Limited Liability Companies For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 13

Maintaining Your Records (And Your Sanity)

IN THIS CHAPTER

Filing your initial report

Acquiring the necessary business licenses

Keeping your company’s records properly

I’m sure you’re hankering to jump right into building your business, but not so fast! You didn’t think that you could simply file some articles of organization and the government would let you go scot-free, did you? Nope. You still need to take care of removing some red tape.

Although the amount of red tape varies depending on the industry you’re in, it usually isn’t too much of a hassle if you know how to stay under the radar. First and foremost, most states require you to file an annual report with your local secretary of state or franchise tax board. Each state refers to this report by a different name, and the requirements also differ substantially depending on where your company is domiciled. I show you how to file your report in the first section of this chapter. Then I discuss the necessary business licenses you need to obtain and the regular record keeping you need to do in order to protect your business’s limited liability. With these details arranged, your LLC will be legit and protected, and ...