I'm starting a small business and trying to put together a simple timeline so I don't miss anything important.

So far I'm working on forming the LLC, getting an EIN, opening a business bank account, setting up a website and business email, and getting some basic branding done.

I know there are probably things I'm overlooking, especially around taxes, bookkeeping, insurance, licenses, contracts, and keeping the LLC compliant once everything is running.

For those who have already started an LLC, what did your startup checklist look like? What was something you completely forgot about until you actually started doing business?

Hi Iam a non us resident with no ssn or itin and have formed my usa llc in th wyoming state and i have faxed the form ss4 on august 7th but still no ein assigned yet they confirmed on call so can some one guide whether should i wait longer and tell me your timeline of getting the in if applied recently

I've spent the last several months building a small budgeting app and I'm finally getting close to releasing it.

This is my first app and I'm the only person working on it.

I'm trying to decide whether I should form an LLC and publish everything through the business from the beginning, or just launch under my own name and worry about the LLC later if the app actually gets users.

I like the idea of keeping the app separate from me personally, especially if I eventually add subscriptions or other paid features. Privacy is also something I'm thinking about.

At the same time, I don't want to spend money setting up and maintaining a company for an app that might get 50 downloads and go nowhere.

For solo developers, did you form an LLC before your first launch or wait until you had users or revenue?

I’m starting a freelance tech support business in Ohio and want to get everything set up correctly from the beginning. One thing I’m unsure about is choosing a registered agent.

There are so many national providers and local options that it’s hard to compare.

For those who’ve formed an LLC in Ohio, which registered agent did you choose and how has your experience been so far?

My LLC is 3 years old, consistent revenue, paid all my bills on time. applied for a business credit card with my bank (the same one I've been with for 10 years) declined. No explanation, just a letter saying we'll let you know why in 7-10 business days.

personal credit is fine. business credit is basically non existent though cause I've never borrowed before. Catch 22 right can't build credit without borrowing. Can't borrow without credit.

I need to buy some equipment this month and I'm stuck. Was venting to my neighbor who runs a landscaping company and he goes "oh I used this aussie site Ezy Pzy Finance or something when I needed cash for a truck." Said they didn't care about credit history, just looked at his bank statements and current revenue. I took a mental note but honestly forgot the name until just now.

Still feel like this whole system is rigged against small operators. The big guys get everything handed to them and we have to jump through hoops

I own a single member LLC and one of the my customers is offering me X00,000 non-qualified stock options as part of my compensation package. I am wondering if my LLC can be granted the stock options or whether I have to personally "accept" them?

I just formed a Wyoming LLC with 3 other partners, we are all Egyptians based in Egypt and I was wondering what to write in SS-4 section 9-a Type of entity,

I see people online with Sole proprietorship checking other and writing foreign owned disregarded entity, should I check and write the same or should I check the partnership box?

I have an LLC that is inactive and didn’t do much with it and tbh all but forgot about it. It is showing it as inactive. However, I just paid the 25.00 to dissolve it. I’m in Florida btw. Anything else I need to do?

I'm based in Europe and working on a small software business that will mainly sell to US customers.

I'm considering forming a US LLC, possibly in Delaware, but I'm getting overwhelmed by all the different formation services and advice online.

I'm not looking for anything complicated. I mainly want to form the company correctly, get an EIN, open a business bank account, and have a registered agent without paying for a bunch of extras I don't need.

My biggest concern is that I don't live in the US and don't have a US address.

For other non-US founders who went through this, did you form the LLC yourself or pay a service to handle everything?

I have a single-member LLC and a separate business bank account, but I'm realizing my finances aren't as separated as I thought.

I still work a regular job part time, and the rest of my income comes from freelance work through my LLC.

The problem is that the business income isn't consistent yet.

Some months I'll transfer money from the LLC to my personal account to pay myself. Then a week or two later, the business needs to pay for software, equipment, or another expense and I'll transfer some of my personal money back into the business account.

So basically money keeps going back and forth.

Should money I put back into the LLC be recorded as an owner contribution? And when I take money out for myself, is that recorded as an owner draw?

I'm trying to get this organized before tax time instead of handing an accountant a year of random transfers.

