| A limited liability company, commonly called an LLC is a | | | | are advisable to be drafted are Articles of |
| business organization that is a hybrid between | | | | Organization and the Operating Agreement. When |
| partnership or sole proprietorship and corporation. Like | | | | planning to set up a limited liability company, articles of |
| owners of partnerships or sole proprietorships, LLC | | | | organization have to be filed with the Secretary of |
| owners account for business profits or losses on their | | | | State and the required fee has to be paid. Articles |
| personal income tax returns and the LLC itself is not a | | | | may be prepared by a lawyer or filed by the individual |
| separate taxable entity. Like in a corporation, in LLC, all | | | | or the group interested in starting a LLC. Although in |
| owners are protected from personal liability in case of | | | | many states it is not required to draft an operating |
| business debts and claims. This feature is known as | | | | agreement, it is advisable. Every LLC member's |
| "limited liability." This means that if the business owes | | | | distributive share, that is share of profits and losses, is |
| money or faces a court case for any reason, only the | | | | set out in the LLC operating agreement. |
| assets of the business itself are at risk. Creditors | | | | The LLC Operating Agreement may range from 12 to |
| usually cannot reach the personal assets of the LLC | | | | 16 pages in length depending on its complexity, and |
| owners, such as a house or car. For these reasons, | | | | contains information regarding the company's name |
| many say that LLC combines the best features of | | | | and address, registered agent information, name and |
| both the partnership and corporate business structures. | | | | address of each LLC member, items contributed by |
| Forming a Limited Liability Company may not be as | | | | each member, date of company dissolution, |
| simple as a sole proprietorship, however, the process | | | | appointment of LLC officers, accounting method, and |
| is less than a corporation. The main documents that | | | | LLC management structure and operation. |