Section 150 of the Illinois Behavior Analyst Licensing Act (225 ILCS 6/150) provides that, beginning 24 months after the Department commenced licensing, no business organization may provide behavior analysis services unless every member, partner, shareholder, director, officer, holder of any other ownership interest, agent, and employee who renders ABA holds a valid Illinois license. The Department began licensing on January 15, 2025, so the deadline is January 15, 2027 (IDFPR guidance). In 2026, SB 712 would move Illinois toward a standard that bars unlicensed persons from making clinical decisions and would let behavior analysts form multidisciplinary professional entities (SB 712, 104th General Assembly), but it has not been enacted, so Section 150 still governs. Because the law is actively changing, confirm the current rule with IDFPR and counsel before you restructure.
The nine entity criteria at a glance
- Is ABA a licensed profession in Illinois, and under which agency
- Section 150: the ownership mandate and the January 15, 2027 cliff
- The 2026 legislation that could change everything
- The entity menu: what an ABA practice can use
- Can a behavior analyst form the professional entity
- Who is allowed to own it
- Naming the entity
- Why choosing the entity is only half the question
- Tax treatment as a separate layer
- Multistate practice and foreign qualification
- How this connects to the rest of your compliance stack
- Forming or restructuring the entity in Illinois: the sequence
- Illinois entity variables at a glance
- Frequently asked questions
- Where professional advice is essential
Is ABA a licensed profession in Illinois, and under which agency
Yes. Illinois licenses behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts under the Behavior Analyst Licensing Act, enacted in 2022 and administered by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (225 ILCS 6/). The Department commenced issuing licenses on January 15, 2025. What makes Illinois unique in this guide is not the license itself but a provision tying business ownership to that license, which is stricter than anything else covered here.
Section 150: the ownership mandate and the January 15, 2027 cliff
Section 150 is the heart of the Illinois entity question. It provides that, beginning 24 months after the Department commenced issuing licenses, no business organization may provide, attempt to provide, or offer to provide behavior analysis services unless every member, partner, shareholder, director, officer, holder of any other ownership interest, agent, and employee who renders applied behavior analysis services holds a currently valid Illinois license (225 ILCS 6/150). Because licensing commenced on January 15, 2025, the Department reads the deadline as January 15, 2027, and states that by that date anyone who is not a licensed behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst and who currently owns an ABA business must divest from it (IDFPR guidance). In practice this is an ownership mandate: an Illinois ABA business must be owned entirely by licensed behavior analysts, with no room for a non-licensee co-founder, investor, or holding entity in the ownership chain. Industry observers have described it as an ownership cliff precisely because restructuring takes months and the consequences of missing it fall on the ability to provide services at all.
Section 150 does not merely restrict who controls the clinical work; as written, it reaches every owner and equity holder, which is why Illinois is the one state in this guide where the entity question and the ownership question are the same question.
The 2026 legislation that could change everything
Section 150 is under active challenge, so its status is genuinely unsettled in 2026. Two bills introduced in February 2026, SB 3807 and HB 5171, would have repealed Section 150 and replaced it with language barring unlicensed owners, officers, and agents from making clinical decisions, an approach closer to the corporate-practice rules of other states; both stalled in committee (Illinois General Assembly bill status). A separate vehicle, SB 712, would shift the violation standard to unlicensed persons making clinical decisions, add a new section to the Act, amend the Professional Service Corporation Act (805 ILCS 10/3.6) and the professional limited liability company provisions (805 ILCS 185/13) so behavior analysts can form multidisciplinary professional entities with certain mental-health providers, and add carve-outs for public schools and 501(c)(3) nonprofits (SB 712, 104th General Assembly). As of this writing, the bill's final enacted form, whether and when it is signed, its effective date, and its precise effect on Section 150 are exactly the details that must be confirmed against the current statute and the Public Acts. Do not make an irreversible divestment or restructuring decision without checking the live status.
