Most guides to the PLLC New York requires of licensed professionals are written for lawyers, physicians and engineers. This one is for mental health professionals: licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), licensed mental health counselors (LMHC), licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFT) and psychologists. It walks through every step in order, from the Education Department's consent to the newspaper notices, the operating agreement, the EIN, the NPI, the bank account and insurance, with the official page for each step and every fee dated. It also covers what a group with different licenses can and can't do, which is where many New York mental health practices get stuck.
If you're still choosing between a PLLC, a regular LLC and a professional corporation, or you want the tax side (default tax treatment and S corporation elections), start with our guide to PLLC vs LLC for therapists. This page goes deeper on New York only.
The short version
- A regular LLC isn't an option for clinical work in New York. The Education Department's list of acceptable settings for mental health counseling includes a professional service limited liability company (PLLC), a professional corporation (PC), a registered limited liability partnership, a professional partnership and a sole proprietorship owned by a licensee. A regular LLC isn't on it.
- The order is fixed. First the Education Department's Certificate of Authority, then the Articles of Organization with the Department of State, then a certified copy back to the Education Department within 30 days.
- State fees for a one-member PLLC are $270 as of October 25, 2026: $10 to the Education Department, $200 to the Department of State, $10 for the certified copy and $50 for the certificate of publication. The two newspapers charge their own rates on top.
- Publication has a hard deadline. Within 120 days after filing, a notice runs once a week for six weeks in two newspapers chosen by the county clerk, and you file proof. If you don't, the PLLC's authority to do business in New York is suspended until you do.
- One license per PLLC for most therapists. Every member of a PLLC that provides clinical social work, mental health counseling or marriage and family therapy must hold that license. An LCSW and an LMHC can't co-own one.
- A PLLC doesn't cover your clinical work. New York's PLLC law keeps you personally liable for your own professional acts and those of people under your direct supervision. That's what malpractice insurance is for.
Who has to use a professional entity in New York
New York's Education Department (NYSED), through its Office of the Professions, explains the rule in its filing guide. The Education Law generally restricts the practice of a profession "to individuals who are licensed or otherwise authorized" and to entities "that are authorized to employ licensed professionals or qualified persons." The same page explains that before the licensure laws for social work, the mental health practitioner professions and psychology, any business could offer some of these services, including psychotherapy, and that it can't anymore (NYSED, how to file a professional entity). NYSED dates the restriction to September 1, 2004 for licensed clinical social work and January 1, 2006 for mental health counseling.
The LCSW requirements page puts it plainly: "a general business corporation or not-for-profit corporation may not provide professional services or employ licensed professionals unless authorized under law" (NYSED, LCSW license requirements).
For a private practice, that leaves these choices, all from NYSED's list of acceptable settings for mental health counseling (NYSED, mental health counselor license requirements); the LCSW list is similar:
- A sole proprietorship owned by a licensee. No company and no Education Department filing. Plenty of solo therapists practice this way.
- A PLLC authorized to provide your profession's services. This guide covers it.
- A professional corporation (PC). The corporate version, with its own fees and taxes.
- A registered limited liability partnership or a professional partnership of licensees.
Licensed master social workers have an extra limit. NYSED says an LMSW may form a professional entity, but New York law doesn't allow an LMSW to set up a private practice or professional entity to provide clinical social work services, because those services are outside the LMSW's independent scope (NYSED, LCSW licensure and practice FAQ).
A PLLC can be worth the paperwork when you're signing a lease, hiring staff, planning a group or want the practice name on contracts from the start. It is also under the Board of Regents' supervision and can be disciplined like an individual licensee (NY LLC Law section 1203(d)). If none of that applies yet, staying a sole proprietor is a legitimate choice.
What it costs: New York fees as of October 25, 2026
Formation fees:
- Education Department consent (Certificate of Authority): $10 per member, plus $20 if you also file a Certificate of Assumed Name (NYSED, PLLC filing instructions).
- Department of State, Articles of Organization: $200 (Department of State, PLLC articles of organization).
- Certified copy of your articles, which the Education Department needs: $10 per document, from the Department of State's cover sheet on the articles form.
- Filing that certified copy with the Education Department: no fee for a PLLC (NYSED, fees).
- Certificate of Publication: $50 (Department of State, certificate of publication for a PLLC).
- The two newspaper notices: set by each newspaper. There is no state price list, and rates differ by county and by paper, so get written quotes from both papers before you commit to a timeline.
