Mossdale Lending Group, a small-business funding broker in Pasco, Washington, explains how owners look up a Pasco business license, what to check on the record, how the lookup differs in Kennewick and Richland, and why lending partners compare the license with bank and state records. Requirements and fees are for the city and your advisers to confirm.
This guide covers Pasco, WA
This guide is about Pasco, Washington, a city in Franklin County, WA. Searches for a Pasco business license often surface pages for Pasco County in another state, which has its own rules and offices. Check that any page you use names Pasco, WA or the City of Pasco.
Looking up a license record
- Start from the city's official website, not a third-party directory.
- Search by the exact legal name, then by any trade name the business uses.
- If you have a license or account number, search by that instead; names are often spelled differently.
- Note the status, the expiry or renewal date, and the address on file.
- Save or print the result with the date you checked it.
What the city requires
Whether a business operating in Pasco needs a city license, a city endorsement on a state license, or both, and what it costs, is for the city to state and your advisers to confirm. We do not summarize those rules here.
Pasco, WA, Kennewick, WA and Richland, WA are separate cities
Pasco sits in Franklin County, WA, while Kennewick and Richland are separate cities in Benton County, WA. A business based in one city that works in another may face a different set of local requirements in each. Owners often search for each city's license page separately: 'city of pasco wa business license', 'kennewick wa business license search', 'richland wa business license'.
| City | County | Where to start |
|---|---|---|
| Pasco, WA | Franklin County, WA | City of Pasco official website |
| Kennewick, WA | Benton County, WA | City of Kennewick official website |
| Richland, WA | Benton County, WA | City of Richland official website |
State-level licensing is a separate topic with its own lookup. This guide sticks to the city side.
A ZIP code does not tell you the city
Pasco lies entirely within ZIP 99301, but the city covers only 7.0% of that ZIP's land (Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area to place relationship file). A 99301 address may be in unincorporated Franklin County, WA rather than the city. Kennewick, likewise, spreads across three ZIPs. Check the city on the license, not the ZIP on the envelope.
Why lending partners look at your license
A partner wants to see one business across every record: the same legal name and address on the license, the state entity filing and the business bank account. A lapsed license or a mismatched name does not always end a request, but it usually pauses it.
- Is the license active, and in the right city?
- Does the name match the bank account exactly?
- Is the address current?
- Does the trade name appear on the state filing?
State entity status is the other half of this check; see the Washington certificate of existence guide.
Checking a contractor or supplier
Owners also look up licenses before hiring a subcontractor or signing with a supplier. The same lookup shows whether the business is active and where it is based. For contractors, there may be separate state registration records to check as well.
Keep a dated copy of what you found. If a partner or customer later asks how you vetted a subcontractor, a dated record is easier to show than a memory.
When a record does not match
- Write down exactly what differs: name, address, status or date.
- Decide which record is wrong. Usually it is the older one.
- Update the city record, the state record or the bank account so all three agree.
- Keep the confirmation, and tell the partner what changed and when.
Partners see mismatches every week. A short written explanation, with the confirmation attached, usually settles the question.
Working in more than one Tri-Cities city
Our post on doing business across Tri-Cities city lines gives a checklist for businesses with customers in Pasco, Kennewick and Richland. For local figures, see the Pasco, WA page; for the full request process, how a request moves; for every guide, the resources page.
By Mossdale Lending Group ยท Updated