How To Form An LLC In Indiana [2023]

So you want to start your own business in Indiana but don’t know where to start? Well, in this article, I’m going to show you a step by step guide on how to form an LLC in The Hoosier State of Indiana, including:

– preparing the right forms

– registering your LLC

– accomplishing crucial naming requirements

– and all other essential tips to starting your LLC

Then as a bonus, later in the article, I will provide you with an opportunity to grab my FREE Business Startup Success Checklist. Part of this complete guide will reveal my trustworthy registered agent who will help set up your LLC for FREE and save you time and money.

So make sure to stick with me until the end.

1. Overview

Indiana is known as the best place to start a business in the Midwest. 

There are three main ways you can start an LLC in Indiana:

• Do it yourself
• Hire a professional service
• Or hire an attorney

Let’s start by talking about how to DIY your LLC registration.

2. DIY LLC Formation

There are 7 basic steps that you need to follow to start an LLC in Indiana.

Step 1: Name Your Business

The first step is choosing a unique business name. To make sure that there are no existing businesses with the same name, you can do a search on the Business Search portion of the INBiz website.

Make sure you also check https://www.namecheckr.com/ for possible domain names and social media tags. The last thing you want is to register a business name and find out later that you have limited options in terms of your online presence.

The laws in Indiana require you to add the phrase “limited liability company” or LLC to your name of choice. Any word or phrase that can confuse your LLC with a government agency is also strictly prohibited.

Using words like “bank” or “attorney” on your business name would require more paperwork. Adding these words would also require you to have a licensed professional as part of your LLC.

Although it isn’t a state requirement, you can reserve your chosen business name for $20 for 120 days just to make sure that nobody else gets it before you get the chance to register it as your own.

Step 2: Get a Registered Agent

The State of Indiana requires LLCs to have a registered agent who will serve as the primary point of contact for anything that has to do with your business.

It’s possible to register your own name or the name of friends and family as the agent, but I highly recommend getting a professional. The registered agent will be receiving and managing tax warnings, subpoenas and other critical legal papers on your behalf. 

While you may have trusted friends and family members who are willing to help out, a professional registered agent has the training needed to sort potential issues and protect your company at all costs.

Your registered agent also needs to be available during business hours and should have an actual physical address and not a PO Box. While you might be tempted to use your own home address as the registered location, it’s going to be part of the public record and might not be a wise move to expose your personal address. In this case, I recommend you use services like anytimemailbox.com (special link in description below). They will provide you with a physical business address, scan your mail and even forward it to your home. It’s a very useful service at a very low cost.

Worried about the cost? Hiring a registered agent is not that expensive. You can even get a registered agent for free if you pay for a service to register the LLC for you. 

I highly recommend ZenBusiness, a service that can help you register your LLC and includes a registered agent as part of the package at no extra cost.

ZenBusiness also provides a dashboard where you can keep a close track of all documents and correspondence that the agent receives. Feel free to check out my special link on ZenBusiness if you are interested in signing up for their service.

Step 3: Filing the Articles of Organization

The next step is filing the Articles of Organization, also known as the certificate of formation or certificate of organization. This is filed with the Indiana Secretary of State Business Services Division.

It usually costs $97 – $100 if you’re a domestic LLC and $75 – $125 if you’re a foreign LLC. 

What’s the difference?

A domestic LLC means that you’re a resident of Indiana who wants to build a business in Indiana.

On the other hand, a foreign LLC means that you live outside Indiana but would like to build a business or start a franchise of an existing business in Indiana.

This part of the process can take 5 to 7 business days if you file by mail and 24 hours if you file online. They do not offer expedited service as online applications are processed immediately within 24 hours.

The good news is, Zenbusiness can help you with this process for FREE as well as the 2 previous steps by signing up to their Starter plan. No other formation service offers a great deal like this! This will save you a lot of time plus allow you to feel secure knowing that a professional is looking after your business.

Step 4: Prepare an Operating Agreement

Indiana doesn’t require LLCs to have an operating agreement. However, it’s best practice to have one in place especially if there are other members deciding for the business.

