how to get my llc in arizona [Expert-Advice]

Last updated : Aug 30, 2022

Write a comment

hey i'm eric and in today's video we're talking about how to start an llc in arizona now if you're watching this video you're in the right place and if you're thinking about an llc you know you're in good company because 80 of all new business formations are llc in the united states now in this video we're gonna be talking about our three methods that you can start up an llc you can go directly through your state website you can also use free online tools there's also the ability to hire an attorney to set up the llc for you which is gonna be more expensive but later in this video i'm going to talk about how you can get a free consultation with an attorney too if you're looking to do that so there are two really important topics that you'll want to stay in this video because we're going to discuss a term called piercing the corporate veil and also registered agents if you're not familiar with those two things they're going to be really important that you stay and watch this video because i'm going to explain that to make sure that your llc is solid and going to protect you like it should so why don't we get started with the state website here and what you're going to be looking at in arizona is azcc.gov so that's your state website and this particular link right here is very helpful so it's the 10 steps to starting a business in arizona such as choosing your name seeing if that name is actually available in your state i'm going to walk you through some of these steps and explain this to you and this is a good time to mention that any link or resource mentioned in this video will be in the description of this video so you'll be able to find this link if you're looking for these 10 steps and every single link and resource mention will be in the description below so let's go through a hypothetical what i did is i went to um phoenix arizona and search for restaurants the first one that popped up is loco style grinds so if for whatever reason this was the name that you were thinking of for your business and you're trying to get an llc in arizona what you'd want to do is actually see if it's available so what you can do is you can go to this specific page right here again this link will be in the description and then you can search for this name so i'm going to copy this name and then what you do is you can click this search box here on the left hand side and what i would recommend is doing contains and then i'm putting in the name and i'm going to do a search so what you'll see is as this kind of searches the repository of different names that have set up llc's that this particular one has actually been set up it's a domestic llc and it looks like this particular one is already taken so if there is no search results showing for the name that you're looking for that is a good sign because it's actually available now what you'd want to do is once you actually have the name of your business that you're looking for and you want to get set up and you're confident you want to go with an llc you click this green register button and it's going to take you through the state website and you're going to be able to set up your llc through the state website and this is definitely one way you can go but one of the things that i do find frustrating about any of the state websites is they may give you the steps here and they go yeah here's all the things you need to consider and look at but when you're looking at it it's kind of overwhelming you're like you kind of want your hand held a little bit more so one of the other methods or routes you can go for setting up an llc is using a free online tool now the word free is a little bit misleading because these tools are created to generate a profit some of them if you might be familiar with like legalzoom in this particular case what they do is 79 plus your filing fee so every state has a state filing fee you're not going to get around that if you go through your state website a tool like legalzoom or go through an attorney you're going to have to pay that filing fee in your particular case in arizona this service inc file i find pretty helpful they have state filing prices and you go down and you'll see that you're going to pay 85 to set up an llc so even if an attorney doesn't say that that's part of their fee it's kind of baked into their cost so it's going to be 85 for that filing fee but as i mentioned with legalzoom they're going to throw another 79 on top of it i do like this service inc file because if you go to the home page here one of the things that really stand out to you besides the fact that they've been in business since 2004 and they've incorporated over 250 000 businesses is that it's zero dollars to get set up and i know that's where you're like all right what's the catch so if you're to launch your business with this service here you choose the entity type llc in your case we're gonna go to arizona and it's gonna give you three different packages that you can choose from and the lowest package here in the silver there's your 85 state fee and then it's zero dollars to get set up and it includes preparing and filing the articles of organization unlimited name searches so what we did earlier looking up the name searches on the arizona website here over here you can actually do that directly through this service and then also a free registered agent service for a year now this is a good opportunity to start talking about ways that your llc can be found incompetent or cracks or in your llc or the legal jargon would be piercing the corporate veil so why don't we talk about what an llc actually does for your business so then we can talk about how if you set up your llc incorrectly that it may not actually do what it's supposed to do in limiting your liability so some people think that there's like a tax advantage for setting up an llc that is not the case simply put an llc limits your liability but when you're setting up your llc you want to make sure that your eyes are dotted and your t's are crossed so there's no cracks in the foundation of it so what an llc does is it creates a division between your personal and your business assets so in the unfortunate case if you're sued the attorney the lawyer that's coming after your company isn't going to be able to come after your personal assets as well that llc creates that division between them so what that attorney is going to try to do is pierce the corporate veil and what they're doing is they're looking for issues with your llc so the reason i have this highlighted on screen here for the registered agent service is one of the issues i find with the state website is they don't really give a lot of attention to these issues they don't really mention a registered agent service they just say who's your registered agent then what happens is somebody says you know what it's my buddy jim because i'm trying to save some money and jim's gonna make sure he forwards my documents to me and make sure i'm taken care of so i'll put his information in so again going back to this learning center and we click on about registered agents here and we scroll down y

