nebraska taxes more services than most states, and several of them are home services. Department of Revenue Regulation 1-098 makes gross receipts from building cleaning and maintenance taxable, including interior and exterior cleaning of homes, apartments and outbuildings, so house cleaners and exterior cleaning crews should read it before quoting their first job. The department's pest control notice says pest control services are taxable, and lawn programs that bundle grub control with fertilizer at one price are taxable in full unless the pest control charge is stated separately. The department's 2022 guide for landscapers lists lawn mowing, tree trimming, aeration, raking, dethatching, and snow removal and de-icing as tax-exempt services, while sales of live plants are taxable retail sales. The same guide gives the state rate as 5.5 percent plus local rates of 0.5 to 2 percent, and says contractors must elect one of three contractor options that decide how they pay tax on building materials. You register for a sales tax permit online or with the Nebraska Tax Application, Form 20, through the Department of Revenue.

Recording business calls in Nebraska

Neb. Rev. Stat. 86-290 allows a person who is a party to a call, or who has the consent of one party, to intercept it, unless the purpose is a criminal or tortious act. So you can record your own business calls in Nebraska, but a caller in an all-party state may be covered by that state's law, which is why many shops play a short recording notice on every call. Our guide on recording business calls covers the details.

See our guide to recording business calls before you turn on call recording or an AI receptionist.

How the seasons shape the work

Nebraska swings from subzero cold to humid 90 degree summers, so most outdoor trades run two different businesses a year. Spring hail and severe thunderstorms bring roofing, siding and gutter work, the long mowing season runs from April into October, and winter means snow removal, furnace calls and frozen pipes. Omaha and Lincoln hold most of the population, while western Nebraska is spread out, which makes drive time a real cost to price into rural jobs.

Budget for two newspaper notices

If you form an LLC and also register a trade name, Nebraska requires a published notice for each: three weeks for the LLC under Neb. Rev. Stat. 21-193 and once for the trade name under Neb. Rev. Stat. 87-219. Proof of publication goes back to the Secretary of State, and the trade name registration is canceled if that proof is not filed within 45 days. Keep the newspaper's affidavit with your company records.

Register as a contractor before you advertise installation work

The Department of Labor's definition of a contractor covers anyone doing or arranging work on real property owned by someone else. If you plan to install anything that attaches to a house or yard, such as fencing, edging, decking or fixtures, set up your profile at dol.nebraska.gov/conreg and keep the registration current each year. Contractors with employees must also keep their workers' compensation certificate on file there.

Then set up the back end that gets you hired

The paperwork makes you legal. Customers still have to find you, reach you and pay you. Before your first job, set up a business phone number, email on your own domain, a Google Business Profile, a simple website, and a way to send quotes and take card payments. The launch checklist lays out the order.

Nebraska questions