I recently formed an Arizona LLC and although I am not a lawyer the process went smooth. I filed all the paperwork myself to save money. There are many benefits to forming an LLC, but my main reason for doing this was to be able to operate e-commerce sites and run my web design and consulting business legitimately. The total cost of forming an LLC and filing for my Arizona Tax Licensing was $128.66. However I expedited my LLC documentation and could have done it for $93.66 if I choose not to expedite.

Below is a step by step guide to forming your Arizona LLC, keep in mind I am not a lawyer and do not take any responsibility if this guide doesn’t work for you.

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Step 1: Naming You Company

I found the process of finding a suitable name kind of challenging, because I wanted it to be just right while following the advice I read in an article at entrepreneur.com. The name of your LLC must end with an LLC designator, such as “Limited Liability Company” or “Limited Company,” or an abbreviation of one of these phrases (”LLC,” “L.L.C.” or “Ltd. Liability Co.”). Also the name cannot include certain words prohibited by the state, such as Bank, Insurance, Corporation or City. Once you pick a business name you must verify that the name is available with the Arizona Corporation Commission(AZCC). You will also want to make sure the domain name is available for your future company website.

Links you need for this step

• Arizona Corporation Commission – Search for available business names
• GoDaddy – Purchase the domain name for you business
  

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Step 2:Download & Complete AZCC Form Packet

You will need to download the following 3 documents from AZCC Forms page.

• ARTICLES OF ORGANIZATION (Domestic Limit Liability Company)
• COVER SHEET FOR CORPORATE FILINGS
• NOTICE OF PUBLICATION

You may have a lot of questions about how to fill these forms out or how you should organize your LLC. I suggest going to legalzoom.com and do a practice run by filling out their forms and skipping the pay steps. This helped to answer a lot of questions I had and provided me with the definitions I needed. In addition you can view the documents other companies have on file at AZCC.

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Step 3: File Your Documents With AZCC

I hand delivered my documents to AZCC and had my packet expedited for $85.00. You need to bring the completed COVER SHEET FOR CORPORATE FILINGS and ARTICLES OF ORGANIZATION with you.
I filed my documents at the Phoenix office located at:

Arizona Corporation Commission
1300 W. Washington
Phonix, AZ 85007
MAP IT

I delivered the documents on a Tuesday morning around 9am and the place was empty. I was literally in and out of the building in 5 minutes. You will walk in the front door and keep going straight, you will then see a cashier on your right. Give her the documents and money in return you will get a receipt. I even found a good parking spot. It was nothing like other government offices I have dealt with and was expecting to encounter. It took less than two weeks to get my documents back in the mail. In the mean time I keep checking the AZCC website to see when my documents had been scanned and approved. Once you know your documents are approved and you see that your company is in “Good Standing” with the AZCC you can move forward with the next steps. I waited until my documents were sent to me, but now I know I could have moved forward before then.

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Step 4: Publishing Your Article Of Organization

You must publish a Notice of the filing of your Articles of Organization with an approved publisher within 60 days. They will send you a list of news papers or you can view it here if you are to impatient to wait.
I waited to publish until I got my documents back in the mail. During that waiting period I received a mailer from The Record Reporter which offered a 10% discount on my publication. I paid them $31.66 with the 10% discount to do my publication which was about $10.oo to $15.00 cheaper than the other papers I contacted. If I was you I would contact The Record Reporter and say you received the same 10% off mailer. You can contact The Record Reporter by phone 602-417-9900 or by email Record_Reporter@DailyJournal.com . This price also includes them filling the Publication Affidavit with AZCC.

If you are like me and don’t own a fax machine and like to do everything via email you will want to convert the NOTICE OF PUBLICATION document from pdf format to Word so you can complete it and email it to the Publisher of your choice. I did this with a pretty cool website I found called pdfToword.com.

Congratulations On Your NEW LLC !

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Step 5: Getting your EIN & Opening a Business Bank Account

If you followed the above steps you officially formed an LLC, but now you want to open a bank account for your business and possibly get an Arizona Tax License. Since I started this process to be able to get a Resellers License I want to clarify to those that are confused. An Arizona Tax License and a Resellers License are the same thing. Some states call it a Resellers License and some don’t.

Getting Your EIN

The first thing you have to do before you open a business account or apply for a tax license is get your Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Federal Government. This is FREE and really easy to apply for online. You will want to save and print the document they provide you with, since if you lose it they can not reproduce it. Here is the link to apply for your EIN online.

Opening Your Business Bank Account

You will need your EIN document to open your business account. The bank will check online to make sure your LLC is in “Good Standing” with the AZCC so your LLC documentation isn’t necessary, but I would bring it just in case. It is also a good idea to look around online for banking coupons before you open your account. A lot of banks will offer money if you start your account with a certain deposit amount.

Applying for your Arizona Tax License

The type of license you need to get depends on what your business is. For instance if your business is a health or food service you must obtain special permits in order to apply. I don’t know enough about this topic to really go in depth on it. If you are like me and just doing stuff online then all you need to get is a TRANSACTION PRIVILEGE TAX LICENSE (TPT) It cost me $12.00. The application process online is long and repetitive and once you submitted the form you are required to print out a confirmation document. You need to send that document to them with your check by snail mail. It will take about a month to get your license in the mail. Here is the link to license your new business

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Step 6: Setting Up Your Website

This is your chance to contact me to design and market your website. I specialize in small businesses and deliver fast. No long term contracts or hosting agreements
You can find out more at Gradient Development

Summary

1. Pick a business name and buy a domain name

2. Download the necessary forms

3. File the forms with the AZCC

4. Publish your Article Of Organization

5. Apply for your Federal EIN

6. Open a business bank account

7. Apply for your Arizona Business License