LLCs, Built With Experts

Typically around $100. Each state sets its own fees to file LLC articles of organization. This tends to be flat filing fee, ranging from $40 (Kentucky) to $500 (Massachusetts). Tennessee, however, bases their LLC formation fee on how many members your business has, so their fee can be anywhere from $300 to $3,000.

The beauty of the limited liability company is the lack of annual meetings. Corporations are usually required to have them. Granted, no one really is out there checking if a private corporation is holding annual meetings, but there are no annual meeting requirements with an LLC.

A multi-member Limited Liability Company may choose to hold annual meetings to go over the specifics of the LLC, but it is not required. You can call a meeting at any time with the other members.
If you’re a single-member limited liability  company, it’s basically you just documenting changes if you need to. It’s really not as complicated as it may sound. The big reason why single owners choose an LLC is that there aren’t really voting requirements for decisions, and there aren’t officer roles that you would have to fill out on paper, as with a corporation.

The best state for an LLC formation is almost always the state where you live, particularly if you’re doing business in your home state.

If you’re doing things on the internet or using the company as a holding company for assets, forming an LLC in a tax-friendly state like South Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada, Montana, or Delaware might bring some benefits, but we’d recommend consulting with a tax professional before going that route.
Forming a company in a tax-free state like Wyoming usually won’t be of benefit to you if you live in a normal taxing state like New Mexico or anywhere with a normal tax burden. Living in a place like California, New York, New Jersey, or any location with high fees and high taxes, can present some nice options of forming an LLC out of state and trying to run some of the income through it that way.

Electing the LLC as a C corporation keeps the money from getting down onto you personally where you might need to pay a high personal income tax rate in a highly taxed state.
At the end of the day, it’s always simplest and sometimes cheapest, in the long run, to incorporate or form an LLC in your home state. We’ll be glad to help you no matter what you decide.

Yes, forming an LLC can help you reduce your public footprint. Living publicly—and giving away your data to be sold and resold—has been normalized. It’s possible to take back control of your own information in a number of ways, and in some cases, forming an LLC can help.

Note: This will require taking certain steps, like hiring a registered agent service, to keep your personal information off public filings.

A professional registered agent service centers its business around being available to accept your documents, freeing you up to focus on more important things. They have other benefits as well. Registered agent services provide their address on your public documents, helping keep yours private. A good service should also scan and send you your documents the same day, provide you with reminders for state compliance reports, and provide you with easy access to forms and services to help you maintain your business.

Below are common situations in which it would be beneficial to hire a registered agent service:

• You want a little more peace of mind.
• You have locations in multiple states.
• You don’t have a physical address.
• You plan to change your address as you grow.
• You don’t want the world to know your home address.
• You don’t plan to be in the office Monday-Friday, 9-5.
• You want instant access to documents from wherever you are.
• You want electronic scans of your documents for safekeeping or backup.
• You want reminders for state compliance requirements.

A Business Identity and a brand cover much of the same ground, but a Business Identity is wider in scope. A brand is the story a company tells the public about itself and the feelings it tries to evoke, while a Business Identity encompasses much more than that—it’s all of the defining qualities and details about a business, not just the ones used for marketing.

Most state-registered businesses—including domestic, foreign and nonprofit LLCs and corporations—are required to file regular reports with the state, commonly called annual reports. On these reports, your company confirms or updates the basic business information on file with the state (such as contact information).

As the name suggests, these reports are usually due yearly. However, a few states, like Alaska and New York, require reports every two years. Some states call the reports by different names as well, such as annual renewals, annual registrations, biennial reports, business entity reports and periodic reports.

Note that the annual reports discussed here are the reports filed with the state—not financial or shareholder reports used internally or filed with a national agency like the SEC.

Failing to file your report can have a wide range of consequences, from losing your good standing to losing your business. In most states, a single missing report initially results in a late fee and a loss of good standing in the state.

A few states are a bit less forgiving. In Minnesota, for instance, if your domestic LLC or corporation doesn’t file the state’s annual renewal by December 31, it will be dissolved. This means you’ll need to reinstate your corporation or LLC, as well as file your missing renewal.

More commonly, however, states don’t administratively dissolve a business until the annual report remains unfiled for several months or even years—and some will simply let your company accumulate dust (and fees) as an inactive business.