The 2nd article you just linked is much better, and usefully informative. However, it still needs:
- info about the need for an operating agreement
- more detail about piercing the corporate veil
- discussion of FTB and IRS reclassifying as hobby business
You are advertising to a very technical audience and should address these things at a deep level.
You're making some quite strident demands of some random person on the internet here ;)
Having said that, I too would be interested in the extra topics that you listed, particularly the operating agreement piece. I looked into this recently and NoLo offers a $100-300 service [1] which comes with options, vs. free Operating Agreements like this random one on UpCounsel[2].
I have no idea what the parameters are on this, and in the past I've just leant on a lawyer friend to do this for me; I'd like to understand the details.
[1]: https://store.nolo.com/products/online-california-llc-ptlca-... [2]: https://www.upcounsel.com/single-member-llc-operating-agreem...
For my 2nd LLC I just copied a free template (different than my expensive lawyer'd one) since I now had a really good understanding of what needs to be there.
At first yes it's scary to think you might be getting it wrong, but you learn that it's not rocket science. It's basically the agreement between the members of the corporate structure. I haven't read the NOLO one but I bet it's good value for money.
You will generally have to present the operating agreement to the bank to open a business account, to get business financing, maybe for insurance, stuff like that.
My experience (IANAL) is that for friendly partners, the nolo template is going to be fine. If you're selling shares to folks that you don't have a history with, you may want to have the assurance of expert, personal legal advice from someone you can also go back to with future concerns. And for that kind of bigger LLC anyway, the $1000 or so is a reasonable expense.
First google result for the obvious 'how to file llc california':
https://howtostartanllc.com/california-llc
Just as readable as the original article and goes into some more useful admin details, such as the need to get a business license, seller's permit, etc.
I have some plans for future posts that will delve a little further into the weeds on various structuring / finance / tax topics.