• Articles and a summary, together

  Draft Articles of Organization for the state you choose, followed by a Formation Summary that records the company, its business, its contact person and who owns what.

• A first choice and a second

  Give the name you want and an alternate to use if it is not available, each with the ending you prefer.

• Member-managed or manager-managed

  Say whether the members run the company or appoint managers. The articles and the roles you can give each person follow your choice.

• Up to six members, each with a share

  Name each member or company that owns a share, give an address and a role, and record the ownership percentage.

• A registered agent you name

  Name the person or company that will receive legal notices for the company in the state, or leave the line blank to complete once you have decided.

• Your purpose, or a general one

  Describe what the company is for in your own words, or leave it and the articles state a general lawful purpose.

• Your federal tax number, noted

  Say whether you will apply for the company's Employer Identification Number yourself or want help, and the summary records it.

• Nothing filled in that you did not choose

  No name, address, share or date is suggested. Each comes from your answer, or stays a line to fill in.

• A lawyer reviews it before it is filed

  Your answers are prepared into a draft and reviewed by a qualified lawyer, rather than handed back to you as a finished filing.

Forming a limited liability company means registering it with a state. The paperwork names the company, gives its address and registered agent, and says how it will be managed and who its members are. This builder prepares that paperwork: draft Articles of Organization for the state you choose, and a Formation Summary of the details behind them for the company's own records.

It asks in the order the filing needs the answers: the company and the name you want, a second choice in case the first is taken, the business address and registered agent, a contact person, and then the members, each with a role and an ownership share. You say whether members run the company or appoint managers, and the draft is worded to match.

This is not the company's operating agreement. That is a separate document, between the members, about how the company is owned and run once it exists, and it has its own builder. What a state calls its formation document, what it must contain, its name rules and its fees differ from one state to the next, and a lawyer confirms them before anything is filed. The draft says so rather than leaving you to assume it is complete.

Not sure? Talk to an attorney about your situation first.

These are separate documents, for different jobs.

• Operating agreementsSet the rules for how an LLC is owned and run.View document
• LLC Articles of OrganizationSet out the details needed to form a limited liability company.View document
• Corporation formationIncorporate a business as a corporation.View document
• Business-structure guidanceChoose the business structure that fits how you'll operate.View document
• Business-name supportCheck and secure the name your business will trade under.View document

• When you are about to open a business and want its owners protected from its debts
• When two people start a company together and need it registered in their names
• When you are registering a company in a state other than the one you live in
• When an existing business is moving into a new company

• Operating agreementsSet the rules for how an LLC is owned and run.View document
• Company bylawsThe internal rules a corporation is governed by.View document
• Articles of IncorporationSet out the details needed to form a corporation.View document
• LLC Articles of OrganizationSet out the details needed to form a limited liability company.View document