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LLC 101 Guide

An intro for owners

The intro course on LLCs for every state

Choose your state and follow along: the official form, the fee, the agent rule and the recurring report, each sourced, plus our picks if you want help.

Prepared by the LLC 101 Guide instructors

What the guide teaches

50 lessons

Starting an LLC

Filing, agent, EIN and yearly report, as they work in all 50 states.

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50 lessons

Registered agents

Who qualifies as agent, which address counts and how the appointment gets recorded.

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50 lessons

Registering in another state

Foreign registration in plain tasks, state by state.

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What every state asks for

  1. Choose a name

    Make sure no other company in the state has it.

  2. Get an agent in place

    Every state requires one, and each has its own address rules.

  3. Submit the paperwork

    Each state publishes its own form and sets its own fee.

  4. Obtain your EIN

    A federal number, not a state one.

  5. Sign an operating agreement

    It stays in the company files.

  6. File the recurring report

    Reports, fees and any minimum tax depend on the state.

For any state

LLC ServicesNumber oneMainstay FilingRegistered AgentsNumber oneMainstay FilingForeign Registration ServicesNumber oneMainstay Filing

Grading policy

The five criteria

  • Course fee across three years (34%): The total a service bills over years one, two and three, taken from the first-year and renewal prices it publishes.
  • Assignments the price completes (31%): How many of the course assignments the price finishes for you: filing the formation or the registration, acting as registered agent, sending in the repeating state report and applying for the EIN.
  • Second-year fee (11%): The price from year two on, and whether it stays where year one began.
  • Match with the state syllabus (14%): How well the plan suits what the state actually asks: when its report falls due, what a late one costs, what its agent address rule demands and whether a second state may come later.
  • Plain pricing (10%): Whether a newcomer can see the whole price before paying, with the state fee shown on its own line at the amount the state sets.
The whole rubric

Units A to Z