Help with forming LLC, setting up business banking, filing Taxes
Hi - I'm a US based entrepreneur living in California.
I was wondering what the IH community's consensus was on:
- which state to form LLC in (and which service to use. Stripe Atlas seems overpriced)
- which bank to get business checking at
- which business credit card to get
- what process should I follow to keep track of cashflow (e.g. Quickbook) such that I can pay taxes each quarter and file taxes correctly.
Anyway help would be appreciated.
Well, I like Azlo Business Banking, no minimum fee to get started and easy online banking. Usually, open an acct within 72 hours of receiving your paperwork.
I know that Brex is a great biz credit card to get as well as AmEx, PayPal & Square provide working capital after income of 20K which can come in handy.
And last, just get an accountant. I use Grand Reve Financial. All of their financial advisors are millennials so they explain everything in a way where you understand your write-offs, rates and goals easier.
keep in mind if you get an LLC in another state you have expensive foreign entity fees that you'll have to pay in california.
do foreign entity fees apply to online business?
Oh yikes. I knew California was expensive...
yes, california is stupid. If you live there the LLC is like $800/yr so in essense from a bootstrapping perspective, your forced to do Sole prop until you have enough income to justify the liability benefits of an LLC.
I'd love to hear the answers to the other questions, so I upvoted, but as far as forming an LLC... It seems complex at first but it really took me maybe about an hour or two... compare that to companies charging for forming your LLC, which I believe cost multiple $100's. So I'd suggest taking a look into forming the LLC yourself, I'm sure the California state government's website has helpful resources.
i think Atlas covers all the incorporation and banking fees.
It would cost about the same if you did it yourself.
Stripe also has a card now, but I hear great things about brex.
You can look https://firstbase.io or https://blook.io as an Atlas alternatives
Just for context, this is for someone who plans to put less than 20K in the account.