Optional:
- Name availability search: $5 per name, by written request to the Department of State.
- Name reservation: $20 (NY LLC Law section 1101).
- Expedited handling, per document: $25 for 24 hours, $75 for the same day or $150 for two hours.
- Certificate of Assumed Name (a "doing business as" name): $25 at the Department of State, plus the Education Department's $20.
After formation:
- Biennial statement:$9 every two years.
- New York's LLC filing fee (Form IT-204-LL):$25 a year for an LLC that is disregarded for federal tax purposes and has New York income, under the 2025 instructions (NYS Tax Department, IT-204-LL instructions). LLCs taxed as partnerships pay on a scale. Confirm the current year's figures with your CPA.
- EIN:the IRS says "You never have to pay a fee for an EIN" (IRS, get an employer identification number).
A solo LMHC who files by mail without expediting pays $270 in state fees ($10, $200, $10 and $50), plus both newspapers. Each additional member adds $10.
How to form a PLLC in New York, step by step
Step 1: Confirm who the members will be
Under NY LLC Law section 1207, a member must be authorized to practice a profession the PLLC practices, and must practice it in the PLLC or start within 30 days of becoming a member. For a PLLC that provides clinical social work, mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy, psychoanalysis or creative arts therapy, every member must hold that license in New York. Check that each member's license and registration are current, and that the names you'll use on the forms match the names on the licenses: NYSED rejects filings where they don't.
Step 2: Choose a name the Education Department will accept
Name problems head NYSED's list of reasons it rejects applications (NYSED, tips to avoid processing delays). The rules that matter for a therapy practice:
- The ending. The name must end with "PLLC", "P.L.L.C.", "Professional Limited Liability Company" or the "LLC" versions (NY LLC Law section 1212).
- The profession, in the Department's words. Its examples list "Licensed Clinical Social Work", "Licensed Clinical Social Worker" or "LCSW"; "Mental Health Counseling", "Mental Health Counselor" or "LMHC"; "Marriage and Family Therapy", "Marriage and Family Therapist", "Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist" or "LMFT"; and "Psychology", "Psychological Services" or "Psychologist", with "PsyD" accepted only alongside a name (NYSED, acceptable ways to include the profession).
- No plurals for one owner. A one-member PLLC can't use words such as "group" or "associates".
- Explain the unusual parts. Initials, surnames, foreign words, abbreviations and words not commonly used for the profession need a written explanation.
- Words NYSED rejects include Cure, Healing, International, Management Co., National, Network, Partners, Spa, Solution, Center, Clinic and Hospital, plus claims of superiority such as Advanced, Best, Expert, Premier and Ultimate. Neither list is complete.
- "And", "+" or "&" only to separate owners or professions.
- No implied affiliation with a separate business, including borrowing another company's initials.
- Assumed names follow the same rules. NYSED warns that using an assumed name that doesn't meet them can lead to professional discipline (NYSED, notifying the Department of changes).
Some invented examples (the people are invented, and NYSED makes the final call):
- Likely to pass:"Dana Reyes Mental Health Counseling, PLLC" for a solo LMHC, or "Jordan Ellis LCSW, PLLC" for a solo LCSW, each with a note explaining that the name is the owner's. Each names the profession in NYSED's wording.
- Likely to come back:"Reyes Counseling Associates, PLLC" (a plural for one owner, and "Counseling" alone isn't the wording NYSED lists for mental health counseling), "Riverside Healing Center, PLLC" (two rejected words) and "Premier Family Therapy, PLLC" (a superiority claim, and not the listed wording for marriage and family therapy).
The Department of State also rejects names too close to ones already on file. Its database shows existing entities, but it warns that the search isn't a name availability check; for that, send the written $5 request.
Step 3: Prepare the Articles of Organization
Use the Department of State's form DOS-1374-f (Rev. 12/22), "Articles of Organization ... Under Section 1203 of the Limited Liability Company Law," which NYSED links from its instructions (DOS-1374-f). Don't file it with the Department of State yet. The articles ask for:
- First:the name.
- Second:the profession, in the words NYSED expects. Its purpose examples read: "The professional service corporation/limited liability company shall practice the profession(s) of: Mental Health Counseling" (or Licensed Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, or Psychology) (NYSED, purpose examples).
- Third:the county where the PLLC's office will be. This county also decides where you publish.
