Do You Have An LLC?

I actually wanted to ask was it better doing a LLC or be Incorporated. Do anyone know the cost or has been through the actual process of getting either, and if so what was your experience.

No proper answer without talking to a lawyer and accountant. S corps can save you a lot on taxes and some states have some really bad LLC cases on the books.

I wouldn't do either without talking to a professional about it.

Single-person LLCs are starting to come under scrutiny by the IRS according to a newsletter I receive. If you are a sole operator, you might be safer doing an S-Corp. HOWEVER, the decision to incorporate has tax implications and you really should talk to a CPA before you make any decision.

Us Kanucks here in Canada have only one structure, a simple incorporated shell. Simple and cheap. But you have to protect yourself in several ways. A LLC or corp will protect you from problems from your corp, but what happens if you are personally sued, your wonderful LLC or Inc has absolutely not protection from you!

Something to think about. Probably completely off topic, but still important.

In my ever-so-humble opinion ... every IMer in the US and Canada should have a PrePaid Legal membership. Why? so you can ask questions like this of REAL LAWYERS rather than a bunch of NON-lawyers!

(I've had my PPL membership for nearly 10 years, and you'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands! They have saved me nearly $10k by helping me assert my rights under the laws. Before I had my PPL membership, I ended up losing $15k b/c I didn't want to spend $250 to have a lawyer look over a client agreement that eventually blew up in my face a couple years later.)

Consider this: it costs $100k-$500k to go to school and get a law degree.

OTOH, it costs UNDER $100 PER MONTH for a BUSINESS membership with PrePaid Legal that lets you call in every day and pick the brains of people who are on the hook for 6-figures for their law degree.

PPL has gotten a bad rap for a variety of reasons, but mostly b/c their presentations try to motivate people based on fear rather than value.

The REAL value is this: if you could pick up the phone and talk with an attorney for 20-30 minutes about business-related questions any time you want, would that be worth $100 or less per month?

Forget about them handling your divorce, bankruptcy, defending you in a lawsuit, and anything else like that. And don't expect to get F. Lee Bailey on the horn for $100/mo. They're GREAT for ROUTINE things like, "should I Inc. myself?" or to review contracts and NDAs. If you have a complex legal situation, it might cost you a little extra for hourly services.

Just focus on the fact that SINCE you ARE in business, you ARE dealing with legal issues every day. You may not know it, but you are. So why is it that the most common response I get when I mention PPL to people is, "I don't have any legal issues"? If that's the case, then why does this question come up every week or so here in the WF???

Anyway, a BUSINESS membership also gets you access to another web site that lets you submit ANY BUSINESS-RELATED QUESTIONS and get answers from top-notch EXPERTS in 24-48 hours.

As others have said above, an LLC is one of many different ways to structure your business. Whether it's right for YOU is something only YOU can answer after consulting with competent legal and tax counsel.

If you had a PPL BUSINESS membership, you'd have all of the resources on hand to resolve that.

PM me and I'll be happy to discuss it further.

-David