What to do after forming an LLC: a practical first-year checklist

Approval from the state means your entity exists. It does not mean it is set up to operate, bank, hire or file. Here is the sequence we walk new owners through.

First weeks - Get your EIN, the federal identification number the business uses for banking, payroll and filings. - Sign an operating agreement, even as a single member. It states who owns what, who decides what and what happens if an owner leaves. - Open a business bank account in the legal name of the LLC and stop using personal accounts for business. - Confirm your registered agent and the address where official state and legal notices will be received. - Check licenses and permits, which depend on your state, city, county and activity. There is no single national list, and requirements change.

First quarter - Set up bookkeeping from day one and connect the business accounts. - Decide how you will pay yourself and how you will set aside money for taxes. - Understand your tax filing picture: default treatment for your ownership, whether an election is worth modeling, and which returns the entity and the owners will file. - Ask about estimated tax payments, since income earned through the business generally is not withheld for you. - Look into insurance appropriate to your activity. - Collect W-9s before paying any contractor, and set up payroll properly if you have employees.

Rest of the year - Track state obligations: annual or biennial reports and any state-level taxes or fees, with dates that vary by state. - If you sell taxable goods or services, check sales tax registration and filing requirements in each state where you have obligations. - Keep records that support your expenses as you go, not in a January scramble. - Review the year before December, while decisions can still affect the outcome. - Note any state where you started doing business, since operating outside your formation state can create additional registration requirements.

Where new owners most often slip Mixing personal and business money, missing the first state annual report, discovering estimated taxes in April, paying contractors without a W-9, and letting the operating agreement stay unsigned. Each one is cheap to prevent and expensive to unwind.

Rules and deadlines vary by state and by facts, so use this as a checklist to discuss rather than a legal requirement list. Our formation packages cover the registration, EIN and registered agent service, and our monthly plans pick up the bookkeeping, filings and compliance calendar afterwards. Contact us and we will map your first year.