- Fourth:the address where the Secretary of State mails legal papers served on the PLLC, plus an optional email address. NYSED suggests a business address here so its mail reaches you, and notes that the address will be public.
- Fifth:the names and residence addresses of the original members and managers. NYSED rejects articles that list business addresses here. The articles are a public filing, and the Department of State sells copies of filed documents.
- Sixth:only if a member is itself a company.
- Signature and filer:the organizer signs, and the filer's name and mailing address is where filed documents are sent.
Step 4: Get the Certificate of Authority from the Education Department
NYSED calls its online application the fastest method; it takes a credit card. You can also apply by mail with a check or money order payable to the New York State Education Department. Either way, you send (NYSED, PLLC filing instructions):
- A non-certified copy of your completed articles.
- The "Affidavit: Business Name Professional Practice Entity (PPE)."
- The Professional Corporations Contact Information Form (by mail).
- A Certificate of Assumed Name, if you're filing one.
- The fee: $10 per member, plus $20 with an assumed name.
NYSED returns a Certificate of Authority with your articles. It attests that every member is authorized to practice the profession, which is what NY LLC Law section 1203(b) requires the articles to carry.
Step 5: File with the Department of State
Send the articles, the Certificate of Authority (the Department of State calls it Form PLS709) and the $200 fee to the Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231. Ask for a certified copy at the same time ($10): NYSED needs it next, and its guide says to request it when you file.
The Department of State sends a filing receipt showing the filing date. Keep it: the Department says it doesn't issue duplicates. That date starts three clocks, at 30, 90 and 120 days.
Step 6: Send the certified copy to the Education Department within 30 days
The law requires a certified copy of the articles to reach the licensing authority within 30 days after the Department of State files them (NY LLC Law section 1203(c)(1)). Mail it to NYSED's Professional Corporations Unit, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234-1000. There's no fee for a PLLC, but there is a $20 fee if you're also sending a certified Certificate of Assumed Name. The entity appears on the Office of the Professions' verification search only after NYSED receives this copy.
Step 7: Publish the notice within 120 days
This step has its own section below, because it's the one people miss.
Step 8: Sign a written operating agreement within 90 days
New York requires the members of an LLC to adopt a written operating agreement, which can be signed before, at the time of, or within 90 days after filing the articles (NY LLC Law section 417). It stays in your files; the Department of State doesn't take it. The Department also notes: "The law is silent on the consequences of not adopting an Operating Agreement." Write one anyway, even as a solo member. For a therapy PLLC, it should cover:
- Death or loss of license.A member who becomes legally disqualified to practice must cut employment and financial ties with the PLLC, with narrow exceptions such as retirement benefits (section 1209). By default the PLLC must buy back a deceased or disqualified member's interest within six months at book value, and the operating agreement can set a shorter period or another way to set the price (section 1210).
- Transfers.A member may sell or assign an interest only to a professional eligible to become a member (section 1211).
- Voting.Members can't hand their voting power to anyone other than another member or an eligible professional (section 1207(c)).
- Client records.Who takes custody of records if you die, retire or close, and for how long. New York's rule for these professions is at least six years, and for a minor client at least six years and until one year after the client turns 21 (Regents Rules, Part 29.2(a)(3)).
- Money and decisions.Who signs contracts, how money leaves the business, and how new members join (each must hold the license, and NYSED must be told).
Step 9: Get an EIN
Apply to the IRS in the PLLC's exact legal name once the Department of State has filed the articles. There's no fee. The EIN goes on the bank account, your W-9 for payers and your state tax filings.
Step 10: Open a business bank account
Bring the filing receipt, the EIN confirmation and the operating agreement, and ask the bank beforehand what else it wants. Run all practice money through this account and sign contracts in the PLLC's name: mixing personal and practice money is the fastest way to weaken the protection a company gives you.
Step 11: Get a Type 2 NPI and update your payers
CMS says an individual provider who is incorporated can hold an NPI for themselves (Type 1) and one for their corporation or LLC (Type 2), applied for through NPPES (CMS, NPI fact sheet). The same fact sheet notes that covered providers must report changes to their NPI information within 30 days, and that updating NPPES doesn't update a Medicare enrollment, which is a separate step. If you bill insurance, ask each payer how to move your contract and credentialing to the PLLC, and pick a switch date with them so claims don't go out under the wrong name.
