How To Form An LLC In Virginia [2023]

Ready to incorporate an LLC in Virginia but unsure where to begin? Today, you will learn about the most common ways to start your business, including:

-the correct forms you’ll need, 

-how to register your LLC,

-critical naming requirements,

-and all other important tips and tricks!

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.

Overview

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

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

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

1. DIY LLC Formation

   Let’s first take a look at the steps required for starting an LLC on your own.

   Steps in Forming a DIY Virginia LLC 

   Step 1: Name Your Business 

   Before anything else, you must think of the LLC’s legal business name. Each LLC in Virginia must have a distinct LLC name that is not currently in use. LLC names must include one of the following: Limited Liability Company, Limited Company, LLC, L.L.C., LC, or L.C. LLC names cannot contain the words “corporation, inc, corp, or any words, characters, or abbreviations that will imply that you are a different business entity other than an LLC.

   Knowing if your business name is taken or not is very easy. Just go to Google and type in the words: Virginia State Corporation Commission Entity Search and click the first search result. I also have the link in the description below for your convenience.  It will lead you to a landing page of Business Entity Records in Virginia, where you can then type in the name of your business and check its availability.

   Next (and this is very important), go to https://www.namecheckr.com/. This tool will help you check if your business name has a domain name available and other social media pages and platforms. You don’t want to register an LLC name that someone is already using online. That will limit your marketing and online sales opportunities. You’d think naming a company would be easy, but you really have to put more thought into it! 

   Once you are sure that your LLC name is available, you can go ahead and secure your business name. The Secretary of State can also reserve the LLC’s trade name before filing for a period of 120 days. You can make a name reservation for only $10, which is non-refundable, and once your business name is reserved, no other entity can use it during the 120 days.

   Step 2: Get a Registered Agent

   LLCs in Virginia are required to have a registered agent who will serve as the primary point of contact for anything that has to do with your business.

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

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

   Your registered agent must also be available during business hours and have a physical address in Virginia, not a PO Box. While you might be tempted to use your own home address as the location registered, 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 the 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, either. 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 Virginia LLC Certificate of Formation

   The next step is to download the Certificate of Formation with the Virginia Secretary of State online, fill it out, and mail it to their office officially incorporating a domestic Virginia Limited Liability Company. 

   The Virginia State Filing Cost for LLC online, in-person, or by mail is $100.

   Typically, your certificate of formation includes:

   • Cover with name, address, and telephone number 
   • Your company name and address
   • Your registered agent’s details
   • Names of the LLC management and members at the time of registration
   • Addresses of managers or members of the LLC 

    

   Mail filings usually take around 2 weeks to get approved which is why I suggest you file online because it only takes 2 to 3 business for approval. The state of Virginia does offer next-day processing for both online and mail filings on the condition that the Secretary of State receives your forms on or before 1 PM EST for an additional fee of $100. They also offer same-day expedited processing, provided you submit your forms and other requirements by 10 AM EST for an additional $200. 

   For a comprehensive guide, you can check this link to the document, which I also included in the description below.

   Step 4: Prepare an Operating Agreement

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

   An operating agreement outlines every critical process that needs to be followed, especially regarding “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: Obtain an EIN

   Getting an Employer Identification Number, or an EIN, comes next. 

   An EIN is a federal tax ID the IRS uses 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 involving the IRS can get tricky and confusing. Filling out these complicated forms takes longer than the previous steps. This makes having a registered agent handling all of this for you even more beneficial.

   Step 6: Open a business bank account

   To open a business bank account, you will 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. 

   Buy a domain name from Namecheap.com; they have the lowest price and provide domain name privacy for free. It will only cost you less than $10 per year, so grab your website name now before someone else takes it off you.

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

2. Professional Formation Service

   See all those steps I walked through on registering an LLC in Virginia?

   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.

   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 $100. Going the DIY route means that you’ll have to pay $100 in fees anyway, so why not free up your time working on the 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 with their $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 start, then you can use this special link to go and create your LLC.

3.  Hiring an Attorney

   The third option for forming an LLC is to hire an attorney to assist you with the process. An attorney will typically provide the most individualized service, yet the most expensive. To incorporate a corporation or LLC, attorneys usually charge between $1,000 and $1,500.

   One way to get an attorney for free is by signing up for the 7-day free trial of RocketLawyer through my link in the description below. You can create your free account and immediately get great access to real lawyers to help with your business formation. This includes:
   
   -a free 30-minute consultation with a lawyer,

   -and even asking your lawyer to review your documents for free.

   Hiring an attorney is your best bet if you want to be entirely hands-off in the process, designing a new product, or working in a potentially risky field. Depending on the industry and your circumstance, the attorney will advise you and assist you in discovering all potential concerns. However, if you are opening just a typical LLC with low risk, I recommend just going to ZenBusiness for the most cost-effective LLC formation.

Summary

Now, I want to guide you on the next step to take when starting your LLC. So if you have chosen the DIY option, I recommend you check out this article which will help you pick the best bank accounts for your business to avoid commingling funds. 

But if you have chosen option 2 of using a professional formation service but want more information on ZenBusiness, check out this article where I have done an in-depth tutorial and review on them. 

So check it out, and I’ll see you in the next article.