7 Steps to a Florida Dealer License
1. Complete Online Dealer Pre-License Course
2. Get
Fingerprints
3. Find Location That Meets Zoning
4. Register With Florida Division of Corporations
5.
Obtain Employer ID Number & Sales Tax Number
6. Get a
Bond & Insurance From Insurance Agent
7. Buy Motor
Vehicles at Dealer Auctions and Make $$$$$$$
Step 1-Complete Online Dealer Pre-License Training Course
The Florida Department of Transportation regulates dealer licenses in the State of Florida. The Department of Transportation requires every person that obtains a Florida dealer license to take a mandatory training class. Florida state law is very clear. In order to obtain a Florida dealer license you must take 16 hours of training. This is the longest dealer pre-license requirement in the United States. This may seem like a substantial investment in your time but the investment should pay massive dividends when you become a licensed Florida motor vehicle dealer.
If you choose the Automobile Dealer Training Association as you Florida Dealer License Training Partner, we will guide you step by step through the entire licensing process so you can be confident you will obtain your Florida Dealer License as soon as possible. Taking the pre-license course from the Automobile Dealer Training Association will allow your license approval in the quickest manor, so you can obtain your dealers license in the quickeste manor, so you can start your new business as soon as possible, so you can start making money as soon as possible. Our goal is to help you achieve finanical success.
The Automobile Dealer Association 16-hour training course can be taken at your convenience. You can watch an hour today, a couple of hours tomorrow, three hours next week, then complete the course next month, or whatever is convenient for you and your busy schedule. If you want to get your Florida dealer license you could what all 16 hours in a single day but we always recommend spacing the training out over 2 or more days for the best educational experience.
In your Florida Dealer Pre-License Training Course, you will learn how to complete all dealer application documentation correclty. Every piece of paperwork that is needed to apply for your dealer license will be covered extensively.
If you have absolutely no idea on how to become a licensed Florida motor vehicle dealer, then this dealer training course is for you.
After we show you how to complete ALL the dealer license application documentaion correctly, you will learn how to run every aspect of your new business in compliance with all Florida and Federal regulations. And there are a lot of them! The dealership industry is tightly regulated because it tends to be a very profitable business venture. Realtors are tightly regulated because their industry tends to be very profitable. Insurance agents are tightly regulated because that industry tends to be profitable as well. Security sales are tightly regulated because of the profits, and you, as a licensed Florida motor vehicle dealer will be regulated as well. But don't worry, our job as your Dealer License Training Partner is to show you how to comply with all Florida and Federal laws that regulate licensed dealers. It is very easy to maintain compliance with your new business. If you maintain 100 percent compliance you will maintain 100 percent profits. Operating your new business with complete honesty and integrity is 99 percent of what it takes to maintain compliance. Ethics and integrity will take you to the top of this industry and the Automobile Dealer Training Association will show you how. When you are ready to start this journey will help guide you. Just click on the big blue "Enroll" button at the top of the page.
2. Get Fingerprints
The Florida Department of Transportation requires every person that is obtaining a Florida Dealer License to be fingerprinted. This just shows the State of Florida that you are a person of high ethical standards. Very soon you will handling very large financial transactions. Most of the vehicles you sell to your customers are going to be worth several thousands of dollars. When your customer is purchasing a vehicle from you it will probably be their largest financial investment second only to their home. If your customer rents their home, then the motor vehicle that they are purchasing from you will be their household's largest single investment. Many times it will just be you and one customer completing the paperwork for the vehicles that you are selling. And by the way we will provide and easy to use list of that paperwork to complete on every deal to make this process as easy as possible. When you become a licensed Florida motor vehicle dealer, you will have oversight over very large financial transaction.
Before the State of Florida gives you oversight of these very large financial transactions, they want to ensure that you are a person of high ethical standards. The Florida Department of Transportation does not want to issue a Florida dealers license to someone that stole a car, rolled back an odometer, or assumed someone else's identity.
The State of Florida requires Florida Dealers to be of a higher level of ethical standards than the average person walking down the street.
To ensure that you have never stole a car, rolled back odometers, or robbed a bank, the State requires you to obtain fingerprints. This will show that you did not just get out of prison for managing a nation wide auto theft ring. You can just click on the following link to find a list of Florida LiveScan Providers that can assist you with the fingerprint process. Just scroll down to find the Florida county that you live in for contact information for your closest fingerprint provider. As you will see on this list, there are many, many companies that can assist you with your required fingerprints. Out of state residents can submit fingerprint information from your home state. We will cover the fingerprint requirements extensively in your Florida Dealer Pre-License training course.
3. Find Location that Meets Dealership Zoning
You must have a location that is zoned to have a dealer license. This is a very imporant part of the licensing process. There are many different types of zoning laws that regulate where you can have a dealers license in Florida. The State of Florida does not allow you to have a dealer license at your home. This just is not possible under Florida law. You must have a location that meets local zoning and has an office with at least 100 square feet that does not include hallways, closets, or restrooms. You must have at least 100 square feet of retail office environment that is used exclusively for the dealership and must have a ceiling height of at least 7 feet. The State of Florida does not want a dealer completing motor vehicle paperwork in a garage next to a car up on a jack. You office must be a safe retail environment that is conducive for motor vehicle transaction paperwork.
