Business Formation
LLC Formation
The most common choice for a reason: liability protection with flexible, pass-through taxation — and the entity most likely to make sense with an S-corp election layered on top later.
What it is
An LLC (limited liability company) puts a legal wall between you and the business — creditors and lawsuits against the business generally can't reach your personal assets, provided you keep the entity properly maintained. By default, it's taxed as a pass-through (sole proprietorship rules for one owner, partnership rules for several), but it can also elect to be taxed as an S-corp without changing its legal structure at all.
That last point is where we spend the most time with clients: the LLC is the legal entity, the S-corp election is a tax choice layered on top of it, and conflating the two is the single most common mistake we see in DIY formations.
Who it’s right for
- You want your personal assets separated from business liabilities without corporate-level formality
- One owner or several, especially if ownership percentages or profit splits aren't a simple even divide
- You're profitable enough (commonly cited around $40,000+ in net profit, but it depends on your numbers) that an S-corp election could meaningfully cut your self-employment tax
Who it’s wrong for
- You're pre-revenue and just testing an idea — the ongoing state compliance requirements may not be worth it yet
- You're seeking venture capital — most institutional investors want a Delaware C-corp, not an LLC
- You want the absolute lowest-maintenance option and don't need liability protection yet
What we do
- 1Confirm an LLC is actually the right call before you pay a state filing fee for one
- 2File your Articles of Organization with the state
- 3Draft your Operating Agreement — required in some states, and the document that actually governs how disputes get resolved
- 4Obtain your EIN
- 5Evaluate whether an S-corp election makes sense for your numbers, and handle the Form 2553 filing if it does
- 6Set up bookkeeping and, if you have employees, payroll
What it costs
Starting at $250*
Starting price when paired with monthly bookkeeping. Does not include state filing fees, billed separately based on your state.
*Starting price applies when bundled with our monthly bookkeeping service. Ask us for formation-only pricing if you don’t need bookkeeping included.