File your LLC free
No service fee. You pay your state's filing fee and nothing on top of it.
Takes about five minutes. Your business name, your state, your details. The filing gets prepared and submitted for you, and the paperwork comes back once your state approves it.
- Name check — confirms the name is actually available in your state
- Articles of Organization filed — the document that creates the LLC
- Registered agent, first year — the address the state sends legal mail to
- Your EIN — the number you need to open a business bank account
Filing is handled by a licensed formation service. They pay us a referral fee, which is how this costs you nothing beyond your state's fee. Not legal advice — if your situation is complicated, an hour with an attorney is money well spent.
One reason, and it's a good one: it puts a wall between the business and everything you own.
If a customer sues over damage, a slip, or a job that went wrong, they're suing the business — not your truck, your savings, or your house. Without it there's no line between the two. You are the business.
It also changes how people treat you. Property managers, offices, realtors — anyone writing a real cheque — tend to want an LLC and a certificate of insurance before they'll hand over a key.
What it doesn't do. It isn't insurance and it isn't a tax trick for most solo operators. You still want general liability cover, usually $40–75 a month. An LLC protects what you own; insurance pays the claim.
The rest of the paperwork
- City business licence — nearly every city wants one, and it's the cheapest step
- General liability insurance — $40–75 a month, and required by most commercial customers
- A separate bank account — this is what keeps the protection intact. Mixing personal and business money is how people lose it.