10/6/2014 Editors note: On October 1, we discontinued our free giveaway of do-it-yourself incorporation kits… Sorry. See here if you’re curious about why we came to this decision.
Are you starting a new business? Beginning some new investment venture?
We’ve got a little gift for you. No seriously, we do. We’ll give you one of our do-it-yourself incorporation or limited liability company formation kits.
The kits include short ebooks that give you the “how-to” instructions for setting up a small business corporation or limited liability company in your state and for dealing with the Internal Revenue Service paperwork, including getting your employer identification number.
The kits also provide boilerplate corporate by laws (for the corporation kits) and LLC operating agreements (for the limited liability companies). These documents tell you how to operate your entity.
How the Giveaway Works
Ok, this is the easy part. Go to one of our websites that sell the do-it-yourself kits. For example, if you’re interested in setting up an S corporation, go to the scorporationsexplained.com website. If you’re interested in setting up an LLC, go to the llcsexplained.com website.
Note: Our main CPA firm website, stephenlnelson.com, also provides many of the kits, and someday we’ll probably provide all the kits from this blog, but hey, right now we’re doing this giveaway on a whim and shoestring.
After you get to the right website, use the list of states that appears on each page to find the appropriate state kit you want. For example, if you’re setting up a corporation in Texas, find the Texas incorporation kit page at the S corporations explained site. If you want to form a Florida LLC, you find the Florida LLC page at the LLCs explained site.
Once you find the right page, click the page’s “Purchase and Download” button.
Yes, I know. It looks like we charge for the kit (and in the past we have), but if you know the following discount code, which you enter into the popup shopping cart window, you can download a kit for free:
stephenlnelsoncpa
You will need to provide some contact info (including an email address we use to send you a backup link for downloading the .zip file with the kit). But that’s it.
The kit, by the way, should mean that you don’t need to pay some online incorporation service $500 or more or some attorney $1000 or more to form a limited liability company or incorporate. Good deal, right?
Some Suggestions for Background Research
If you need some help getting questions answered before you form an LLC or set up a new corporation, you probably want to review the FAQ pages at the two sites that provide the downloads. The FAQ page at the S Corporations Explained website, for example, answers dozens of questions that people often have when they go to set up an S corporation for the first time.
Ditto for the LLCs Explained website. It also provides a rich FAQ page you can use to get most beginner LLC questions answered.
Why We Do This
Well, first, we like providing entrepreneurs and small business owners with a truly low-cost way to set up a corporation or LLC.
Plus, the do-it-yourself kit giveaway lets us promote the three e-books we actually sell at our websites (including this blog) and also (hopefully in a classy way) the accounting services we provide to small businesses and their owners.
I have a Utah S corp and moved to Washington some years ago. My wife and I are equal shareholders. I have been tinkering with business ideas and run those activities under this entity, but we’re not currently seeing profits nor do we have significant assets. We have no operations in Utah, but my accountant in Utah maintains the legal office that is required to be a Utah company. Should I move this to Washington? Should I switch to an LLC?
You probably should move your entity to Washington. An LLC would often work well. But confer with your accountant for a “real” consultation. 🙂
Hi
After getting your free kit, where do I get the forms seal binder etc, that I need?
Thanks
Linda
The kits include the links you use to download the forms you’ll fill out… or alternatively the links to the online application web pages you can “step through” in order to file articles of incorporation or articles of formation.
You don’t need a corporate seal to form an LLC or incorporate. You also don’t need stock certificates. Note that you can buy and then use these sorts of embellishments. But those aren’t part of the “free kits”.