The entity menu: what an ABA practice can use
Illinois uses the professional service corporation and a professional limited liability company form for licensed practices. Under current Section 150, whichever you choose must be owned entirely by licensed behavior analysts.
| Entity | Available for ABA? | Who may own it (current law) | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional service corporation (PSC) (805 ILCS 10/) | Yes | Licensed behavior analysts only (Section 150) | Illinois's professional corporate form for licensed practices. |
| Professional limited liability company (Illinois professional LLC provisions) | Yes | Licensed behavior analysts only (Section 150) | The LLC form for a licensed practice; the same ownership mandate applies. |
| Management company (MSO) | Use with caution | Owned by founders or investors | Common elsewhere, but Section 150's reach to every ownership interest makes the structure delicate in Illinois; build only with counsel. |
Can a behavior analyst form the professional entity
Yes, and under current law a licensed behavior analyst is the only person who can own it. A practice that is fully owned by one or more licensed Illinois behavior analysts satisfies Section 150 today. The difficulty is not new formations by licensees, which are straightforward, but existing practices with any non-licensee ownership, which face the divestment deadline. If SB 712 becomes law in its passed form, the calculus changes: behavior analysts would be able to form multidisciplinary professional entities with certain licensed mental-health providers, and the test would center on who makes clinical decisions rather than who holds equity. Until that is confirmed as enacted and effective, plan against the current Section 150 mandate.
Who is allowed to own it
Under current law, only licensed Illinois behavior analysts. Section 150 reaches every member, partner, shareholder, director, officer, and holder of any other ownership interest, which is broader than the typical corporate-practice rule and is what forces full licensee ownership (225 ILCS 6/150). Illinois separately enforces a strong corporate-practice-of-medicine doctrine in the medical context (Medical Practice Act, 225 ILCS 60/; Berlin v. Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center (1997)), but for ABA it is Section 150 that sets the bar, and it is higher. A management company can hold non-licensee capital, but because Section 150 sweeps in any holder of an ownership interest, the line between a permissible management arrangement and prohibited ownership is one to draw carefully with counsel, not by analogy to friendlier states.
Naming the entity
An Illinois professional service corporation or professional limited liability company uses the professional designator that matches its form, and the name must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records. Naming is the least of the Illinois concerns; the ownership rule is what governs the structure. Clear the name with the Secretary of State before filing, and use the matching designator.
Why choosing the entity is only half the question
In most states, picking the form is one decision and ownership is a separate one. In Illinois, under Section 150, they collapse into one: the entity must be owned entirely by licensed behavior analysts, so there is no version of the ownership question that the entity choice can sidestep. A management company can hold outside capital, but it cannot hold an ownership interest in the practice, and the arrangement has to respect Section 150's breadth. This is the central reason the Illinois ownership page is essential reading alongside this one, and why the two should be planned as a single exercise with counsel.
Read next: Do you need an MSO for your ABA practice in Illinois?
Tax treatment as a separate layer
Entity form and tax classification are separate choices. An Illinois professional limited liability company is taxed by default as a sole proprietorship or partnership depending on the number of members and can elect corporate or S-corporation treatment. A professional service corporation is a corporation for tax purposes unless it makes an S election. The tax choice sits on top of the entity analysis and does not change the Section 150 ownership rule; decide tax with an adviser, but never let a tax structure introduce a non-licensee owner that Section 150 prohibits.
Multistate practice and foreign qualification
If you operate beyond Illinois, the Illinois entity is only your home-state piece, and Illinois is the strictest link in most multistate chains because of Section 150. A holding-company or investor structure that works in permissive states can be flatly impermissible for the Illinois practice under current law, so multistate groups with an Illinois footprint typically isolate the Illinois entity as fully licensee-owned and connect it through contracts rather than equity. See the practice expansion and sale page for the multistate view, and treat Illinois as the binding constraint until the law settles.
How this connects to the rest of your compliance stack
Entity choice is one layer. Others interact with it:
- Ownership and outside capital. In Illinois this is the decisive layer; Section 150 governs it. See the Illinois MSO and ownership page.
