Guide · After formation

You Formed an LLC. Now What? A Founder’s Launch Checklist.

The state accepted your LLC. You have a confirmation email, a document to download, and a business that still needs a way to get paid.

What happens next is less obvious: figuring out which tax accounts you need, separating the money, checking permission to operate, and putting deadlines somewhere you will actually see them.

After forming an LLC, save the approved documents, check your EIN and tax setup, organize company records and banking, confirm applicable licenses, and calendar your first filings. Some steps are legal requirements. Others are practical habits. Their order depends on your state and what you sell.

This guide is for first-time and solo U.S. founders, including online businesses. Use required if applicable for obligations triggered by your facts, and recommended for practical steps. State examples are examples, not a nationwide rulebook. Corpus is not a law firm; this is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Last checked 2026-10-19. General information, not legal or tax advice.

Before filing, check the business you are building

Already formed? Move to the next section. Still deciding? An LLC is one business structure, not a prerequisite for every idea. Compare ownership, liability, taxes, and administrative costs before choosing. The SBA’s structure overview is a starting point.

Recommended: Write down three things before buying a formation package:

The offer: Who pays, for what, and how will you reach the first few customers? A conversation or prototype can test interest without pretending you are ready to sell a regulated product.
The budget: Include setup costs, ongoing government charges, insurance, software, and any service renewals. A filing price is not the annual cost of running the business.
The ownership: Who owns what, who can make decisions, and what happens if someone leaves? Resolve those questions before a collaborator assumes they own half the company.

If an LLC fits, review the state-by-state formation guides. Check requirements where you will actually operate, too: forming in one state may leave registration obligations in another. SBA registration guidance.

After formation, build the company’s basic records

1. Save the approval and check the first deadlines

Recommended: Create one restricted-access company folder. Save the approved formation document, filing receipt, state entity number, ownership records, and service agreements. Check the legal name and effective date against what you intended to file.

Required if applicable: Look for initial reports, publication requirements, and other early state filings now. Do not assume your first deadline is a year away. Most New York LLCs, for example, must complete newspaper publication and file proof within 120 days of formation. New York Department of State.

An LLC is the state-law entity. An EIN identifies a taxpayer to the IRS. A registered agent receives official legal documents for the company. Keep the agent’s contact details current under your state’s rules, and know how notices reach you. SBA registration guidance.

2. Determine whether you need an EIN

Required if applicable: A single-member LLC with no employees, no relevant excise-tax obligations, and no corporate tax election generally does not need a separate EIN for federal tax purposes. A multi-member LLC generally does. A bank or state requirement may also make an EIN necessary for your next step. IRS LLC EIN FAQ, IRS single-member LLC guidance.

Apply directly through the IRS for free. Form the entity first; check eligibility for the online application, including responsible-party identification. If the online route does not fit, use the IRS instructions for other application methods. Save the confirmation. Paying a service is payment for assistance, not an IRS fee. IRS EIN application, Form SS-4 instructions.

3. Document how the LLC works

Recommended; required in some states: Put ownership, management authority, contributions, distributions, and member exits in a written operating agreement suited to the company. A solo founder still benefits from a clear record of ownership and decision-making.

New York requires a written operating agreement before, at, or within 90 days after filing the articles. It stays with the company rather than being filed with the Department of State. Check your own state’s requirements. New York LLC guidance.

4. Separate the money and start the books

Recommended: Open a business account and ask the bank for its document list before applying. Route company income and expenses through that account. Record money you contribute or take out, and keep explanations for reimbursements.

Required for tax substantiation: Maintain records that support income, expenses, and deductions. Save invoices and receipts alongside transaction records. A spreadsheet may be enough to start; the important part is that the books explain the business’s activity. IRS recordkeeping guidance.

For example, a payment processor’s deposit may be smaller than the customer’s payment because of fees or refunds. Reconcile the sale, fee, refund, and payout rather than treating every deposit as a complete sales record. Set a monthly appointment to do this while the details are fresh.

Before the first customer, check permission and promises

5. Check the rules for your activity and location

Required if applicable: Review licenses, permits, assumed-name registrations, and tax registrations for what you sell and where you work. Include local rules for a home business. Selling online does not make your operating location irrelevant. SBA launch guidance.

