US LLC formation support

State selection notes that compare formation cost, ongoing franchise tax or annual report fee, and registered agent cost across the states you are actually weighing, not a generic ranking. Articles of Organization details gathered and checked (entity name availability, registered agent, member or manager structure, effective date) and prepared for your review before anyone files. Ownership and capital figures organized for the operating agreement your attorney or formation service drafts, so the numbers in that document match your books. An EIN application checklist prepared ahead of the bank-account step, timed to the entity's actual formation date. A post-formation compliance calendar covering the entity's first-year filings: annual report or franchise tax deadline, registered agent renewal, and any state-specific first filing. A bank-account document package assembled from the formation certificate, EIN confirmation letter, and operating agreement, so opening the account is one meeting instead of three.

We start with a short intake covering where the business actually operates, whether outside investment is planned, and how many members or classes of ownership exist. That intake produces the state comparison. Once a state is chosen, we draft the Articles of Organization for your review, incorporating any name-availability check and registered agent details you have already lined up. You or your formation service files with the state, typically same-day to a few business days depending on the state's processing queue and whether expedited filing is paid for. Once the state confirms formation, we move straight into the EIN checklist and build the first-year calendar, dated from the actual approval date on the certificate, not an assumed timeline.

Founders forming a first US entity, whether they are US-based or forming from abroad. Also fits an existing sole proprietor converting to an LLC for liability protection, or an owner adding a second entity for a new line of business or a separate state of operation. It is not a fit for someone who has already filed and just wants bookkeeping set up afterward, that scope is a bookkeeping engagement, not formation support, though the two hand off cleanly into each other.

Formation checklists and state comparisons are built and shared in Google Workspace so you can review and comment directly. Signature-ready documents, the operating agreement summary and the bank-account package, are routed through DocuSign when a signature is needed from you or another member. Once the entity is formed and its books begin, the ongoing file lives in QuickBooks Online or Xero under your own subscription, so you keep the login and the data regardless of who does the bookkeeping. Nothing in formation support requires access to a bank account or payment credentials.

An LLC formed in the wrong state for its actual footprint, discovered a year later when a second state's foreign-qualification notice arrives unexpectedly. An operating agreement drafted with ownership percentages that do not match the capital actually contributed, which surfaces at tax time or when a member wants to leave. A formation filed with a registered agent that was never actually confirmed to accept service, leaving the entity technically non-compliant from day one. A member-managed LLC that should have been manager-managed given how many owners are actually involved, causing confusion later about who can sign on the entity's behalf.

Formation support is scoped and priced as its own project rather than folded into a flat monthly retainer, since it is a one-time deliverable tied to a specific filing, not a recurring bookkeeping cycle. Published starting ranges and what determines where a specific engagement lands sit on the pricing page; your exact fee for this project is confirmed in writing before work starts.

Delaware charges a flat $400 annual LLC tax due June 1 regardless of size or income, plus a separate registered agent fee if the LLC is not formed in a state where an owner already has a physical address. A home-state LLC with no multi-state footprint typically avoids that second layer entirely. We run this comparison against the two or three states actually under consideration, using the current fee schedule for each, rather than a static ranking that goes stale as states change their fees.