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Situation

I am in the process of educating myself about the inner workings of an LLC, it's forms of taxation, maximizing deductions, etc. through a couple of books from Nolo, along with Limited Liabilities for dummies. So far I like them a lot, I see that they have a web service where you can start the creation of your LLC at:

https://www.incorporate.com/doIncOrderStart.do?partner=NOLOXT&entityState=OH&pseudoEntityType=LLC&entityType=LLC

Questions

  1. Is Nolo the best way to go about creating your LLC?
  2. Or after educating myself, would it be cheaper to do it myself through state forms?
  3. Any other service that you have used that you would recommend?

Note: Just for reference I am thinking about creating an LLC in Ohio (but also considering Nevada, Wyoming but that is for another question).

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3 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

It is definitely cheaper to do it yourself through state forms. Incorporation services typically charge you $50-$200 more than DIY. However, you will need a registered agent to handle all filing correspondence from the Secretary of State (you can designate yourself or someone you know as an agent, but that person needs to have a street address in the states you referred to). Most incorporation services like to bundle the registered agent with their filing service fee, though you can also hire one through a separate service.

Some also help with tax reminders, but that's not always the case, so pay attention to your tax deadlines as well as LLC renewal deadlines!

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up vote 2 down vote

I have not used NOLO, but if you have read a couple of books on LLC's, then I don't see why you can't do that yourself. In the state I am in all forms can be filed online in 15 minutes and it costs around $90. Then I just need to file bi-annual reports (another $30) to maintain the LLC status.

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No i have not read them yet, I am in progress :) but as the book point me to links and stuff I ask questions that most likely i would find an answer once im done reading. Thanks for you input – Viriato May 10 '12 at 2:17
up vote 2 down vote

An LLC is extremely flexible. That can be a great thing, but it also means that you have a fantastic chance to shoot yourself in the foot.

You really haven't given enough information to answer your question. It's possible that NOLO or whatever forms your state provides will work. And, it's possible that they'll be totally wrong. Here are a few things you need to think about:

(1) How do you want the LLC taxed? As a disregarded entity? A C-Corp? An S-Corp? A partnership?

(2) What other members will the LLC have? Will any of them have any management responsibilities or rights?

(3) What do you do if one of the other members is no longer interested in being a member? What do you do if they had management responsibilities?

(4) What do you do if a member passes away?

(5) How do you allocate profits and losses to the members?

(6) What actions can the managers do by themselves, and what does the entire membership have to approve?

My suggestion is to educate yourself, figure out what you want to do, and then see which of the resources you have available will do that for you.

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Thanks a lot for your input, these are the exact things that I am educating myself about by reading LLC for Dummies, and Quik LLC I am sure I will be able to do it myself. So far I am leaning towards LLC with Partnership(my daughters) and a manager based style with me as the manager attributing all (or most) of the profits to me. – Viriato May 12 '12 at 22:45
Yeah, so, be very careful if you start messing with allocations of profits and losses -- the IRS can get pretty persnickety, and partnership tax is a complicated area. – Chris Fulmer May 13 '12 at 4:21

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