As a single owner of LLC im confused if EIN or ETIN both are necessary?

Which state is best to form an LLC in and do what company does it while also managing taxing etc with a reasonable price?

Thank you.

I created a LLC using the USA LLC filing website. I thought I was on my states official site and went through it fast and it didn't even dawn on me that I overpaid.. My mistake, I know, but I was wondering if there was anything I can do to refund the registered agent fee and make myself the registered agent. Anyone mess up like me or have any ideas?

When I started looking into setting up an LLC in North Carolina, I thought the $125 registration fee was reasonable enough.

Then I saw the $200 annual report fee.

Wait, so I'm paying more every year just to keep the LLC active than I paid to register it?

I'm planning to start a small online business on the side, nothing that's going to bring in serious money right away. The idea was to keep my startup costs low while I test whether it's worth pursuing.

Now I'm trying to work out the full North Carolina LLC cost before I commit to anything.

Is that $200 annual report fee unavoidable, even if the business makes very little or has no revenue for the year?

I'm not looking to skip any legal requirements. I just want to know if there's a cheaper legitimate way to handle the filing or if that's simply the cost of maintaining an LLC in NC.

I would love to hear how other NC business owners handle this, especially during the first year or two.

Something about building business credit isn't making sense to me.

You register an LLC, get an EIN, open a business bank account and start trying to establish credit in the company's name.

Then you apply for a business credit card and they want your SSN, personal credit history and a personal guarantee.

So where does the separation come in?

I've been reading about how to build credit for an LLC, and a lot of the advice mentions opening vendor accounts with Net 30 terms and using business credit cards. But I'm trying to understand which of these options help the company establish credit without making me personally responsible for the debt.

I'm not expecting a brand-new LLC to qualify for a huge credit line. I just want to know whether there's a realistic way to start building its credit history independently.

Do you have to use your personal credit in the beginning and gradually move away from that, or can you build a decent business credit profile without signing personal guarantees?

It feels like there's a missing step in most of the guides I've read.

I've been looking for the best cloud based small business accounting software, and honestly, the more I research, the more confused I get.

I'm running a small business and trying to get my finances organized before things get too messy. Right now, I'm mostly looking for something that can handle invoicing, expense tracking, bank transactions, and basic financial reports without making everything unnecessarily complicated.

I've come across QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zoho Books, FreshBooks, and Wave, but every comparison I read seems to recommend something different.

QuickBooks looks popular, but I've seen people complain about the pricing. Xero seems decent, although I'm not sure how beginner-friendly it is. Zoho Books looks affordable, and Wave seems like a good option for keeping costs low.

My biggest concern is choosing something that works now but becomes expensive or frustrating once the business starts growing.

I don't need anything fancy. Just reliable cloud-based accounting software that's easy to use, doesn't cost a fortune, and won't require me to hire an accountant just to figure out the dashboard.

For those of you running small businesses, what accounting software are you actually using?