Free Resource
The California LLC Checklist.
A practical pre-formation checklist of what California small business owners should think through before forming an LLC — what to decide, what to ignore, and where the common mistakes happen. Useful whether you end up doing this yourself or hiring an attorney.
What's in the checklist
Five sections covering the questions California LLC owners should answer before forming — and the ones that get skipped most often.
Before formation: 6 decisions to make
- Picking your LLC name (and what California will reject)
- Single-member or multi-member
- Member-managed or manager-managed
- Registered agent — yourself, an employee, or a commercial service
- Whether the LLC will operate beyond California
- Initial capital structure
What California requires
- Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1)
- Operating agreement (required by law, but not filed)
- EIN from the IRS
- Initial Statement of Information (within 90 days)
- $800 minimum annual LLC tax
What filing services do not tell you
- Operating agreement default rules and where templates miss
- Renewable annual upsells you may not need
- Registered agent service vs. doing it yourself
- EIN application is free directly with the IRS
- Multi-member LLCs need real conversations, not templates
Common mistakes
- Forming with no operating agreement
- Picking the wrong management structure
- Spouse-on-the-LLC question left unresolved
- No buy/sell provisions for multi-member LLCs
- Missing the $800 LLC tax due date
- DIY filing when the situation is multi-member
Annual compliance calendar
- $800 LLC tax due dates and how to track them
- Statement of Information renewals (biennial for LLCs)
- When to review your operating agreement
- What changes require a filing with the state
Why this exists
This checklist is a practical resource the firm publishes for California small business owners. Use it whether you end up forming the LLC yourself or hiring an attorney. The checklist exists because the California LLC formation conversation usually skips half the questions that actually matter — and the questions that get skipped are the ones that cause problems later.
Get the checklist
Enter your email and the checklist arrives in your inbox in a few minutes.
What happens after you sign up
- The checklist arrives in your inbox within a few minutes.
- One follow-up email about a week later, asking whether you have questions.
- That is it. No automatic recurring marketing emails.
Already know you need attorney work? You do not need the checklist first. The intake call is the next step.
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