Step 12: Line up insurance
- Professional liability.Each member, manager, employee or agent of a PLLC is "personally and fully liable and accountable" for negligent or wrongful acts they commit, or that people under their direct supervision and control commit, while providing professional services (NY LLC Law section 1205). Ask your insurer whether the PLLC should be added to your policy or needs entity coverage. Our guide to professional liability insurance for therapists covers the policy terms.
- Workers' compensation, disability and Paid Family Leave.New York's Workers' Compensation Board says workers' compensation "is not required for partnerships, LLCs, and LLPs that do not have employees," and that members aren't considered employees for this purpose (WCB, is workers' compensation coverage required). It says the same for disability and Paid Family Leave (WCB, disability and Paid Family Leave coverage). Once you hire anyone, including part-time staff, plan for all three.
- Office coverage.If you lease space, check what general liability coverage the lease requires.
Step 13: Set up the tax side
By default a one-member PLLC is taxed like a sole proprietorship for federal purposes; the S corporation question is covered in our PLLC vs LLC guide. New York adds the IT-204-LL fee above, due by the 15th day of the third month after your tax year ends, with no extension. If your office is in New York City, the state's instructions point to the city's Department of Finance for its taxes on LLCs, including the Unincorporated Business Tax: ask your CPA about those.
Beneficial ownership reports: as of today, New York's Department of State says its disclosure rule, effective January 1, 2026, applies to non-exempt LLCs "formed under the law of a foreign country" that are authorized to do business in New York (Department of State, beneficial owner disclosure). FinCEN's page, updated August 11, 2026, says U.S. companies are exempt from federal BOI reporting (FinCEN, beneficial ownership information). A PLLC you form in New York isn't in either group as those pages read today. Check both again when you file, because this area has changed more than once.
Step 14: Put the PLLC's name everywhere clients see it
Update your website and booking page, intake and consent forms, privacy notice, superbills and email signature, and move your lease and vendor contracts, including any Business Associate Agreement, into the PLLC's name. Use the legal name or an assumed name you've filed. Our therapist website examples show how practices present their name and services, and our therapy intake form guide covers what intake paperwork should include.
The New York PLLC publication requirement
New York's LLC Law sets the rule for PLLCs in section 1203(c)(2) (current text dated November 25, 2016 on nysenate.gov):
- When:within 120 days after the articles are filed.
- What:a copy of the articles or a notice with their substance.
- How often:once a week for six successive weeks.
- Where:two newspapers of the county where the office is located, one printed weekly and one printed daily, designated by the county clerk. The Department of State adds that this is the county named in your articles.
- New York City:when the county is in a city of a million people or more, the designation works as it does for notices of judicial proceedings.
- No designated paper:if the county clerk hasn't designated a weekly or daily paper, you publish in one from a neighboring county that meets the other requirements. A notice in any other paper doesn't count.
The notice must include:
- The PLLC's name.
- The date the articles were filed with the Department of State.
- The county where the office is located.
- The street address of the principal business location, if there is one.
- That the Secretary of State is the agent for legal papers, and the address it mails them to.
- The registered agent's name and address, if you have one.
- A dissolution date, if the articles set one.
- The character or purpose of the business.
How to get it done:
- Ask the county clerk of the county in your articles which weekly and daily papers are designated.
- Get quotes from both. The Department of State says simply that "The newspapers charge a fee for the publication of the notice."
- Match the name and filing date exactly to the Department of State's records, which its instructions require.
- Start early. Six weekly notices span at least five weeks from first to last, and the affidavits come after.
- Collect an affidavit of publication from each newspaper.
- File the Certificate of Publication (form DOS-1709-f) with both affidavits attached and the $50 fee.
If something in the notice changes after the first week, you can finish the original run; the law says no new notice is needed.
If you miss the 120 days, the PLLC's authority to carry on, conduct or transact any business in New York is suspended from the end of that period. The statute says the suspension doesn't void the PLLC's contracts or make its members personally liable for its obligations, and that filing the proof later annuls it. Don't plan on that: until you file, your PLLC isn't authorized to do business in the state.
A worked timeline (invented dates). Suppose the Department of State files Dana Reyes Mental Health Counseling, PLLC on March 2, 2027:
- April 1, 2027 (day 30): certified copy due at the Education Department.
- May 31, 2027 (day 90): last day to sign the operating agreement.
- June 30, 2027 (day 120): Certificate of Publication and both affidavits filed with the Department of State.