An operating agreement outlines every critical process that needs to be followed especially when it comes to “big picture” issues. These issues may include:

• Allocation of earnings and losses in case the company is dissolved
• Decision-making process and voting rights
• Transfer of membership interest, profits and losses
• And any other concern that impacts the business overall

And if you decide to use ZenBusiness to set up your LLC, they can help you with the operating agreement document for only $125. This will save you a lot of time and will ensure that you have all your documents in order for the registration process.

Step 5: Get an EIN

The next step is getting an Employer Identification Number or an EIN. 

An EIN is a federal tax ID used by the IRS and is used to identify your firm on tax filings. This is also the identifier used when you pay your Business Privilege Tax, open a bank account, or apply for permits and licenses.

I know most processes where the IRS is involved can get tricky and confusing. Filling out these complicated forms also takes longer to complete than the previous steps. This makes having a registered agent who can handle all of this for you even more beneficial.

Step 6: Open a business bank account

To open a business bank account, you’re going to need an EIN, your business’s formation documents, a business license and your ownership agreement if you have one.

While this step requires you to make a trip to the bank, you can start off with an online banking service like wise.com where you can apply from the comfort of your own home (I will leave a special discounted link in description for you again). You could always go to the bank later when you have more time.

Step 7: Buy a domain name

Now that you’ve got the physical aspects of the business covered, it’s time to take care of your digital presence. 

I recommend buying a domain name from Namecheap.com because they have the cheapest prices and will also provide domain name privacy for free. It will only cost you less than $10 per year so make sure to grab your website name before someone else grabs it from you.

There are still a few more important steps to take to fully complete your business setup but it may drag this article out too long so I have condensed down everything into an actionable step by step checklist where you can grab it from here for FREE.

3. Professional Formation Service

See all those steps I walked through on how to register an LLC in Indiana?

You don’t need to worry about most of those steps if you have someone like ZenBusiness take care of the setup process for you.

Again, ZenBusiness will do the whole LLC registration process for you which means you would not have to do any of the previous steps 1 to 5.

Zenbusiness offers a one-of-a kind deal. At absolutely no charge for the first year, Zenbusiness will prepare and handle your state filings and help you check whether the business name you want is available or not. You only have to pay the state filing fees of $97 – $100 or $75 – $125. Going the DIY route means that you’ll have to pay the fees anyway, so why not free up your time to work on your actual business and let ZenBusiness take care of what they do best? 

ZenBusiness has an in-house team that takes care of the entire registration process, so you’re confident that you have professionals handling it for you. This is also why all of their plans have a “100% Accuracy” guarantee, which you don’t get with many other providers who outsource all their work. That makes the free service a no brainer deal!

Now, if you want to expedite the filing process, you can upgrade to the $199 Pro package which includes faster filing, worry-free compliance where they will help submit your annual reports, and guided operating agreement. 

For an even faster 1-2 day processing time with all the bells and whistles, you can go all the way to the $299 Premium plan which also provides you with a domain name, a website, and a business email. If you have chosen one of these plans and are ready to get started, then you can use this special link to go and create your LLC.

4. Hiring an Attorney

The next option for forming an LLC is to hire an attorney to assist you with the process.

Hiring an attorney who specializes in business formation makes sense because they can help you minimize risks while making sure you comply with every requirement.

An attorney will also give you the most personalized service possible, but this comes at a cost. Building an LLC will cost you around $1000 to $1500 through an attorney, but this is more than worth it if your business is in a risky field or could have a lot of legal complications.

I recommend signing up for Rocket Lawyer’s 7-day free trial and taking advantage of the free consultation and review of documents. This will save you thousands of dollars when compared to other attorneys. Once you’ve decided that this is a service you really need, then you can pay for their premium services for $39.99 per month. Link to these services is available in the description below.

Of course, if your business is low-risk, your best option would still be to work with ZenBusiness.

Summary

Have you thought about which option works best for you?

If you think you can handle things yourself via the DIY route, then watch this article that will help you choose the best bank account for you. 

But if you want the convenience of getting professional formation services and are interested in working with ZenBusiness, then I recommend you watch this in-depth tutorial and review that I made on their services. 

See you in the next article!