Virginia Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC)

What is a Virginia PLLC?

A Virginia Professional Limited Liability Company is a type of LLC owned by individuals who are professionally licensed or certified in order to perform their jobs. This includes professionals from a wide range of fields, from accountants to landscape artists to surgeons.

To form a PLLC in Virginia, you must file Articles of Organization of a Virginia Professional Limited Liability Company with the State Corporation Commission and pay the $100 filing fee.

What’s on this page?
LLC Versus PLLC in Virginia
Why Hire Us to Form Your PLLC?
How to Form a Virginia PLLC
VA PLLC FAQs

LLC Versus PLLC in Virginia

There are a few differences between a regular LLC and a PLLC in Virginia. And while there are some professions in Virginia that are required to operate using professional entities, most professions can choose to form either an LLC or a PLLC.

The main advantage of registering a PLLC is that it can lend legitimacy to your business. The “PLLC” at the end of your company’s name shows clients that licensed professionals own your business. However, if you don’t want any restrictions on ownership or business operations, you might want to form an LLC instead.

PLLC Membership Restrictions

The management structure and the level of liability protection provided by Virginia PLLCs and regular Virginia LLCs are the same. The primary distinction between LLCs and PLLCs in Virginia is in who can own a PLLC.

All members, or owners, of a PLLC must be professionally licensed in the field. For example, all the owners of a veterinary PLLC must be licensed veterinary professionals, and all the owners of a law firm that is a PLLC must be licensed attorneys.

Membership rules are slightly relaxed for architects, professional engineers, land surveyors, landscape architects, and certified interior designers. For PLLCs in these fields, only two-thirds of the members must be professionally licensed (VA Code Ann. § 13.1-1111).

PLLC Business Restrictions

Virginia PLLCs are also prohibited from engaging in “any business other than the rendering of professional services” (§ 13.1-1110). For example, your law firm can’t start operating a coffee shop or selling suits online. However, PLLCs are allowed to invest in stock and real estate, so your law firm could purchase property and offices.

Which Professions Are Required to Register a PLLC in Virginia?

In Virginia, two professions are required to form professional business entities:

• Attorneys at law (VA Code Ann. § 13-1-1113)
• Dentists (§ 54.1.-2717)

So, if you’re opening a law firm or a dental practice, you cannot form a regular LLC—you must form a PLLC instead.

Which Professions Can Register a PLLC in Virginia?

 A number of professions that require specialized training, licensing, or certification are eligible to form a Virginia PLLC. See VA Code Ann. § 13.1-1102 for a full definition of “professional services.”

 In addition to attorneys and dentists, professional services include:

• Architects
• Audiologists or speech pathologists
• Certified interior designers
• Insurance consultants
• Landscape architects
• Pharmacists
• Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants
• Professional engineers
• Public accountants
• Nurse practitioners 
• Surgeons
• Veterinarians

How to Form a Virginia PLLC

Forming a PLLC in Virginia is much like forming a regular LLC and follows the same steps. However, there are a few PLLC-specific directions you’ll need to follow.

1. Naming Your PLLC

As with regular LLCs, you must check to make sure that your desired name is available using the State Corporation Commission’s Name Check Availability tool. You cannot use a name that is already taken by another registered business.

You also need to include an entity identifier such as “LLC” or “Ltd.”  

What’s different?

You are allowed (but not required) to use an entity identifier such “PLLC,” “PLC,” or even “professional limited liability company.”  

2. Filing Your Articles of Organization

You must file Articles of Organization with the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and pay a $100 filing fee to form your PLLC, just as you would to form an LLC.  

Similarly, you can also file online using the SCC Clerk’s Information System, or by mail or in person using a paper form.

What’s different?

You’ll use a PLLC-specific form to file, Articles of Organization of a Virginia Professional Limited Liability Company.

Here’s the information you’ll need to provide:

• PLLC Name
• Contact phone number and email (optional)
• The type of professions that will provide services for your PLLC
• The street address for your principal office
• Registered agent’s name  
• Registered agent’s email (optional)
• What qualifies your registered agent to serve as a registered agent
• The street address for your registered agent
• Organizer signature(s)

3. For Attorneys: Registering Your PLLC with the Virginia State Bar

PLLCs formed by attorneys at law must also register with the Virginia State Bar by filing an Application for Certificate of Registration for Professional Limited Liability Company. The cost to file is $100.

You’ll need to list much of the same basic information about your PLLC that you provided on your Articles of Organization. You’ll also need to list all of the members and managers of your PLLC who will practice law in Virginia.

VA PLLC FAQs

Can any business form a PLLC?

No, only professionals who are licensed to provide professional services, such as doctors, engineers, or interior designers, can form PLLCs.

How much does it cost to form a PLLC

 The filing fee for PLLCs is the same as the filing fee for LLCs—$100.

As a licensed professional, am I required to form a PLLC?

 It depends on your profession. Only attorneys and dentists are required to form PLLCs instead of regular LLCs.

What are considered “professional services”?

VA Code Ann. § 13.1-1102 outlines how the state defines the term “professional services.” Professional services includes pharmacists, optometrists, physical therapists and physical therapist assistants, practitioners of the healing arts, advanced practice registered nurses, practitioners of the behavioral science professions, veterinarians, surgeons, dentists, architects, professional engineers, land surveyors, landscape architects, certified interior designers, public accountants, certified public accountants, attorneys at law, insurance consultants, and audiologists or speech pathologists. It does not include licensed professionals in the beauty industry, such as cosmetologists or barbers, or professionals in the education industry.

Do all of a PLLC’s owners have to be licensed?

Generally, yes. However, architects, professional engineers, land surveyors, landscape architects, and certified interior designers can form a PLLC with only two-thirds of the owners licensed.

Ready to get your PLLC? Let’s get started! Hire us to serve as your registered agent and order PLLC filing service in your online account.