The five rows below carry the operative statutory language verbatim, each quote pulled from the official code. This page is one state from the full state-by-state reference. Nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.
The five-part test in brief
Whether an ABA practice needs a professional entity is a stack of five questions. The licensing act is the gateway, because an unlicensed profession is generally not a professional service and an ordinary entity governs. The professional-entity statute supplies the form and the ownership rule that applies if that form is used. The scope definition decides whether ABA is actually inside that statute. The corporate-practice doctrine, a separate body of law that often lives in the medical practice act or case law rather than the entity statute, is usually what forces licensed ownership and pushes outside capital into a management company. And the fee-splitting and anti-remuneration rules constrain management-fee economics even where ownership is open. The rows below run those five against this state's actual code, quoting the operative language so the position rests on the statute.
Georgia, provision by provision
Georgia
Ownership open; LLC permitted, no PLLCHolding: a non-licensee may own a standard Georgia LLC that delivers ABA. ABA is licensed, but Georgia has no professional LLC and its LLC Act expressly permits professional services through an ordinary LLC; the professional corporation and professional association are licensee-owned options a behavior analyst may elect, not forms Georgia commands, and no corporate-practice doctrine reaches ABA.
Yes. Georgia licenses behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts under the Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis chapter, enacted in 2022, with the license issued and regulated by the Georgia Behavior Analyst Licensing Board under the Secretary of State. Licensure is operational, and unlicensed practice is prohibited and carries a fine. The point that matters for ownership is the regulator: behavior analysts answer to their own board, not the Composite Medical Board, which is why the medical corporate-practice principles below do not reach them.
Conclusion. ABA is a licensed profession in Georgia, regulated by its own board rather than the Composite Medical Board, which is why the medical principles below do not reach it.
Georgia does not force a licensed profession into a professional entity, and it offers no professional limited liability company at all. Its Limited Liability Company Act amends and supersedes the professional-services laws so that professional services may be delivered through an ordinary LLC, which may be owned by non-licensees. A standard LLC is therefore a complete and permitted vehicle for an ABA practice, with no professional-entity overlay required.
The professional corporation is an option a licensee may elect, not a form Georgia commands. The Professional Corporation Act frames it as an election a licensed person makes, available even where older law would have barred incorporated practice.
Only if a behavior analyst elects the professional corporation do the ownership and practice limits attach: it may then render the profession only through licensed officers, employees, and agents, though it may still employ unlicensed staff in non-professional roles. The professional association under Title 14, Chapter 10 is a parallel licensee-only option. Neither displaces the open LLC route.
Conclusion. No professional entity is required; a standard LLC that a non-licensee may own governs, and the professional corporation or association applies only if a licensee elects it.
Because applied behavior analysis became a licensed profession in 2022, it sits inside Georgia's professional-entity regime, so the professional corporation and professional association are genuinely available to a behavior analyst who wants a licensee-owned form. But scope here runs opposite to the strict states: since the LLC Act independently permits professional services through an ordinary LLC, ABA's inclusion in the professional regime never hardens into a requirement.
Conclusion. ABA is reachable by the professional form but not forced into it, so the standard LLC stays the default rather than a fallback.
Ownership. Georgia has no corporate-practice doctrine or other ownership-by-law rule that restricts who may hold equity in an ABA practice. The state repealed its express corporate-practice-of-medicine statute in 1982 and never re-codified it, and the Composite Medical Board has confirmed it does not discipline for the doctrine. The residual principles that remain, the professional-corporation ownership rules for medical entities, the bar on health care corporations practicing medicine, and case law touching the physician relationship, are all tied to the practice of medicine, so they do not reach a profession licensed by its own board.
Clinical control. Nothing requires a licensed behavior analyst to retain independent clinical judgment as a condition of lawful operation, and no rule bars a lay owner from directing the business while clinical work is performed by licensed staff. With neither ownership nor clinical control policed, a non-licensee may own a standard Georgia entity that employs licensed behavior analysts.
Conclusion. Georgia has no corporate-practice doctrine that reaches ABA, so a non-licensee may own a standard LLC that employs licensed behavior analysts.
Even with open ownership, the money rules apply. A licensed behavior analyst is subject to the Board's grounds for discipline, and any ABA practice billing Georgia Medicaid or commercial insurers is bound by the federal anti-kickback statute and the Stark self-referral rules, along with Georgia's own prohibitions on paying or accepting remuneration for patient referrals. Georgia's medical fee-splitting provisions are tied to the practice of medicine, so the binding limits on an ABA management fee come mainly from the federal and payor side and the Board's disciplinary standards.
Conclusion. Management-fee economics are governed by the federal and payor rules and the Board's disciplinary standards, not a Georgia ABA fee-splitting statute.
ABA is a licensed profession in Georgia, regulated by its own board (axis one). The LLC Act amends and supersedes the professional-services laws to permit professional services through an ordinary LLC, and Georgia has no professional LLC, so a standard LLC owned by non-licensees is a complete vehicle; the professional corporation and association are licensee-owned options a behavior analyst may elect, not forms the state commands (axes two and three). Georgia repealed its corporate-practice-of-medicine statute in 1982 and never replaced it, and the residual medical principles do not reach a profession licensed outside the medical board (axis four). The money rules come from the federal, payor, and disciplinary side (axis five). Therefore a non-licensee may own a standard Georgia LLC that delivers ABA through licensed behavior analysts.
Outlook: how this verdict could change
Likelihood of change: Low. Georgia is not among the 2025 ownership-tightening states and no ABA-specific proposal has been identified. The verdict would change only if a new corporate-practice or professional-entity ownership rule were drafted to reach behavior analysts.
What to watch. Georgia professional-entity and healthcare-transaction activity; none currently reaches ABA.
Disruption if it changes: Low. A realistic change would add reporting or clinical-control terms rather than a new entity form.
Where professional advice is essential, not optional
Verbatim statutory text is a starting point, not a conclusion. Statutes are amended, agencies issue rules that fill them in, and courts interpret them. Georgia's behavior analyst licensure is also newly operational, and the Board's rules continue to develop. Use this page to locate the operative provisions and to speak from the source, then confirm the current text against the official code and engage qualified Georgia counsel before acting. The entity verdict is also only one layer of a Georgia practice's obligations, alongside the facility and records rules and the Georgia Medicaid enrollment that discloses the entity and its owners. Nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.
The provisions quoted here change and are interpreted by agencies and courts, and Georgia's behavior analyst board rules are still maturing. The official Georgia code and qualified Georgia counsel are the authoritative sources. Neither this page nor any secondary source should be relied on in place of direct verification and professional advice.