Saturday, March 21, 2009

LLC Agreements: Why They Help Build Your Business

By Amy McDaniel

As an LLC does business, there will be situations where other business or government parties will insist on reviewing its llc operating agreement. Without one in place or if you do not have an updated one, there will be business delays or potentially loss of business deals.

The following discussion outlines a few major situations where LLC agreements are typically required:

Member Information

The LLC Agreement is where the identity of the members of the limited liability company is established. If a business party needs proof of ownership of your business, they will require a review of the official LLC operating agreement. Accordingly, make sure you keep up to date records of the name, current address and how much each member owns.

Evidence of Capital Contributions

Ownership of a limited liability company is often granted in exchange for cash, property or services. The operating agreement provides evidence of what has been exchanged for the issuance of membership interests.

In financial and strategic business activity or for accounting and tax purposes, there may be a need for other parties to see evidence of what was contributed to the business in exchange for ownership units.

Identity of the Decision Makers

The LLC Agreement establishes a management structure and also includes what rules the LLC and its members must comply with in order to ensure the validity of the manager's appointments. A third party will want proof that the person he or she is speaking with is properly authorized to speak and act on behalf of the LLC business.

Transactional Authority

This is the most important third party purpose of LLC Agreements. Parties who want to do business with your limited liability company will sometimes want or need to see proof that the transaction they are entering into with the LLC is validly authorized.

The LLC agreement sets forth how the business becomes authorized to make business decisions and take action. In addition to determining who has authority on behalf of the LLC, the agreement should also have provisions that set forth what specific steps must happen for authority to be obtained. - 15246

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