Your LLC Is Formed. Now What? A Virginia Business Startup Checklist

You filed your paperwork with the Virginia State Corporation Commission and your LLC has been approved.

Now what?

Forming an LLC creates the entity. It does not necessarily mean you have completed everything required to legally and practically operate the business.

What comes next depends on what your business does, where it operates, how it is owned, and whether the industry is regulated.

Here are some questions worth asking after formation.

✓ Have You Identified Your Tax Obligations?

Getting an EIN does not complete your business’s tax setup.

Depending on what your business does, you may need to consider federal tax classification, Virginia sales and use tax, employment taxes, and other state or local tax obligations.

And one distinction is particularly important:

An LLC is a legal entity. An S corporation is a federal tax classification. They are not the same thing.

Determining which tax rules apply to your particular business may require coordination with an appropriate tax professional.

✓ Is Your Business or Profession Regulated?

Approval of your LLC does not necessarily give you every license or registration required to operate.

Some professions, occupations, industries, and trades have additional regulatory requirements. Depending on the business, those requirements may apply to the individual performing the work, the business entity, or both.

Before opening your doors, ask:

Does what my business actually does require another license, registration, permit, certification, or approval?

✓ Have You Checked the Requirements Where You Actually Do Business?

State registration is only one layer.

Depending on where the business operates and what it does, there may be local business-license requirements, BPOL obligations, zoning requirements, local taxes, or other registrations or permits.

Forming an LLC with the Commonwealth does not necessarily satisfy the requirements of the city, county, or town where you conduct business.

✓ If There Is More Than One Owner, Have You Agreed on the Rules?

Ownership percentages are only the beginning.

Business owners should consider how decisions will be made, who has authority to act for the company, how money will be handled, what happens if someone wants to leave, and what happens when the owners disagree.

These are much easier conversations to have while everyone is still getting along.

Your governing documents should reflect how you actually intend to operate the business together.

✓ Do You Have a Financial System—Not Just a Bank Account?

A business needs a reliable way to understand what is coming in, what is going out, what it owes, and what financial obligations may be approaching.

That makes bookkeeping and recordkeeping part of the business’s infrastructure—not simply something to address at tax time.

A good bookkeeper can make an enormous difference in a business.

Consider whether you have appropriate banking, bookkeeping, recordkeeping, and tax-tracking systems in place from the beginning.

✓ Do Your Contracts Reflect How Your Business Actually Operates?

As soon as your business begins interacting with other people, it begins creating relationships that may carry legal obligations.

Clients. Customers. Vendors. Contractors. Employees. Landlords. Other businesses.

The agreements governing those relationships should make sense for the actual transaction.

And if you have already signed contracts, an equally important question is:

Do you understand what your business has already agreed to?

✓ Who Is Keeping Track of All of This?

Formation is an event.

Compliance is ongoing.

Your business may have recurring filings, taxes, licenses, fees, contractual deadlines, regulatory requirements, or other obligations to monitor.

And those obligations can change as the business changes.

Hiring employees, moving locations, adding an owner, entering a new market, offering a new product or service, or expanding into another state may create questions that did not exist when the LLC was originally formed.

Forming the LLC Is the Beginning

Your LLC approval confirms that you created the entity.

It does not mean that every tax, licensing, regulatory, local, contractual, financial, or governance issue applicable to the business has been addressed.

You formed the LLC. Now make sure you are building the infrastructure around it.

Already Formed Your Virginia LLC?

Basis Law PLLC assists Virginia entrepreneurs and business owners with formation, operating agreements, contracts, governance, and ongoing business law needs.

Schedule a consultation to discuss your business, what you have already put in place, and the legal issues that may require attention as you move forward.

This article is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, licensing, or regulatory advice. Requirements vary depending on a business’s activities, location, industry, ownership structure, and other circumstances. Reading this article, visiting this website, contacting Basis Law PLLC, or scheduling a consultation does not create an attorney-client relationship. Representation requires a written engagement agreement with Basis Law PLLC.