Thanks for your comment Maynard Isidoro, have a nice day.
- Sebastian Otsman, Staff Member

ready to incorporate an llc in arizona but unsure where to begin today you will learn about the most common ways to start your business including the correct forms you'll need how to register your llc critical naming requirements and all other important tips and tricks then as a bonus later on in the video i will reveal to you a trustworthy registered agent who will help set up your llc for free so make sure to stick with me until the end arizona llc's are cost effective and easy to set up the state of arizona like other states has several specific llc requirements there are three main ways you can start an llc in arizona first is the diy or do-it-yourself process where you mostly depend on arizona state's website the second way is hiring a professional service that practically offers more efficiency and security in the process of creating your llc while the third one is hiring an attorney we will skip the attorney hiring portion because that's expensive and most business owners won't need that service first let's take a look at the steps required for starting an llc on your own step one name your business before anything else you will have to think of the llc's legal business name each llc in arizona must have a distinct llc name that is not currently in use you must include the terms limited liability company or an abbreviation such as llc you cannot include phrases such as a corporation which would lead people to believe you are a different business organization knowing if your business name is taken or not is very easy just go to google and type in the words business entity records arizona secretary of state and click the first search result i also have the link in the description below for your convenience it will lead you to a landing page of business entity records in arizona scroll down a little and you will see some search options which makes checking the availability of your business name easier generally you can click the first option entity name and type in your business name for example i am typing a very common business name here car wash express which will give you a list of existing business names a unique business name will say no matches found just like this random name i typed in step two arizona requires llc to have a registered agent an agent has a physical address a po box is not allowed and is available during business hours this agent will serve as the llc's primary point of contact for receiving key legal papers tax warnings summons subpoenas and so on you can register yourself or someone in your company but i highly recommend getting a professional registered agent as they have more knowledge by protecting your company in cases of possible cracks while i agree that family members or friends are reliable enough to be trusted as your llc's agent you are more comfortable sleeping at night knowing that your agent is professional and trained to manage legal documents to avoid problems concerning court schedules filing reports with the secretary of state etc besides hiring a professional registered agent is not expensive in fact there are companies who offer free registered agent as part of your package when you form your llc through them inc file is a company i recommend which has this free service inc file offers a free registered agent on your first year of signing up for their service during that free year you can already take advantage of a professional and trained agent to receive legal documents on your behalf a dashboard where you can always access the correspondence that your agent has received as well as email notifications and automatic forwarding whenever your registered agent receives documents step 3 filing the arizona llc certificate of formation after that you must file the certificate of formation with the arizona secretary of state's business entities division and the office of the judge of probate to officially incorporate a domestic arizona limited liability company the arizona state filing cost for llc's is fifty dollars for domestic llc's and eighty five dollars for foreign llcs you can file the certificate of formation online or by mailing it to the secretary of state expect the llc certification process to take approximately two weeks step four prepare an operating agreement now an operating agreement is a good idea to have in place with the other members if your llc has more than one member although a limited liability company operating agreement is not necessary for arizona your operating agreement should clarify how your company or business will handle big picture issues such as allocating earnings and losses and dissolving the company your operating agreement should also cover the transfer of membership interest profits or losses and distributions initial investments decision making powers voting rights and management and lastly dissolving the business step 5 obtain an ein an ein or employer identification number is a federal tax id issued by the irs your ein is used by them to readily identify your firm and tax filings all arizona firms pay a business privilege tax and the state requires you to have an ein to file you may also be required to provide your ein when opening a bank account or applying for municipal permits or licenses obtaining an ein is a slightly longer process compared to their previous steps i'm sure you know anything to do with the irs is confusing this is another reason why getting a professional registered agent is way more convenient as they can do this for you as part of their service now let's talk about the second option to form an llc and that is hiring a professional formation service professional formation services do all the steps you should be doing on your own from filing necessary forms to acting as your registered agent you usually have to allocate a specific budget for this option as i already mentioned earlier inkfile is one of the best companies out there to help you form your llc you can click on the link in the description to get access to this deal inc file is one of a kind as it offers a free package with services such as preparing and filing your articles of organization well you still have to pay 237 dollars for the state fees which you would have to do anyway if you chose the diy option but looking at the bigger picture all other companies will still charge their service fee on top of state filing fees inc file does not collect this fee this plan already includes a free registered agent for your first year of subscription and 119 dollars annually moving forward if you decide to continue the service after the first year inc files next packages are the gold and platinum packages which both have package fees already on top of the dollar state fee each package has its own set of services which are all worthy of the subscription you are paying for the gold package offers you the benefits of filing reports and taxes for your llc every year usa llcs are required to file a state annual report this report is essentially an information update of your file so that the state knows who is now in charge and how to contact your company usa llcs are also req

Thanks Interrailq your participation is very much appreciated
- Sebastian Otsman

About the author

Sebastian Otsman

I've studied helioseismology at University of Vermont in Burlington and I am an expert in financial economics. I usually feel cranky. My previous job was forest engineer I held this position for 3 years, I love talking about field hockey and scrapbooking. Huge fan of Cory Booker I practice uneven parallel bars and collect insects.