- March 2029: first biennial statement, due in the month of the original filing.
Count your own dates from your filing receipt, or have your lawyer count them.
Group practices and practices with more than one license
Same license: allowed
Several LMHCs can own one mental health counseling PLLC, and several LCSWs one clinical social work PLLC. Every member must hold the license (section 1207(b)).
Different licenses in one PLLC: not for these professions
- The PLLC law.For a PLLC formed to provide licensed clinical social work, creative arts therapy, marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling or psychoanalysis, each member must be licensed in that profession (sections 1203(a) and 1207(b)). An LCSW can't be a member of an LMHC's PLLC, or the other way around.
- NYSED's reading.Its list of professions marks these licenses with a note: "Licensees in these professions may not form a PLLC or LLP to practice multiple professions" (NYSED, professions under its jurisdiction). Its PLLC instructions list licensed clinical social work, mental health counseling, psychoanalysis, creative arts therapy and marriage and family therapy among the exceptions to multi-profession PLLCs.
- Professional corporations.A PC may be formed only by individuals licensed to render "the same professional service" (NY Business Corporation Law section 1503(a)), and section 1503(g) says creative arts therapy, marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling and psychoanalysis "shall not be deemed the same professional service," even though one article of the Education Law licenses all four.
- Psychologists.Psychology isn't on those exception lists, and the PLLC law generally lets a PLLC practice more than one profession. But a psychologist can't become a member of an LCSW, LMHC or LMFT PLLC, because every member of those must hold that license. If you're a psychologist planning to combine psychology with another profession, ask the Office of the Professions first.
What mixed practices do instead
- One owner with two licenses.NYSED says a PC can practice more than one profession when it has a single shareholder licensed in each, while these licensees can't form a PLLC to practice multiple professions. A dual-licensed solo owner who wants both services under one company would look at a single-shareholder PC.
- Separate entities sharing space.Each license, or each same-license group, has its own PLLC or practices as a sole proprietor, and they share rent, staff or software under written agreements. Keep billing, records and names separate. NYSED rejects names that reasonably imply an affiliation with a separate entity, so plan how a shared space presents itself before you print anything.
- Employing another license.Whether a psychology PLLC may employ an LMHC, or an LCSW's PLLC an LMFT, turns on what the PLLC is authorized to practice. NYSED's lists of acceptable settings frame each entity by the services it's authorized to provide. Ask the Office of the Professions' Professional Corporations Unit in writing before you hire.
- Licensed programs.NYSED's setting lists also include hospitals and clinics under Article 28 of the Public Health Law, programs under the Mental Hygiene Law, and not-for-profits with a waiver under Education Law section 6503-a. Those are much larger projects than a PLLC.
Hiring pre-licensed clinicians
A PLLC authorized to provide your profession's services is on NYSED's lists of acceptable settings for supervised experience. Two limits from the same pages: a limited permit holder's setting can't be a private practice owned or operated by the applicant, and an LMSW's supervisor must be employed by the employer, not by the LMSW. Remember section 1205 too: you're personally liable for the work of people under your direct supervision. Our guide to clinical supervision in social work covers the contract, notes and log.
Keeping the PLLC in good standing
- Biennial statement:every two years, in the calendar month of your original filing, $9, online. Give the Department of State an email address if you want a reminder.
- Tell the Education Department about changes.NYSED asks every professional entity to report changes so its public listing stays accurate. An address change goes in a letter on company letterhead; adding a profession needs its consent first ($20); a name change must meet the naming rules.
- No NYSED renewal for the PLLC itself.NYSED's fee list shows a triennial statement ($105) for professional corporations and none for PLLCs. Your personal license registration still renews on its own schedule.
- Closing.Articles of dissolution cost $60 at the Department of State (section 1101). NYSED's page on changes asks a dissolving professional corporation to send it a certified copy of the dissolution filing; ask the Professional Corporations Unit what it needs from a PLLC. The records rule in Step 8 still applies after you close.
A New York PLLC checklist
Copy this list and fill it in as you go. The dates come from your filing receipt.
Questions for a New York lawyer and CPA
These are the points in this guide where the answer depends on your facts, and where a New York business lawyer or CPA should have the last word:
- Which county is your office for publication if you practice from home, from more than one county or only by video.
- Whether your home address has to appear in the publication notice, and how to keep it off public filings.
