Top 3 Single Member LLC Mistakes | How to Avoid One Owner LLC Mistakes
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- Опубликовано: 21 июл 2024
- Are you the only owner of your Limited Liability Company (LLC)? If you’ve done any research, you may have seen all the warnings (charging orders, piercing the corporate veil) about single member LLCs. But the danger isn’t from having one owner - it is from the behavior of that owner. In this video I go over the top 3 single-member LLC mistakes, and how to avoid them!
00:00 Intro
01:44 Mistake #1 - Co-mingling Money
03:59 Mistake #2 - Not Keeping Proper Paperwork
06:13 Mistake #3 - LLC is Not Capitalized
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Legal Disclosure: Elizabeth is licensed to practice in the state of California and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Information contained in this video is not legal advice - please seek advice of counsel. This video and description may contain attorney advertising.
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#singlememberLLC #oneownerLLC
If you wonder whether you need an LLC for your one owner business, check out this video: ruclips.net/video/5ClAJYWTLRA/видео.html
I can’t explain how happy I am to have found your channel. 😭 I am a serious hobby photographer of 10 years who recently turned professional and (finally) committing and trying to start a business the right way. Thank you for sharing your expertise and giving me so much more peace of mind. Will be bringing your videos and sharing with my network. 🙌🏼
Thanks for saying that!
EXACTLY! ... 1:22 "not running your LLC to commit fraud or do anything sketchy"
Integrity & Ethics are a priority
Thank you so much for taking the time to make these tremendously informative videos, Elizabeth! They are incredibly helpful :)
You are so welcome!
Very informative and clear. Thank you.
Glad to help!
Hello! I just want to say your information is so helpful! I am currently in the process of starting my own business and youre a huge part of it all lol THANK YOU!
I'm so glad it has been helpful for you! :)
I just wanted to say that your videos have been so helpful and informative! I may be starting a business this year, and I am trying to absorb as much info as possible that was not covered in business school. Thanks for the great content!
I'm so glad! Best wishes in your new business!
Thank you so much Elizabeth. You saved me money showing how I can file an LLC and EIN. Love your videos.
Great to hear!
Thank you
absolutely love your content here. following along and doing so much of what you are suggesting. I'd love for you to do a video on how to get an operating agreement free (if that is possible) or also anything on taxes with an LLC. I've just started mine this week and id love to know what I need to take to the bank to open a business bank account. just some suggestions for videos to make. (I'm a content creator too). love your work!
Great suggestions, thanks!
Thank you for this info! I'm new to your channel and slowly making my way through your videos, so this question may be addressed elsewhere. But do you have any premade templates or guides that you have made available (written resolutions/contracts/operating agreements etc.) ?
To the producer of this video: I have been watching lots of videos related to legal steps of launching a business in the last month. I believe your video are the bests!! Really are the bests.Thank You! 👍👍👍
Thanks for that!
Thank you so much for your help! If it’s possible, can you please create a video about Etsy and LLC, like common mistakes or things that have to be done? Thank you 🙏
Great suggestion!
@@ElizabethPW Yes please!! Your video was fantastic. I would love to know more about running my LLC as that pertains to ecommerce.
Thank You! Do you have videos about forming an Operating Agreement-single LLC member?
In this video I do a review of different legal doc services, specifically talking about operating agreements, so that's a place to start: ruclips.net/video/OKVsuS_pmH4/видео.html
Hey Liz, really terrific ideas. Better visual organization would make it easier to follow. It’s hard to tell which item you’re on when you go into the details. Perhaps a lower thirds title or bullet points? Content is very much in point! Thank you
thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for the help!! I like to know your opinion about out of the CA LLC? I work every where, but I am in CA most of the time? My business is 100% online. Thank you!!!!!!!!!
It is possible to have a completely online business and not have to file in CA, but it needs to have no CA connections (no inventory here, no employees here, etc.)
Your videos are always very useful! Thanks! If I have a 2-member LLC, how should I file the articles of organization? I included both names, one as MGR and the other one as AMBR, but in the bank they told me that is wrong
Sounds like you might be creating your LLC in Florida? You don't have to list anyone as a Manager (MGR) or Authorized Representative (AMBR) if the LLC is managed by the members: dos.myflorida.com/sunbiz/start-business/efile/fl-llc/instructions/ Usually an authorized representative would be a lawyer or accountant, and a manager doesn't even need to be a owner/member (like if you hired another person to run the business for you).
Yes in FL. Thanks for your reply! ☺️
Hi, first thank you so much for all your videos! I wish I had found you sooner..I think I might have jumped the gun and registered as an LLC just last week & now debating if I should stick to it or dissolve it to set again as sole proprietor instead. I'm not doing business yet & in the process of starting an online clothing & accessories shop in Orange County from home. What would you suggest in my case for the city of Stanton?
It depends upon your tolerance for risk and how much you have on the line. Sometimes a business that's selling products will have a big amount of inventory (and debt) where it makes sense to be an LLC or corporation, just in case it goes under and the business needs to liquidate via bankruptcy. Other product businesses only produce on demand and have no debt, so the risk is much smaller.
Hi Elizabeth and thanks for the very informative video!
Question: My sole member LLC will be a brand new company with no history of operations. Where should my initial seed money come from to open my business checking account? Should I deposit cash only (about $500) so that way there's no link to any of my personal checking accounts?
