Standardizing BLS terminology to help customers

We have been working diligently on the Business Licensing Service (BLS) system replacement. Decisions are being made and tracked each week. We want to share one of those key decisions with you.

We have clarified our terminology for business licenses, registrations, and endorsements. We will be gradually updating the BLS website content and BLS forms to reflect these changes prior to the system replacement launch in summer 2016.

The following is the terminology we will be using:

Business License: the actual Business License document. Also referenced as "license" for short, this is the official licensing document businesses receive to post at their business location.

Endorsement: a line item printed on the business license that is issued by a regulatory agency or local jurisdiction. For example, "Beer & Wine" or "Olympia - General Business." Many businesses have more than one endorsement.

Add-on: a secondary endorsement printed on the business license that is dependent on another endorsement. For example, "Alcohol in candy" and "Medical marijuana” are secondary to other requirements of the Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Our hope is that our partners will also update their web content and forms with this new terminology and start using it when communicating with customers.  Consistency in the terminology we use will help our customers.

If you have questions, please contact Partnership Services at dorblspartner@dor.wa.gov.

Thank you for your assistance!