Jennifer Reuting

Jennifer Reuting founded InCorp Services, a corporate structuring firm specializing in LLCs, in 2001. It is currently the fourth largest national registered agent service provider in the country, with thousands of clients nationwide and offices throughout the U.S.

Articles & Books From Jennifer Reuting

Cheat Sheet / Updated 07-03-2023
Individuals are now, more than ever, realizing the power of the limited liability company (LLC). If you’re like many people, you probably understand that an LLC can benefit you somehow; you just don’t know the next steps to take.Read on to find out the benefits of LLCs, get help naming your LLC, and get the lowdown on the different tax types for LLCs so you can make the best decisions for your business.
Article / Updated 03-03-2021
An operating agreement is a contract that controls how an LLC (limited liability company) operates and how the members interact with the LLC. You might think that as a sole owner of a company that no operating agreement is necessary — after all, operating agreements are comprised of terms agreed to by all of the members, and well, why make an agreement with yourself?
Limited Liability Companies For Dummies
There’s no better time than now to start a new business and tap into the power of the LLC LLCs For Dummies is your comprehensive guide to limited liability companies. You’ll explore whether an LLC is the right business structure for your business, how to set up a corporate structure and membership, and the best ways of managing an LLC.
Explore Book
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
All LLCs are created with a default tax status. If your LLC has at least two partners and the LLC doesn’t make any tax classification election with the IRS, then your LLC is automatically assigned the default, which is partnership taxation — a favorable form of pass-through taxation. The various forms of pass-through taxation have some differences, but the premise remains the same: The business itself doesn’t pay federal income taxes; instead, the profits of the business pass through to the owners to be reported on their individual income tax returns.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
LLCs (limited liability companies) are pretty powerful entities that you can do some pretty amazing things with. But you know how the old saying goes: "With great power comes great responsibility." In other words, if you don't watch out, you can get yourself into trouble. Fraudulent conveyance of assets If you just got sued and want to protect your assets, I'm sorry to say that it's too late.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
A single-member LLC isn’t actually a different type of LLC. It’s just a normal, regular LLC with one exception: there is only one member. Because LLCs were originally intended to be partnerships, a single-member LLC is still subject to some slightly different rules. Unlike an LLC with multiple members, a single member LLC is not allowed to elect the partnership form of taxation with the IRS.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
So now you know that an LLC protects your personal assets if the business gets sued or goes bankrupt. Pretty great, eh? Well, it gets even better. Unlike corporations, LLCs have a dual layer of liability protection called charging order protection. Many moons ago, when a creditor obtained a judgment against a partner of a partnership, the creditor could simply take the partner’s interest in the business (and, proportionally, all related assets) and liquidate them in order to get paid, often leaving a ravaged business in his wake.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
As the adage goes, “You aren’t in business until you’ve been sued.” As litigious as society is these days, you don’t even need to be one of the bad guys to be dragged into court. By simply transacting business with the general public, you open yourself up to myriad potential lawsuits, and no matter how arbitrary the complaint is, the destruction (and legal fees) it leaves in its wake can be crippling.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
A sole proprietorship automatically exists whenever you engage in business by and for yourself, without partners and without the protection of an LLC, corporation, or limited partnership. Although it sounds fancy and complicated, forming a sole proprietorship is about as easy as it gets. Forming a sole proprietorship When you begin transacting business, be it selling crafts at the local art fair or doing web design work in your spare time, you become a sole proprietor.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
You can't expect to pick a great name for your LLC (limited liability company) out of thin air. Creativity is best served when subject to a few helpful restrictions. The following are a few naming rules for your businesses: Be distinct. Naming your brand-new and improved social media site FaceSpace or MyTube won't give the impression that you are either "new" or "improved.