Legal use of Assumed Name?

[Craig]

I'm in MN. I filed for and was okayed an assumed name per the Secretary of State's guidelines.

When do and don't I need to explicitly note "Craig Smith DBA ABC Consulting"?

I'm also wondering when I can or should use the assumed name itself without saying or writing the "Craig Smith DBA" part.

And if someone writes me a check for the business that I need to sign in order to cash or deposit, how should I sign the check in specific regard to by business as the business assumed name? Or doesn't it matter, and I would just sign the check with my actual personal name only, without adding DBA...? And when someone does write out a check regarding me as a business, for business, should they fill it out to my assumed name or my actual real person name?

Please forgive my ignorance. It's my first time moving toward being a business owner and I have no family or friends that are business owners. In the end I just want to make sure I'm in compliance with the proper way of doing things. Thanks.

[Business Attorney]

Although I can't speak specifically to Minnesota's laws, generally the idea behind registering an assumed name is that you can do business under that name without the need to spell out that the legal name of the business is different. If someone wants to learn the true legal name of the business for some reason, they can go the Secretary of State and obtain that information (it is a public record).

The same should be true for banking deposits but some banks seem to make up their own rules that are more restrictive. I suggest you talk to your bank and follow whatever rules they think you should follow.

[Craig]

Thank you very much. Makes perfect sense. It almost seems too easy.