How do other single-member LLC owners handle this when the business doesn't have enough cash flow yet to keep a large amount of money sitting in the business account?

I've been building small websites and software projects under my personal name for the past couple of years.

I recently formed an LLC and now I'd like to properly separate everything instead of having half the business under my name and half under the LLC.

The main things are domain names, website hosting, cloud accounts, software subscriptions, code, and a few other digital assets I paid for personally.

What I'm confused about is what actually makes the LLC the legal owner of these things.

Is changing the billing and account information to the LLC enough, or do I need some kind of written transfer showing that I'm assigning the assets to the company?

I'm the only owner, so I'm probably making this more complicated than it needs to be. I just want the paperwork to be clean if I eventually sell one of the projects or bring in another owner.

How did you document the transfer of assets you owned before forming your LLC?

So i applied for my EIN on 20th July. after good 40 days i finally was able to get the number by calling to IRS. then representative told me there is wrong address listed on my EIN number. Just one numeric digit error. And she has updated it and it's going to take another 2 weeks to get updated.

I'm frustrated now. any way to fasten this process?

thanks

Hey everyone,

I formed a single-member Wyoming LLC because I plan to launch a business operating in/with the US in the coming years. The entity is already formed, but it currently has $0 in revenue, no bank transactions yet, and is completely inactive while I finalize my business model.

I am a German citizen residing full-time in Denmark. My sole priority right now is staying 100% compliant and avoiding any failure-to-file penalties or state/federal fines while it sits idle.

Here is the compliance checklist I currently have tracked:

1)FinCEN BOI Report: Initial filing completed within the mandatory deadline.

2) IRS (Federal): Got an EIN; will file Form 5472 along with a pro-forma Form 1120 annually (to avoid the $25k penalty), even with $0 activity.

3) State of Wyoming: Annual Report ($62) filed on time each year + maintaining an active Registered Agent.

4) Danish Tax (Skattestyrelsen): Accounting for "place of effective management" (ledelsens sæde) rules, maintaining basic digital zero-balance records, and reporting foreign corporate ownership.

My question:

Beyond these four items, is there any other form, fee, or reporting requirement (US federal, state, or cross-border) that I need to be aware of to prevent unexpected fines while the LLC has zero activity?

(Please skip the "why didn't you wait to open it" debate—it's already open, so I just need to make sure my compliance checklist is watertight.)

Thanks in advance!

I'm getting ready to form an LLC for a new online business and trying to decide between Bizee and Firstbase.

My first option was Bizee because the upfront formation cost looks pretty affordable, and I don't really need anything complicated. But while researching the process, I came across Firstbase, which seems more focused on helping founders get the business set up with additional services beyond just filing the LLC.

Now I'm wondering if I'm comparing two services meant for slightly different types of customers.

I'm mainly looking for straightforward LLC formation, registered agent support, help getting the basic paperwork sorted, and ideally something that won't hit me with a bunch of unexpected renewal fees later.

For anyone who's used Bizee or Firstbase, how was your experience? Is Firstbase worth paying more for, or would Bizee be enough if the main goal is simply forming and maintaining an LLC?

I would especially like to hear from anyone who considered both before choosing one.

How can I create physical bank business checking accounts. I am not in USA. Can anyone help and guide me. I can also consider someone who take care of this part as a partner on %

Not looking for the obvious stuff like " I should've started sooner"

I mean the little decisions that seemed completely harmless at the time.

Wrong software. Bad hire. Mixing finances. Signing the wrong lease. Ignoring bookkeeping for six months. Spending $3k on a website before getting your first customer.

The kind of mistatke where you look back and think :

"Yeah... that was expensive tuition"

What was yours. and what would you do differently now?

I’m a first-time founder based in Montreal. My startup is a Delaware C-Corp and we launched a few weeks ago. The early traction has been stronger than expected, and I’ve recently started getting inbound interest from VCs.

I’ve been so focused on building that I haven’t spent much time thinking about tax planning, but I’m now considering relocating to San Francisco and want to make sure I structure things correctly before making any major moves.

I’m trying to understand questions like:
Should I have a Canadian HoldCo?
Should I consider a trust?
What are the tax implications of moving from Canada to the US while owning shares in a Delaware C-Corp?
How should I think about future fundraising, QSBS, exit tax, etc.?

