Cook County · Evanston Township
Accounting & Tax Services in Evanston, IL
Accounting, controller and tax work for Evanston businesses, from a practice in Wilmette.
Evanston is its own township as well as its own city, which means its assessment office and its appeal calendar are worth checking separately from the towns immediately north of it.
Registering a business in Evanston
Every village on the North Shore sets its own rule, and they diverge more than most owners expect.
Evanston is one of the broadest in the area: every for-profit business operating within the city must register, explicitly including home-based occupations and businesses already licensed under state or federal law. Registration renews annually by April 1, and the city states a penalty of $500 for each day a business operates unregistered — which makes this one of the more expensive things to overlook in the north suburbs.
Evanston's own guidance → · Requirements and fees change; confirm with the village before you rely on this.
Property assessment in Evanston
Worth knowing before you assume the rules are the same everywhere in the north suburbs. They are not.
Evanston is assessed by the Cook County Assessor, and it sits in the north suburban township group — reassessed in 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025, which puts the next one in 2028. In a reassessment year there are two chances to contest a value; in an off year, generally one. How the Cook County appeal cycle works →
Do I need a business licence to operate in Evanston?
Evanston is one of the broadest in the area: every for-profit business operating within the city must register, explicitly including home-based occupations and businesses already licensed under state or federal law. Registration renews annually by April 1, and the city states a penalty of $500 for each day a business operates unregistered — which makes this one of the more expensive things to overlook in the north suburbs.
Which county and township handle assessment for a Evanston business?
Evanston is in Cook County, Evanston Township. That decides who values your property, which appeal window applies, and who you call first — and it is not the same answer a few miles away.
Also serving
Neighbouring communities we work in regularly — each with its own registration rule.