Business Entity Formation in Florida

Forming a business in Florida requires that you complete a variety of different kinds of documentation and that you consider various forms of legal business structure before you register your business. It can be hard to decide which of the various business types are right for your needs and which documents you need to complete in order to get your business registered in the state of Florida.

Working with a skilled legal team can help you to create all of the right documentation for this process and can offer you guidance about the right kind of business entity for your needs. The team at Lopez Law Group has years of experience helping clients to create and register new businesses in the state of Florida. Working with an experienced legal team can help make the process of getting your business up and running much easier and much less stressful.

What Can a Lawyer Do for My Business Entity Formation Process?

When you are creating a business, you have the choice between an LLC and a variety of different corporation types. The choice of which kind of business entity you need to formulate is critical since it can be impossible to convert some of these business types to others once the business has been set up and registered with the state of Florida.

If you have a board of directors or multiple investors involved in your business, you will likely need to create a corporation of some kind. If you are managing and operating your business alone or with a spouse, you will probably just need to create an LLC. Both of these business types have their own documentation that needs to be created, and you will probably want to have assistance with this part of the business formation process.

All business types will need to have a business name that is unique to the company and that has not been used by another entity in the state of Florida. Your lawyer can help you to pick a business name that you can claim, and then they will help you to go through the business name registration process to protect this name from being used by another entity.

Once you have a name for your business, you will need to appoint a registered agent for the service of process in the state of Florida. This can be your lawyer, or it can be another business entity that has a physical street address in the state of Florida. Lawyers are the most common registered agents for business formation, and you can let Lopez Law take care of this need for you.

You will need to create articles of organization that will define your business, how it operates, and who is involved in the management of the company. These articles or organizations will need to be filed with the state of Florida, and there is a fee associated with the process.

You will also need to prepare an operating agreement which is an internal document that guides how the company is managed and explains who has what rights in the company. Your lawyer will help you draft this important document so that there are no issues with disputes among board members or owners. You will also get help from your lawyer to apply and receive an EIN from the government.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, your lawyer will help you file your annual reports that show that your business is still active and in good standing. These are submitted to track the performance of the business and to show that it is being maintained. They are submitted with a fee, and they must be provided on time to avoid a late submission penalty.

Professional LLC Entities

This kind of LLC is far less common than a single-member LLC, and it is often a business type that is confined to specific kinds of companies. These are businesses for architects, attorneys, dentists, and certified accountants, to name a few. Any business that requires that you have a Florida state license to practice your craft will require that you form a professional LLC and not a regular LLC.

This kind of business formation is more complicated, and you will benefit from the support of a skilled legal team when creating this kind of company. You can only offer one kind of service at a professional LLC, and you will need to be sure that all of the owners of the LLC are licensed to perform the service for which the LLC was created. These kinds of limitations can often be overlooked by those who are thinking about the rules of a single-member LLC when they create their business.

These kinds of errors can be costly both in time and money, and you will want to avoid this type of misstep when you are creating your business in the state of Florida. Working with the experienced team at Lopez Law Group will ensure that you can formulate all business types, including the more complex Florida PLLC, without running into issues related to documentation, reporting, or tax-associated paperwork.

Foreign LLC Entities

If you have an LLC that you own which is outside of Florida, you must register it with the state of Florida if you are doing business there. Foreign LLC businesses have to appoint a registered agent who is in the state of Florida, and the documentation for the LLC will need to file with the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations.  There is also a process that needs to be completed that assigns you a Certificate of Existence from the foreign LLC’s home state.

These kinds of paperwork can be time-consuming to collect, so working with a skilled lawyer can help you to get this process done correctly the first time. Lopez Law knows all about foreign LLC entities in the state of Florida and can help you to get your foreign LLC registered correctly in Florida.

Other Considerations

Your lawyer can also help you to create the documents that you will need to work with clients. Contracts, information that is offered to employees during hiring and firing processes, and other kinds of legal documentation all need to be created when you are opening a business. These processes can be handled using generic forms that you have found online, but these forms are never specific to your business and can be full of oversights that will lead to legal trouble down the road.

Beyond the work that needs to be done to form your business and register it with the state of Florida, there are many other documents that you will probably want a legal expert to help you to create. Being sure that your contract will hold up in court and being certain that you are disclosing information correctly to vendors and business partners, among other things, can offer you a lot of peace of mind. You will also avoid legal action being taken against you later for oversights that you could have avoided with the help of a skilled legal team.

A skilled legal team might also step in to help advise you about things like layoffs or changes to your business structure before you take action. This can help you to ensure that you are thinking about taxes, fees, and penalties that might be associated with a business structure change. Layoffs are contentious by nature, and you will want to be certain that you are following the letter of the law when you engage in this process.

A legal advisory team might also be called upon to support and represent your company in court if a former employee or business partner should try to take action against the business. This is not a consideration that is linked directly with business formation, but it is a key consideration for companies as soon as they open their doors to clients.

Working With a Skilled Legal Team Matters

When you are considering opening a business in the state of Florida, you need to make sure that you are not flying by the seat of your pants. There are various business types that you can register for, and you need to be sure that you are clear about the kind of business that you will be creating. Getting all the right documentation done for your business formation is much easier when you have a legal team working hard on your business formation process. You can count on all of the steps being handled correctly with this kind of support on your side.

The business lawyers at The Lopez Law Group has years of experience helping clients to open new businesses in the state of Florida, and they can also help advise business owner clients about taxes, contacts, and other forms of documentation that are essential for business management. Creating a new business doesn’t have to be a daunting process. Contact us today for a free consultation, and let us help you get your Florida business up and running with ease.