- Whether a dual-licensed owner should use a single-shareholder PC, and whether a PC (whose NYSED filing steps include no newspaper notice) fits your plans better than a PLLC.
- Whether your PLLC may employ a clinician with a different license, and how to structure a shared office of separate entities, including a shared name or website.
- How your operating agreement should handle a buyout, custody of client records and a successor clinician.
- Your New York State and New York City tax filings, and whether an S corporation election fits your numbers.
- What you need for clients located outside New York. HHS says health professionals must "be licensed or legally permitted to practice in the state where the patient is located" (HHS, licensure for behavioral health), and another state may also ask your company to register there. Our counseling compact guide covers the Counseling Compact and PSYPACT.
How this works in TranqBay
TranqBay is practice software for therapists in private practice. Forming the PLLC and setting up the client side can run in parallel:
- A practice website and online booking. While you wait for NYSED, look through the website designs and the booking page your clients would use at practice.tranqbay.health, then set up your site once the practice name is settled, so the name clients see is the legal name or an assumed name you've filed.
- A form library of ready-made templates you send to a client for a session, including intake, consent to treat, telehealth consent, release of information, PHQ-9 and GAD-7. The client fills them in online and the answers wait with the session. TranqBay doesn't score forms automatically.
- Video sessions that are end-to-end encrypted and HIPAA-ready. TranqBay provides a Business Associate Agreement that applies when you accept the Terms, with no separate document to sign, and you can read the Business Associate Agreement first. Ask your lawyer whether your account and agreements should be in the PLLC's name.
- Session notes in BIRP, DAP, SOAP or GIRP format, or a blank note. Structured formats are part of the advanced note templates, which some plans include. Notes are part of the records your operating agreement should plan for.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a PLLC to have a private practice in New York?
No. NYSED lists a sole proprietorship owned by a licensee as an acceptable setting for mental health counseling, and its list for clinical social work includes the same. If you want a company, choose a PLLC, a professional corporation or a registered LLP, not a regular LLC.
Can a therapist in New York form a regular LLC?
Not to provide therapy. NYSED's lists of acceptable settings name professional entities and leave out regular LLCs, and its LCSW page says a general business corporation can't provide professional services or employ licensees unless authorized under law. If you already have a regular LLC, ask a lawyer how to move the practice into a professional entity.
How much does it cost to form a PLLC in New York?
As of October 25, 2026, a one-member PLLC pays $270 in state fees: $10 to the Education Department, $200 to the Department of State, $10 for a certified copy and $50 for the certificate of publication. Newspaper notices cost extra and vary by county and paper. Each additional member adds $10.
What is the New York PLLC publication requirement?
Within 120 days after filing, a notice about the PLLC runs once a week for six weeks in two newspapers in your office's county, one weekly and one daily, designated by the county clerk. You then file a Certificate of Publication with both newspapers' affidavits and a $50 fee.
What happens if I miss the 120-day deadline?
The PLLC's authority to do business in New York is suspended from the end of the 120 days. Its contracts stay valid and members don't become personally liable for its obligations, and filing the proof later annuls the suspension. Publish and file as soon as you can.
Can an LCSW and an LMHC form a PLLC together in New York?
No. Every member of a PLLC that provides clinical social work must be an LCSW, and every member of one that provides mental health counseling must be an LMHC. Separate entities sharing an office, each with its own license, is the usual alternative. Ask a lawyer before you set one up.
Can an LMHC form a PLLC in New York?
Yes. The name must show the profession in NYSED's wording ("Mental Health Counseling", "Mental Health Counselor" or "LMHC"), the articles state the profession as mental health counseling, and every member must be an LMHC.
How long does it take to form a PLLC in New York?
It depends on processing at the Education Department and the Department of State, which neither office promises on these pages. Publication alone spans at least five weeks, and the whole thing must be finished within 120 days of filing. The Department of State offers paid expedited handling for its part.
Does a New York PLLC have to file a beneficial ownership report?
As those pages read on October 25, 2026, not for a PLLC formed in New York: the state's rule covers LLCs formed under a foreign country's law, and FinCEN exempts U.S. companies. Check both pages when you file.
Can my PLLC hire pre-licensed clinicians?
A PLLC authorized for your profession is on NYSED's lists of acceptable settings for supervised experience, so yes, within the supervision rules for each license. You're personally liable for the work of people under your direct supervision, so check your insurance first.