Display space. You must have a display space that is large enough to display the type of motor vehicles that you are selling. If you are selling motor vehicles, you must have sufficient space to display motor vehicles. If you are selling only motorcycles, you must have sufficient space to display motorcycles. If you are selling semi-trucks, you must have sufficient space to display semi-trucks. The Florida Department of Transportation does allow your display space to be entirely inside of a building if that is convenient for you. The display spaces must be contiguous to the dealership office or shall be situated so as to allow easy access by dealership customers.
Dealership sign. Florida requires all motor vehicle dealers to display a sign on the building that you are using for your dealer license. The building must be identified with your dealership name and the dealership name must be visible from at least 50 feet away. You must also display your hours of operation on you building. The State of Florida wants your customers to know when you are accessible whether they have questions about vehicles you have for sale, or if they have questions about a vehicle they have purchased from you, you will need to show them when you are at the dealership. The dealership must be staffed during the posted hours as well.
4. Register With Florida Division of Corporations
Before you are granted your Florida Dealers License you must register your new business with the Florida Division of Corporations. The Florida Division of Corporations wants to have a record of every business operating in the State including the dealership you are getting ready to open. Before you start your new business with your own Florida Dealer License you will need to decide on your business entity. You can certainly get legal advice to guide you in the right direction but you will either start your new business as a Sole Proprietor, an LLC, a For Profit Corporation, a Not For Profit Corporation, or a Limited Partnership. We discuss these different business entities extensively in your Florida Dealer Pre-License Training Course. After you complete the corporations unit of your training course you will have a grasp on which business entity is right for you. You can also call the Florida Division of Corporations directly at 850-245-6000. That is the Corporations directory number that can also provide you with assistance in filing. In your dealer training course, we will provide you with lots of great contact information including mailng addresses, email addresses, website addresses, and phone numbers that will help you run your new business in the easiest manor. We will show you how to file with the Florida Division of Corporations with screenshot by screenshot instructions. When you are ready to enroll, just click the blue "Enroll" button at the top of this webpage.
5. Obtain Federal Employer ID Number and Florida Sales Tax Number
All motor vehicle dealers in the State of Florida must have a Federal Employer Identificatin number and a Florida Sales Tax Number. There are specific reasons for you to have each of these numbers. It is very likely that your income is going to increase in the very near future. Having a Florida dealers license tends to be very profitable. When you obtain your Florida Dealers License you will not only be able to gain entrance the the dealer auctions in Florida, but your Florida Dealer License will allow you to enter every dealer auction in the United States of America. You can even use your Florida Dealers License to enter the dealer auctions in Canada and Mexico. Your dealer license in Florida will allow you to enter every dealer auction in North America. You do not have to physically enter the auctions to buy vehicles, you can bid online and have the vehicles delivered directly to your dealership at a minimal cost. When you realize how cheap vehicles are selling for at dealer auctions and how high you can sell them on your lot, you will probably wish you have obtained your dealer license many years ago.
You will soon learn that this is a very high profit industry!
And with your high profits, the Federal government will want some of the action at tax time. To show the Florida Department of Transportation that you are going to pay your taxes on your new found income, you must obtain a Federal Employer Identifiction Number. This is a number that you will enter on your tax returns and your initial dealer application to show the state that you will pay taxes on your new income. Some some companies charge anywhere from $500 to $600 to obtain your Federal Employer Identification Number for you. In your Florida Dealer Pre-License Course, you will learn how to obtain your new Federal Employer ID Number directly on the IRS website for free. This process is covered extensively in your dealer training course at no additional charge.
In addition to your Federal Employer ID number you obtain from the IRS you must also obtain a Sales Tax Number from the Florida Department of Revenue. When you sell a vehicle to a customer that lives in the State of Florida you will collect sales tax at the time of the sale. You may even collect sales tax from a person that lives in another state. In order to legally charge sales tax on the motor vehicles you sell, you must obtain a Florida Sales Tax Number from the Florida Department of Revenue. Don't worry, we will show you how to easily obtain your Sales Tax Number from the Florida Department of Revenue and we will also show you how to easily collect sales tax when you sell a motor vehicle. In your Florida Dealer Pre-License Training Course you will learn about the many software programs that complete all the paperwork on a dealer motor vehicle transaction automatically. These programs will even collect the sales tax for you then automatically wire-transfer the sales tax you collected to the Florida Department of Revenue. Don't every let the collection of sales tax intimidate you because it is very easy to do, even if you have never owned a business that collects sales tax. We will walk you step by step through the entire process of obtaining your Florida Sales Tax Number from the Florida Department of Revenue.
6. Obtain Bond and Insurance from Insurance Agent
In order to obtain a Florida Dealer License you must get a $25,000 dealer surety bond and insurance to cover your inventory. Is your $25,000 dealer surety bond going to cost you $25,000? No, a Florida dealer surety bond price is based on your credit score. With good credit you should be able to get a $25,000 bond for about $200 to $300 per year. If you have bad credit, the cost of your dealer surety bond could be much higher. You are required to have a bond to ensure you operate with the highest level of ethical standards. You must also have an insurance policy that covers the vehicles that you are allowing your customers to test drive. We will cover bonds and insurance extensively in your Florida Dealer Pre-License Course. You can obtain your Florida Dealer Surety Bond quote by clicking here
7. Buy Vehicles Wholesale at Dealer Auctions and Sell Them Retail $$$$$$$$$$$$
Your Florida Dealer License will allow you to buy vehicles wholesale at dealer auctions and sell them for retail to incur very large profits. Your Florida Dealer License Training will prepare you to make an incredibl living in this industry even if you have no prior business ownership experience.
We are here to help you maintain your Florida Dealership Compliance!