- Licensing and credentialing. The owners and clinicians must hold the Illinois behavior-analyst license through IDFPR. See licensing and credentialing.
- Payor and Medicaid enrollment. The entity and its ownership are disclosed at enrollment and revalidation, where Section 150 compliance is visible. See Medicaid and insurance mandates.
Forming or restructuring the entity in Illinois: the sequence
- Confirm the live status of Section 150. Check IDFPR guidance and the Public Acts for any change from SB 712 before making decisions, since the law is in flux.
- Map current ownership against Section 150. Identify every member, shareholder, director, officer, and holder of any ownership interest, and whether each is a licensed Illinois behavior analyst.
- If unlicensed owners exist, plan divestment or restructuring early. Restructuring can take several months, and the current deadline is January 15, 2027.
- Choose the form. A professional service corporation (805 ILCS 10/) or a professional limited liability company, owned entirely by licensed behavior analysts under current law.
- Structure any outside capital through a management company, carefully. It cannot hold an ownership interest in the practice; the arrangement must respect Section 150's breadth.
- Confirm with Illinois counsel before acting. Given the stakes and the pending legislation, do not make irreversible moves without current legal advice.
Illinois entity variables at a glance
| Variable | Illinois value |
|---|---|
| Is ABA a licensed profession? | Yes; Behavior Analyst Licensing Act, enacted 2022, administered by IDFPR (225 ILCS 6/) |
| Licensing commenced | January 15, 2025 |
| Ownership mandate (current law) | Section 150: every owner and equity holder must be a licensed Illinois behavior analyst (225 ILCS 6/150) |
| Compliance / divestment deadline | January 15, 2027 (24 months after licensing commenced) |
| Professional entity forms | Professional service corporation (805 ILCS 10/) and professional limited liability company |
| Pending change | SB 712 would shift to a clinical-decision standard and permit multidisciplinary professional entities; not enacted as of mid-2026, confirm against the Public Acts |
| Earlier repeal bills | SB 3807 and HB 5171 (Feb. 2026) would have repealed Section 150; both stalled |
| Medical corporate-practice doctrine | Strong in the medical context (225 ILCS 60/; Berlin v. Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center); for ABA, Section 150 is the higher bar |
| Management company | May hold outside capital but not an ownership interest in the practice; structure with counsel |
| Key authorities | 225 ILCS 6/ (Section 150); 805 ILCS 10/; 805 ILCS 185/13; 225 ILCS 60/; SB 712, SB 3807, HB 5171 |
Frequently asked questions
Does every owner of my Illinois ABA business have to be a licensed behavior analyst?
What is the Illinois ownership deadline?
Is Section 150 going to be repealed?
Can I use a management company in Illinois?
Can a behavior analyst form a multidisciplinary entity in Illinois?
Where professional advice is essential, not optional
Illinois is the one state in this guide where getting the entity and ownership wrong can stop you from providing services. Section 150 sets a full licensed-ownership mandate with a January 15, 2027 deadline, restructuring takes months, and the law is being actively rewritten in 2026. Do not divest, restructure, or assume the rule has changed without confirming the current status with IDFPR and Illinois counsel. This is the page on which to engage a lawyer early rather than late.
The governing authorities to know are the Behavior Analyst Licensing Act and its ownership mandate (225 ILCS 6/, especially Section 150 at 225 ILCS 6/150), the Professional Service Corporation Act (805 ILCS 10/, including the related-professions provision at 805 ILCS 10/3.6) and the professional limited liability company provisions (805 ILCS 185/13), the medical corporate-practice authorities (225 ILCS 60/; Berlin v. Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center), and the 2026 legislation (SB 712, SB 3807, and HB 5171).
This page describes a rule that is the subject of active 2026 legislation and a January 15, 2027 deadline. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and qualified counsel provide the current, authoritative status. Neither this page nor any secondary source should be relied on in place of direct verification with IDFPR and counsel, especially before any divestment, restructuring, or formation decision.