The Virginia professional LLC
What creates it in Virginia
Va. Code Title 13.1, ch. 13, Virginia Professional Limited Liability Company Act, §§ 13.1-1100 to 13.1-1123. Definitions at § 13.1-1102, who may become a member at § 13.1-1103, and Chapter 12 (the Virginia Limited Liability Company Act, § 13.1-1000 et seq.) applied to professional LLCs by § 13.1-1122.
What the name must contain
§ 13.1-1104, Use of initials "P.L.C.," "PLC," "P.L.L.C." or "PLLC" in company name. The designator is optional: a professional limited liability company "may, but is not required to, use the initials 'P.L.C.,' 'PLC,' 'P.L.L.C.' or 'PLLC,' or the phrase 'professional limited company,' 'a professional limited company,' 'professional limited liability company,' or 'a professional limited liability company,' at the end of its limited liability company name", and those initials or that phrase may be used in place of the words or abbreviation otherwise required by § 13.1-1012(A). The Clerk's Office states the base rule on its Business Entity Names page, that a limited liability company name must include "limited company" or "limited liability company" or the abbreviation "LC," "L.C.," "LLC" or "L.L.C.", and notes that additional options are available for a professional corporation or a professional limited liability company.
Does a licensing board have to approve the filing?
Not at the filing counter, but yes for some professions before practice. The Clerk's Office's Professional LLC FAQ states that you are not required to provide proof such as a copy of your license to the SCC. The Code, however, imposes board certification as an additional prerequisite for particular professions: a professional corporation practising architecture, professional engineering, land surveying or landscape architecture, or using the title of certified interior designer, must secure a certificate of authority from the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (§ 13.1-549(B)), and a professional limited liability company in those same professions must do likewise (§ 13.1-1111). A professional limited liability company engaged in the practice of law needs a registration certificate (§ 13.1-1113), and special provisions govern accounting practices (§§ 13.1-549.1 and 13.1-1112). A foreign professional corporation or professional limited liability company must secure any such certificate as part of qualifying (§§ 13.1-544.2 and 13.1-1105).
Which occupations Virginia says must use it
A closed enumerated list, identical in substance on both sides. "Professional service" under § 13.1-543(A), and "professional services" under § 13.1-1102(A), means any type of personal service to the public that requires as a condition precedent to rendering it, or to using the title, the obtaining of a license, certification or other legal authorization, and is then "limited to" the personal services rendered by 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. Both chapters then deem certain groups to be rendering the same professional service: architects, professional engineers and land surveyors as one group, and practitioners of the healing arts, advanced practice registered nurses, optometrists, physical therapists and physical therapist assistants, and practitioners of the behavioral science professions as another. Ownership is capped for design firms: at least two thirds of the shares or membership interests must be held by licensed individuals or professional business entities, with the remainder held only by employees (§§ 13.1-549(A) and 13.1-1111).
Virginia also offers a corporation under a professional statute
A practice choosing between the two forms is choosing between these rules and the ones above.
What creates it in Virginia
Va. Code Title 13.1, ch. 7, Professional Corporations, §§ 13.1-542 to 13.1-556. Definitions at § 13.1-543, qualifications of shareholders at § 13.1-549, foreign professional corporations at § 13.1-544.2.
What the name must contain
§ 13.1-544.1, Use of initials "P.C." or "PC" in corporate name. Also optional: a professional corporation "may, but is not required to, use the initials 'P.C.' or 'PC,' or the phrase 'professional corporation' or 'a professional corporation,' at the end of its corporate name", in place of a word or abbreviation otherwise required by § 13.1-630(A).
Does the agent requirement differ from an ordinary Virginia LLC’s?
No. Virginia sets no separate agent requirement for a professional entity — it is the same requirement an ordinary Virginia LLC files under.
Chapter 13 contains no registered agent provision of its own. Chapter 12 applies to professional limited liability companies through § 13.1-1122, so the agent and registered office rules are Virginia's ordinary ones under § 13.1-1015. The Clerk's Office describes the agent in its Professional LLC FAQ in the same terms it uses for any LLC: the individual or business that accepts service of process and annual registration fee notices, with a Virginia business office address, and meeting the state's qualification requirements.
What else Virginia requires
Virginia's professional designators are permissive, not mandatory, on both sides (§§ 13.1-1104 and 13.1-544.1 each say "may, but is not required to"), which is the reverse of what a reader arriving from a generic guide will expect. The Clerk's Office's own FAQ describes the professional designation as appearing at the end of the name, which is where the statute puts it when it is used; the statute is the authority on whether it must be used at all. Two more Virginia specifics: the articles of organization must state a sole and specific purpose (the entity may be organized only for the one professional service), and the Clerk's Office warns that a vague purpose statement will be rejected, so the purpose must be specific to the service the business will provide. The named Virginia statute for a professional LLC is a separate act (Chapter 13), not a subchapter of the LLC act, and Chapter 7's definitions cross-reference it. Read from the office's own pages and the Code of Virginia in September 2026.
Verified against the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Clerk's Office (www.scc.virginia.gov/businesses/business-faqs/professional-llc-faqs/) · Statute text: law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title13.1/chapter13/ · Last updated September 2026. Virginia only — the rules in this cluster differ by jurisdiction, and this page speaks for no other.