Thank you so much in advance! 🙂
It's a great idea to have a fixed amount of money (like $500 or $1K) that comes from your personal funds that you use to open the new LLC bank account and pay for initial stuff. Yes you can just write a check or you can even transfer it -- the point is that you track it as the initial capital contribution (kind of like buying stock).
@@ElizabethPW Thank you so much for that clarification Elizabeth, your a lifesaver! 😀
Thank you for the great tips! Is it a good idea to make my LLC pay me $1/year salary to minimize payroll taxes? Am I allowed to structure my LLC as a pass-thru entity for income tax purposes (i.e., reporting all income on Schedule C as if the LLC didn't exist)? If so, what are the pros and cons of doing so and not doing so?
Hi Isaac - the default for a own-owner business is that LLCs are taxed as a pass-through entity on your Schedule C, so yep you can do that - if you do that, all profits are subject to both income tax and self-employment tax. If you instead decide to have it be taxed as an S-Corp, you can separate paying yourself a salary (subject to payroll and income taxes) and ownership distributions (subject to income tax). But no if you are an owner who works in an LLC that's taxed as an S-Corp, you cannot pay yourself a salary of only $1 to avoid payroll taxes - the IRS requires you to pay yourself a reasonable salary.
Thank you for the info. Question - if you filed a single member LLC business 4 years ago, but it never took off - i.e. no sales or income, etc. Does it just become null and void?
At a certain point the LLC becomes "suspended" because it did not file annual reports or tax returns. Typically at a certain point the LLC will be "administratively dissolved" but the timeframe is different from state-to-state (can be years). Search for it on the secretary of state's business database in that state to see the status.
Hi Elizabeth! Your videos are great! I did one of your mistakes! Well, maybe two! I got 10K from a client, my first paycheck of that size and I took all the money out of my business account. Then for a period of a few months, when I was making nothing, for some reason I was having some money, around $200 of transactions come into my personal account (for some reason I didn't have a business bank account anymore, I can't remember why, I think my last account got buried from all the fees and a minus balance so I had to close it cause the business wasn't making any money), and I did several purchase from my personal account for my business. So what happens when you do one of these mistakes? I have since cleaned up my act. But this went on for a period of a few months last year.... Are these mistakes just an issue if someone sues you? (which thankfully I got back on track and no issues) Or something else?
And would I possibly have an issue if I filed for bankruptcy in a few months? This is 6-9 months after my short stint of what I shared above.
There is a possibility that someone could say that you mixed up (commingled) the funds so much that the LLC should be disregarded. The best thing to do is what it sounds like you have done, which is clean everything up and have good bookkeeping that shows what happened -- you could talk to an accountant to see if your books are up to standards. For a personal or business bankruptcy, then can look back for months to years to see if there is any hidden money -- but check with a bankruptcy attorney to see if that would apply to your exact situation.
Do you have a video on doing the statement of information.
here you go: ruclips.net/video/FY-ruxQelBE/видео.html
I watched it last night. Thank you
Hello Ms. Elizabeth, would you advise to always have a contract for any money transactions between myself and my LLC?
Yes, have an agreement and also have the LLC "approve" the transaction on paper
Hello. I’m curious on the details of income cash flow on my new LLC. If i own a car personally, can I deposit the income from the car to my business checking account?
Do you mean that you own a car personally that you rent out or use for lyft etc? Well you might be able to set it up such that the car is owned by you personally but is used for business, but you'd need to create a paper trail for that. Think about how you would set it up if you had an employee who owned their own car but used it for your business -- how would the finances, contracts, insurance, etc be set up, if the worker was not you.
@@ElizabethPW so I rent the car on Turo . And wanted to claim the income to my LLC to start having cash flow statements and begin build credit history on my LLC and EIN number. To hope to get financing for more cars or even tap into the trucking industry
Rather than loan money to his/her LLC, can an LLC owner just contribute and avoid the formalities that go along with loaning money to the LLC?
Yes the LLC owner can just contribute "capital" to the LLC. That money usually just stays in the LLC until it is sold (or some creative tax things can be done about "capital contributions" but that is something to discuss with an accountant)
Hello, I'm asking for donations for my startup... Isn't it non taxable? Also, should that revenue go into my bussiness account or personal?And thank you!
Depends on how you are doing it exactly, like are they getting ownership shares versus they get a product later once it is completed. I'd recommend speaking to a tax person about where to put the money and how to characterize it -- generally you want to keep business stuff in a business account
Thank you for giving me asvice. I have two books I'm about to publish and I make donations available in the back of my books. Basically donations for a start up biz launched from within the books.
Hello, I’m wondering, can I add my minor sons who are 11 and 13 yrs old as members of my llc or add them as investors in an S Corp? Thank you for the information.
Yes minors can be owners. There are tax consequences so you'll want to speak to your tax person about that.
Got it, Thank you.
I have a single member llc I got a letter to become a C or a S, I am not making any money $600 was all I made for 2021 what do I do? I feel I should just give up.
A one-owner LLC can be taxed as a sole proprietorship ("disregarded entity"), which is a better choice when someone is not making money. That's the default status -- you don't have to do any filing to get it. www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/single-member-limited-liability-companies
@@ElizabethPW Thank you, I have stressed so much over this. I appreciate your guidance. Have a blessed week.
Hello are you taking new clients?
Yep! Go to my website elizabethpottsweinstein.com/ to learn more