Make the inquiry concrete: “I run a design service from home, have no employees, and clients do not visit. What registrations or home-use restrictions apply at this address?” Give the office the facts rather than asking only whether an LLC needs a license. For Houston-area founders, the city’s Office of Business Opportunity Solutions Center provides permit, license, and fee information. Use the equivalent local office where you operate.

For online businesses, check the tax treatment of the actual product. Texas treats certain computer-based work with customer data as taxable data processing, while distinguishing professional services that merely use a computer. That is a reason to classify your offering carefully, not a rule that every online service is taxable. Texas Comptroller guidance.

Use Corpus’s free legal search to find relevant provisions where coverage exists, then read the cited source. Check published coverage; an empty search is not permission to operate.

6. Make the customer agreement and payment flow match

Recommended: Put the deliverable, price, payment timing, cancellation or refund terms, and ownership of the work in writing. Identify the correct contracting business and who is authorized to sign. Have existing personal contracts reviewed before assuming formation transfers them to the LLC.

For a designer, “website project” leaves room for disagreement. “Five pages, two revision rounds, deposit before work starts, balance before handoff” gives both sides something concrete to review.

Test a purchase, receipt, refund, and customer-support request using your provider’s test tools. Check its current onboarding and website requirements. If you sell subscriptions, make renewal and cancellation clear and review the rules that apply. A generic terms page cannot answer every question about your actual offer.

Required if applicable: Check insurance obligations before hiring or signing contracts that require coverage. Recommended: Discuss the risks of your work with an insurance professional; a formation document is not an insurance policy.

7. Know what customer data you collect

Recommended: List the data collected by your forms, analytics, payment tools, support inbox, and product. Record why you need it, who can access it, and when you will delete it. Use unique credentials, multifactor authentication, limited access, and a process for security updates. These are starting practices, not a security certification. FTC security guidance.

Required if applicable: Determine the privacy disclosures and other duties triggered by your users, data, and business. For example, California’s CalOPPA requires covered commercial websites and online services collecting personally identifiable information about California consumers to conspicuously post a privacy policy. That does not mean one template satisfies every privacy law. California Attorney General guidance.

Describe what your product actually does. If an analytics tool receives customer information, do not publish a promise that no third party ever receives it. AI-written code and AI-written policies both need review against the real system.

Keep the company current after launch

8. Confirm tax treatment and build a deadline calendar

Required if applicable: Identify the returns, payments, and registrations that apply to your business. For federal income tax, a domestic single-member LLC generally defaults to being disregarded as separate from its owner; a multi-member LLC generally defaults to partnership treatment. Corporate elections change that treatment. Forming an LLC alone does not elect S corporation status. IRS Publication 3402.

Estimated tax payments may be necessary during the year. Check the rules using your income, withholding, and tax situation rather than automatically setting aside a universal percentage. IRS estimated-tax guidance.

Recommended: For each applicable obligation, record the agency, due date, amount or calculation, filing link, responsible person, and proof of completion. Include state reports and taxes, license renewals, registered-agent service renewals, and any payroll or sales-tax filings. Check the actual schedule; “annual” does not necessarily mean your formation anniversary.

California illustrates why this matters: LLCs organized or doing business there generally face an $800 annual tax, with exceptions, and an additional LLC fee can apply based on California income. Do not assume that little or no revenue means no state obligation. California Franchise Tax Board.

9. Check current BOI guidance instead of an old checklist

Current federal rule, checked October 19, 2026: U.S.-formed entities are exempt from FinCEN beneficial ownership information reporting. Certain entities formed under foreign-country law and registered in the U.S. may still need to report. This federal exemption does not settle separate state filings or bank documentation requests. Check FinCEN’s current BOI guidance before acting on an older reminder.

Your next hour

Choose the first unfinished step. Save the approval, find the earliest deadline, or write down the question your bank or local office needs to answer. Put one action and one date beside it.

Keep the founder checklist handy as you work. Already formed? Use the records and operating steps above. Still evaluating formation? Review Corpus’s LLC service and current pricing. Corpus shows the state fee and its own service fee separately, includes the first year of registered-agent service, and offers EIN filing as a separate add-on where available. You can apply to the IRS yourself for free.

The useful milestone is a company you can operate: documented, ready to serve a customer, and with its next obligation on the calendar.

Use the founder checklist Still deciding? LLC formation by state