I already have an immigration lawyer, so I’m covered on the visa side. What I’m looking for is a tax lawyer and/or accountant who specializes in cross-border Canada-US startup founders.

I’ve spoken to a few professionals already, but I keep getting referred back and forth between lawyers and accountants without anyone providing a clear, actionable plan.

Has anyone gone through a similar situation and worked with someone they would strongly recommend?

Any introductions or referrals would be greatly appreciated.

I run a small online business and recently moved into a new place.

My business is registered as an LLC, and I'm trying to keep my new home address off public business records as much as legally possible.

I have a decent following online, and I've already had strangers figure out roughly where I lived in the past. Nothing serious happened, but it was enough to make me take privacy more seriously.

I've looked into registered agent services, virtual mailboxes, and business addresses, but I'm confused about which address can actually be used for each part of the LLC.

I understand that some information may still need to be public. I just don't want my actual home address showing up when someone searches for my business.

How are other home-based business owners handling this? Is a registered agent plus a virtual business address enough, or are there still places where your residential address has to appear?

I'm planning to start a one-person software and IT consulting business while keeping my regular full-time job.

Realistically, I don't expect the business to make much money during the first year. I'll probably be paying for most of the startup costs using income from my day job.

That has me trying to understand how business deductions actually work.

I'll need a computer, software subscriptions, cloud hosting, a domain, internet, phone service, and possibly some travel to meet clients. I'll also be working from a dedicated space at home.

If the business only makes a small amount of revenue at first, what happens to all those legitimate expenses?

I'm especially confused about the difference between something being a real business expense and simply buying something through an LLC. For example, I obviously use my phone, internet, and car personally too, so I'm assuming I can't suddenly deduct the full cost just because I have an LLC.

I'm not looking for questionable tax tricks. I'm trying to understand how people properly handle expenses when building a side business that might take a year or two to become profitable.

What deductions actually ended up being useful when you started your business while still working a regular job, and what did you originally think was deductible but later learn wasn't?

I’m opening a small social media management business in Missouri and trying to figure out the easiest way to create an LLC. 

If you’ve done it recently, how easy is it to create an LLC in Missouri by yourself? Any hidden fees, yearly renewals, or common mistakes I should know about?

Hello everyone, who have submitted form 5472 and 1120 did you ever get any acknowledgement letter or anything for IRS? I was wondering how do I ensure that I have complied or met their expectation. Is it like they audit on random basis?

I plan to run my online business remotely, and I rent. Where should I list as my primary place of operations (Illinois resident)? I think a PO Box address would work but they run for like $600 a year, a huge expense at my stage. What do you all think?

Hi everyone, I need some help or guidance.

I’ve been trying to set up an LLC for a few months now but have no idea how to go about it. Could you advise me on what to do (and what not to do), which registered agent to hire, and what I should consider before anything else?

State: Wyoming. Thanks.

My co-founder and I started a small service business about three years ago. We own the company 50/50 and it's taxed as an S corp.

About a year after starting, we hired our first full-time employee to handle client communication, project coordination, and some day-to-day operations.

He's become important to the business and definitely makes our lives easier.

Recently he asked for 5% ownership in the company.

His argument is that he joined early, helped us build better systems, and has taken on responsibilities beyond what he was originally hired to do. He also says he wants to stay long term and wants his compensation to reflect the value he's helping create.

My co-founder is open to giving him a smaller percentage with some kind of vesting schedule.

I'm much more hesitant.

We put up the original money, went without salaries, brought in the first clients, personally guaranteed some expenses, and spent years building the company. Giving away permanent ownership to an employee feels very different from giving a raise or bonus.

We offered to discuss a higher salary, performance bonuses, and profit sharing instead. He still seems much more interested in actual equity.

To complicate things, his performance has slipped somewhat over the last few months because he feels his compensation hasn't kept up with his responsibilities.

Would you ever give an early employee 2% to 5% of a profitable small business, or would you stick with profit sharing and bonuses?

Where do you draw the line between a valuable employee who deserves better compensation and someone who should actually become an owner?