Before you file
Do it in this order: confirm the members and the name, get NYSED's Certificate of Authority, file with the Department of State, send the certified copy back, publish, sign the operating agreement, then the EIN, bank account, NPI, insurance and the name change on everything clients see. Put the 30, 90 and 120 day dates in your calendar the day the filing receipt arrives.
While the filings move, look at TranqBay's practice website designs and the booking page your clients would use, so your site is ready to go up under the PLLC's name once it's filed. If you're deciding whether to join, this page explains how joining TranqBay works. For the full list of steps around the entity, see our checklist for starting a private practice.
Sources
States 30Federal 2CMS 1HHS 1
State boards and laws30
- 1NYSED Office of the Professions: how to file a professional entityop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/corporate/disclaimer/section-ii
- 2NYSED Office of the Professions: instructions for a domestic PLLCop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/corporate/disclaimer/section-vi
- 3NYSED Office of the Professions: professions under the Department's jurisdictionop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/corporate/disclaimer/section-i
- 4NYSED Office of the Professions: feesop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/corporate/disclaimer/section-xi
- 5NYSED Office of the Professions: tips to avoid processing delaysop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/corporate/disclaimer/section-xiiiI/tips-avoid-unnecessary-processing-delays
- 6NYSED Office of the Professions: acceptable ways to include the profession in the nameop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/corporate/disclaimer/section-xiiiI/tips-avoid-unnecessary-processing-delays/entity-examples
- 7NYSED Office of the Professions: examples of appropriate purposeop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/corporate/disclaimer/section-xiiiI/tips-avoid-unnecessary-processing-delays/entity-examples-purpose
- 8NYSED Office of the Professions: notifying the Department of changes in business entitiesop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/corporate/disclaimer/section-x
- 9NYSED Office of the Professions: corporate contact informationop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/corporate/contact-information
- 10NYSED Office of the Professions: LCSW license requirementsop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/professions/licensed-clinical-social-worker/license-requirements
- 11NYSED Office of the Professions: LCSW licensure and practice FAQop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/professions/licensed-clinical-social-worker/faq-licensure-practice
- 12NYSED Office of the Professions: mental health counselor license requirementsop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/professions/mental-health-counselors/license-requirements
- 13Rules of the Board of Regents, Part 29: unprofessional conductop.nysed.govhttps://www.op.nysed.gov/title8/rules-board-regents/part-29
- 14NY Limited Liability Company Law section 417: operating agreementnysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LLC/417
- 15NY Limited Liability Company Law section 1101: feesnysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LLC/1101
- 16NY Limited Liability Company Law section 1203: formation and publicationnysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LLC/1203
- 17NY Limited Liability Company Law section 1205: professional relationships and liabilitiesnysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LLC/1205
- 18NY Limited Liability Company Law section 1207: membershipnysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LLC/1207
- 19NY Limited Liability Company Law section 1209: disqualification of membersnysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LLC/1209
- 20NY Limited Liability Company Law section 1210: death, disqualification or dissolution of membersnysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LLC/1210
- 21NY Limited Liability Company Law section 1211: transfer of a membership interestnysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LLC/1211
- 22NY Limited Liability Company Law section 1212: company namenysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LLC/1212
- 23NY Business Corporation Law section 1503: professional service corporationsnysenate.govhttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/BSC/1503
- 24NY Department of State: articles of organization for a PLLCdos.ny.govhttps://dos.ny.gov/articles-organization-professional-service-domestic-limited-liability-companies-0
- 25NY Department of State: form DOS-1374-f, articles of organization under section 1203dos.ny.govhttps://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2023/01/1374-f.pdf
- 26NY Department of State: certificate of publication for a PLLCdos.ny.govhttps://dos.ny.gov/certificate-publication-professional-service-domestic-limited-liability-company-0
- 27NY Department of State: beneficial owner disclosuredos.ny.govhttps://dos.ny.gov/beneficial-owner-disclosure
- 28NY Department of Taxation and Finance: instructions for Form IT-204-LL (2025)tax.ny.govhttps://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/2025/inc/it204lli_2025.pdf
- 29NY Workers' Compensation Board: is workers' compensation coverage required?wcb.ny.govhttps://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/coverage-required-wc.jsp
- 30NY Workers' Compensation Board: is disability and Paid Family Leave coverage required?wcb.ny.govhttps://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/coverage-required-db.jsp