After you pass
You passed the NASCLA. Here is what happens next.
Updated September 2026 - ten steps, in order
A passing score is not a license yet. Between the testing center and your first commercial job there are ten things to do, and the order matters - the company has to exist before the application, the EIN before the bank account, the bank account before the financial statement. This page is the whole sequence with the official route and the real cost on every step.
Some buttons on this page are partner links - if you buy through one we may earn a referral fee at no extra cost to you. The official or free route is always shown beside it, and we never hide a cheaper government option.
Keep the score report. It is your only paper proof.
Cost: $0
NASCLA never mails a certificate. The score report letter PSI hands you at the testing center is the official printed proof that you passed - boards may ask to see it years from now.
- Photograph it today and save the photo somewhere you will not lose it.
- Put the paper in the folder you will use for the license application.
Create your NASCLA NED account and wait for the link.
Cost: $0
Your score is stored in NASCLA's National Examination Database (NED). The board never sees it until you send it from there.
- Register at ned.nascla.org with the same name you tested under.
- PSI uploads results within about 72 hours and NASCLA links them to your account 48-72 business hours after that - plan on 5-6 business days total before the transcript button works.
Send a transcript to every state you will apply in.
Cost: $45 per state
This is the step that turns one exam into a license in 17 states. The board only accepts the electronic transcript - you cannot email them your score report.
- In NED, buy one transcript per board. The board receives it electronically; you never get a copy.
- Boards can view a transcript for two years from the purchase date. Your passing result itself never expires - if the two years lapse before you are licensed, you buy the transcript again.
Decide who holds the license, then form the company.
Cost: $50-$500 state filing fee
In every NASCLA state the license is issued to a business, and you are named on it as the qualifier - the person who passed. So the business has to exist before the application does. Most one-crew operations pick an LLC.
- File the LLC (or corporation) with your state's Secretary of State. You can file it yourself on the state website or pay a formation service to do it and act as your registered agent.
- Use the exact legal name on everything that follows: EIN, bank account, bond, insurance, the license application.
Get the EIN. It is free and takes ten minutes.
Cost: $0 - never pay for this
The EIN is the business's tax ID number. The bank, the bond company, the insurer and the board all ask for it.
- Apply on irs.gov, online, during their business hours. The number is issued on the spot.
- Anyone charging you for an EIN is reselling a free government form.
Open a business bank account under the company name.
Cost: $0-$15 a month
Two reasons beyond bookkeeping: the financial statement most boards require is built from this account, and bond underwriters want to see business funds separated from personal ones.
- Bring the LLC papers and the EIN letter. Online business banks open accounts the same day; a local bank may want an appointment.
- Run every business dollar through it from day one - it makes the financial statement a printout instead of a project.
Pass the state's Business and Law exam, where required.
Cost: About $60-$150 exam fee, varies by state
The NASCLA covers the trade portion. Thirteen of the seventeen states still make you sit their own business-and-law test on lien law, payroll, licensing statutes and safety rules.
- Check your state on our state guides - each page says exactly what the state still requires on top of the NASCLA.
- Arizona runs a Statutes and Rules exam instead, and Oregon its own CCB exam.
Line up the money proof: financial statement or bond.
Cost: Bond: usually 1-3% of the bond amount per year
Boards want to know you can finish what you start. Some want a CPA-prepared financial statement, some a license bond, and several now let a bond stand in for the statement.
- Read the bond article below for the amounts we could verify state by state - Arizona alone ranges from $5,000 to $100,000 depending on your yearly volume.
- A license bond is not insurance for you; it protects the customer and the state. You pay a yearly premium, usually a small percentage of the face amount, based on credit.
Get general liability insurance - and workers' comp if you hire.
Cost: GL often $60-$150 a month for a new small contractor
Most boards require proof of general liability before they issue the license, and every commercial customer will ask for a certificate of insurance before you set foot on site.
- Get two or three quotes for a $1,000,000 per occurrence / $2,000,000 aggregate policy - the amount commercial GCs ask for regardless of the state minimum.
- Workers' compensation kicks in at a headcount that varies by state (any employee in some states, three or four in others). Check the insurance article.
File the state application, then set up to run jobs.
Cost: $75-$350 application fee, varies by state
With the transcript, the company, the money proof and the insurance in hand, the application itself is a checklist. Then the real work starts: estimates, invoices, books, and the local business license most cities require.
- Open your state's page on our state guides for the board link and what that board asks for.
- Pick estimating and invoicing software before the first job, not after - and keep the books in something a CPA can read, because next year's financial statement comes out of it.
The steps people search for most
How to Send Your NASCLA Score to a State Board
Passed the NASCLA exam? Here is exactly how the $45 transcript works: the NED account, the 5-6 business day wait, the 2-year viewing window, and why you never get a copy.
LLC or Sole Proprietor? Setting Up the Business That Holds Your License
Why the contractor license is issued to a business with you as the qualifier, when an LLC is worth it, and the order to do things in: entity, EIN, bank account, then the application.
The Business and Law Exam You Still Have to Take
The NASCLA covers the trade exam only. Thirteen of the seventeen accepting states still require their own business and law exam - here is the list, the exceptions, and how to prepare.
License Bonds and Financial Statements, State by State
What a contractor license bond is, what it costs (usually 1-3% of the amount per year), and the bond or financial-statement rules we could verify for Arizona, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and more.
The Insurance a New Commercial Contractor Needs
General liability minimums by state, why every commercial GC asks for $1M/$2M anyway, when workers' compensation becomes mandatory, and how to get a certificate of insurance fast.
Running the Business Once the License Arrives
The setup a newly licensed commercial contractor needs before the first job: estimating and invoicing software, bookkeeping a CPA can read, local business licenses, and how to keep the license alive.
Every state still has its own checklist
Seventeen boards accept the NASCLA and each asks for something different afterward - a business and law exam, a financial statement, a bond, references. Our state guides spell it out board by board, with the official link.
ForemanPrep is an exam-prep company, not a law firm, insurance agency or licensing service. Fees, bond amounts and insurance minimums change - every figure here was checked in September 2026 against the source named, and your board's current page is the final word.