Articles of Organization
Like the Corporation, the Limited Liability Company (LLC) also needs a incorporating statute. It has a slightly different name than the statute for the corporation but, in principle, its purpose is the same. In it, the most important data of the founded company are stated. This is little more than the company's address and the name of the company.
Operating Agreement
Operating Agreement is the English term for the partnership agreement of a LLC. If a LLC is not a single person, it regulates the relationship between the shareholders. For example, the Operating Agreement defines the voting rights of the individual shareholders, their respective percentage ownership in the company, the profit distribution, and organizational structure of the management.
For forming a LLC, an Operating Agreement is not required in many U.S. states. As the founder, the state cannot force anyone to set up a partnership agreement. However, there are good reasons for doing it. If several persons form a LLC, it provides contractual security in the interaction of the individual partners and, by clearly defining the rules, helps to avoid disputes. With more shareholders in a LLC, the Operating Agreement should adequately define what happens to the LLC in the event of death or retirement of a partner. Basically, the LLC dissolves if one of the partners no longer belongs to it. Corresponding provisions in the Operating Agreement can change that.
Finally, the Operating Agreement is important if the founders are planning to do business with their LLC in Germany. This fact determines the respective competent German tax authority, and whether the LLC in Germany will be classified as an individual??partnership??, or as a corporation. In principle, both are possible and have an impact on the tax payable. The LL C's Shareholders Agreement can be written with a carefully worded provision as to a favorable decision of the authorities. For the LLC, this means saving money.
So that a U.S. company is established as quickly as possible ALTON assists its clients as needed with all the mentioned steps to found a Corporation or a LLC. If necessary, ALTON can also provide its clients, who do not plan any operations in the United States, with an official business address and Registered Agent. In addition, ALTON can assist newly-established U.S. companies with other important steps, such as looking for suitable personnel in the U.S. or even acquiring commercial and residential real estate.
Relatively early in both the formation of a Limited Liability Company and a Corporation is the choice of a suitable name. The selection is subject to few conditions. For a Limited Liability Company, it must be the name of the company with, for example, “LLC” or L.L.C.”, “LC” or L.C.”, or “Limited Company”, “Limited Liability Company” or, simply, "Limited" or "Ltd." at the end. For a Corporation, an extension, such as “Incorporated" or "Inc.”, or “Corporation” or "Corp." is required.
The company name can not include components such as “bank” or “trust” unless the founder also has received a proper permit for that industry. Of course, the name chosen in the respective state must not have already been assigned to another company. Along the path to establishing a business as a LLC and as a Corporation, further steps differ slightly. We will, therefore, look at the sequence for each of the two business entity forms.
Read more about the procedures for creating a company:
When setting up business operations in the U.S. initially we had many open questions and uncertainties. We not only saved the high cost of a specialized lawyer, with ALTON LLC we found an experienced, and German-speaking, partner to not only found our company but also for consulting advice as well as for all our necessary office services such as postal services, telephone and fax services, and much more - and all to our complete satisfaction. - Markus Meixner (Telecommunications Software GmbH)