Louisiana Articles of Organization

How to File Your Louisiana Articles of Organization

Step 1: Submit your LLC’s official name

The state and the public need to have a way to identify your LLC for compliance purposes and to use your services. Your LLC’s name is one of the first pieces of information you must provide on your Articles of Organization.

You can be very creative when choosing the official name of your LLC, but there are a few rules you have to follow. In general, your LLC’s name needs to: 

• Contain words or abbreviations that identify that it’s an LLC (e.g., “L.L.C.,” or “L.C.”)
• Exclude words that imply your LLC has an unlawful or unauthorized purpose
• Exclude the phrase “doing business as” or the abbreviation “dba”
• Be distinguishable from other business names on record with the Secretary of State 
• Exclude words that signify immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matters

Although you have a lot of freedom when choosing an official business name, it can be hard to lock down a name that’s not already in use by another entrepreneur. 

Step 2: Identify your LLC’s purpose

The State of Louisiana wants to know why you’re starting your LLC, and you need to let the state know on your Articles of Organization. You can be very specific when stating the purpose of your LLC, or you can simply state that your purpose is to engage in any activities that are lawful for limited liability companies. 

Step 3: State how long your LLC will last

When you start your LLC, you need to let the state know how long the LLC will run. If you don’t have a specific end date in mind for the duration of your LLC, you can tell the state that your LLC will run in perpetuity. 

Step 4: Submit your LLC’s Initial Report

You can’t file your LA LLC Articles of Organization without also filing an Initial Report for your LLC. Your Initial report gives the state contact information for your LLC, your Registered Agent, and your members/managers. 

Step 5: Provide the full name and municipal address for your LLC’s Registered Agent and Registered Office

Your LLC’s Registered Agent and Registered Office are necessary and crucial components of your business. At your Registered Office, your Registered Agent receives services of process, legal documents, and important business correspondence on behalf of your LLC. Louisiana has a several you need to follow when you choose your Registered Agent. We can help you quickly find the kind of Registered Agent you need with our Louisiana Registered Agent Service. 

Step 6: Provide the names and addresses of your LLC’s first managers or members

The owners of an LLC are called members. Normally, members have rights to share in the LLC’s profits and rights to manage the LLC. However, your LLC can choose to hire separate managers to manage the LLC. Whichever route you choose, your Initial Report needs to provide the names and addresses of your initial members and managers. And please note that you can’t provide only P.O. Boxes for the addresses. 

Step 7: Have your documents signed and notarized

Someone needs to sign your State of Louisiana Articles of Organization. Also, each Registered Agent needs to sign an Affidavit and Acknowledgment of Acceptance on the Initial Report. The signatures on both these documents have to be notarized. 

Where to File Your Louisiana Articles of Organization

Once you have your Articles of Organization and Initial Report ready, where do you go to file them? You can mail or deliver your documents to the Secretary of State, using the addresses on the forms. You can also file your Articles of Organization online through the Secretary of State’s portal for businesses. 

What are the next steps? 

Normally, you’re not finished setting up your business after you file your formation documents. There’s usually more work to be done. Read below for other important steps to take when you start your LLC.

Create an Operating Agreement

Your experience as an entrepreneur is often better when you can customize it to your needs. An LLC Operating Agreement allows you to customize the business operations of your new venture. Without an Operating Agreement, you have to follow the default rules under Louisiana law. The state’s default rules might not serve your best interests, so it’s usually best to customize where you can. 

If you’re having a hard time writing an Operating Agreement for your LLC, talk to us. Our Operating Agreement Template can help you quickly formulate your own business rules for a well-running LLC!

Apply for an EIN

You need to pay taxes on your business activities. If your LLC has more than one member or you want to run it as a corporation, you need to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS to properly pay your federal taxes. If your LLC has only one member, it’s usually still better to have an EIN so you can avoid putting your personal, sensitive information on business documents and business bank accounts. 

We can take over the important task of obtaining an EIN for your LLC with our Employer ID Number Service. 

We can help!

If you have your vision and your business plan together and you’re ready to run your new enterprise, we can help you expedite the formation process. Our Louisiana LLC Formation Service can give you the tools to help you start your business easily and quickly. 

As a business owner, whatever you can do to save yourself time is commonly the best choice. Our extensive catalog of business formation and maintenance services can help you save time and run your business smoothly. For example, we can help you organize your business finances with ZB Money. We can even help you keep your business legally compliant with our Worry-Free Compliance Service.