First year LLC checklist: every filing you need to complete after formation

Updated April 2026

You filed your articles of organization. You got your approval from the Secretary of State. You have an LLC. Congratulations — and now the real compliance work begins.

Most new LLC owners treat formation as the finish line. It's actually the starting line. The filings you complete — or miss — in your first 12 months determine whether your LLC stays in good standing, maintains its liability protection, and avoids the penalties that catch thousands of new business owners every year.

Here's every step you need to take after formation, in the order you need to take them.

Immediately after formation (week 1)

Get your EIN from the IRS. Your Employer Identification Number is your business's tax ID. You need it to open a business bank account, hire employees, and file taxes. Apply online at irs.gov — it's free and you get your EIN immediately. Don't pay a service to do this for you. The IRS application takes about 10 minutes.

Open a dedicated business bank account. This is not optional if you want your LLC's liability protection to hold up. Commingling personal and business funds is one of the fastest ways to lose the legal separation between you and your business. Open a business checking account using your EIN and your articles of organization. Keep every business transaction in this account from day one.

Draft your operating agreement. Even if your state doesn't require you to file it, your operating agreement is the document that defines how your LLC is managed — ownership percentages, profit distribution, decision-making authority, and what happens if a member leaves. Without one, your state's default LLC rules apply, which may not match your intentions at all. Single-member LLCs need this too — it reinforces the legal separation between you and your entity.

Within the first 30 days

Register with your state's Department of Revenue. Your EIN covers federal taxes. Most states require a separate state-level registration for income tax withholding, sales tax collection, and unemployment insurance. This is not automatic — you must actively register. Missing this step creates back-tax liability from day one, not from the day you get caught.

Register for sales tax (if applicable). If your business sells taxable goods or services, most states require you to obtain a sales tax permit before you make your first sale. Selling without a permit and then retroactively registering means you owe sales tax on every transaction from the beginning, plus penalties and interest.

File any required initial reports. Some states require an initial report within 30 to 90 days of formation — this is different from the annual report. California, for example, requires an initial Statement of Information within 90 days. New York requires publication within 120 days. Check your state's specific requirements — missing an initial report deadline can be more costly than missing an annual report because the penalties are front-loaded.

Obtain required business licenses. Depending on your industry and location, you may need federal, state, county, and city licenses or permits. A general contractor needs a contractor's license. A food business needs health permits. A home-based business may need a home occupation permit. These requirements vary not just by state but by city — check with both your state's licensing authority and your local city or county clerk.

Within the first 90 days

Set up your compliance calendar. Identify every filing deadline that applies to your LLC and put them in a calendar with 30-day advance reminders. This includes your annual report deadline (or biennial, depending on your state), quarterly estimated tax payment deadlines, sales tax filing deadlines, payroll tax deadlines (if you have employees), business license renewal dates, and registered agent renewal dates (if using a paid service). This one step — putting deadlines in a calendar — prevents the majority of compliance failures for small businesses.

Get business insurance. General liability insurance protects your business from third-party claims. If you have employees, most states require workers' compensation insurance — some starting with your very first employee. Professional liability insurance (errors and omissions) may be required or strongly recommended depending on your industry. Don't assume your LLC's liability protection is a substitute for insurance — they serve different functions.

Register for employer taxes (if you have employees). If you've hired or plan to hire employees, you must register for federal employer taxes through the IRS (EFTPS), state income tax withholding through your state's revenue department, state unemployment insurance through your state's employment security agency, and report new hires to your state's new hire reporting center. Each of these is a separate registration with separate deadlines and separate penalties for non-compliance.

Before your first anniversary

File your annual report (if required in year one). Some states require your first annual report within the first year; others don't require one until year two. Some states use your formation date as the anniversary; others use a fixed calendar deadline. The timing varies dramatically — California's biennial statement is due within 90 days of formation and then every two years after. Florida's annual report is due May 1 regardless of when you formed. Texas's franchise tax report is due May 15. Knowing your specific deadline is critical.

Pay any required entity-level taxes. Several states impose taxes on the LLC itself, separate from the income that passes through to your personal return. California charges $800 per year in franchise tax. Kentucky charges a minimum $175 LLET. Tennessee charges $300+ per year for its annual report. These are due regardless of whether your business has generated any revenue.

Review and update your records. Before your first anniversary, review your operating agreement, confirm your registered agent is still active and at the correct address, verify that your address on file with the Secretary of State is current, and make sure all tax registrations are up to date. Any changes that occurred during the year — new members, address changes, registered agent changes — may require filings with the state.

The compliance requirements you're most likely to miss

Based on the patterns we've seen across all 50 states, the first-year filings most commonly missed by new LLC owners are state tax registrations (people get their federal EIN and assume they're done), initial reports with short deadlines (especially in California, New York, and states that require filing within 30-90 days of formation), local business licenses (people complete state-level registration and forget that cities and counties have their own requirements), and workers' compensation insurance (especially in states that require it for the very first employee).

Every one of these missed filings triggers its own penalty — and the penalties don't wait for you to discover the problem. They accrue from the date you should have filed, not the date you found out you were supposed to.

Know what your state requires — before you miss it

The filings, deadlines, and fees listed above are general categories. The specifics — exactly which forms to file, exactly when they're due, exactly how much they cost, and exactly what happens if you're late — vary by state. What's required in Texas is different from California, which is different from New York, which is different from Florida.

Our state-specific compliance guides cover every one of these requirements for your particular state. Each guide is organized by phase of business development — from formation through ongoing compliance — with specific deadlines, fee amounts, penalty structures, and step-by-step instructions. Everything you need to get through your first year without missing a filing or triggering a penalty.

Find your state's compliance guide here — 27 pages of every requirement, every deadline, every fee, for $37.