What is Pennsylvania LLC Certificate of Organization?
For you to legally run your business with the state, you have to register it. For starting an LLC in PA, the registration takes place once you file your PA LLC Certificate of Organization (Articles of Organization). In this document, you provide the authorities with everything they need to know about you. Everything from your name to the number of people in the organization to how you will pay your taxes go into this document. That way, if they want to reach you, they can look at the document, figure out where you are and come to you. You can think of it as the sure way to get your operations going and setting your budding LLC up for success.
Do I have to file an LLC Certificate of Organization?
It might seem like a lot of work to making it official in Pennsylvania and you may feel tempted to skip this part and go straight to leasing a business space. However, this would not be a good idea. Let’s cover some reasons why.
- First, without this document, you would not be operating legally. That means that if something goes wrong, you will be in violation of the law. Say for example someone has an accident in your place of work and the police show up. The first thing they will want to know is who owns the business and they can even ask for proof of ownership. They will not be looking at lease papers, but rather, the registration. Without this, you can find yourself in a lot of trouble.
- Secondly, without formal PA LLC registration, investors and other partners cannot look you up online. They will enter your name and nothing will come up, which will scare them away. Very few investors will be willing to work with a company that cuts corners. They will figure that if you’re okay with cheating the government, you can also swindle them of their money. Having the right papers is essential to attracting more people.
- Thirdly, you will have a hard time accessing loans. You see, for you to get business type loans, you need to have a business bank account. The only way to get such an account is by providing the bank with your registration details and you will not have these in your case. It means you will be stuck with a personal account whose loan limit is quite low. Growing your business with such limits will prove to be quite the hard task.
- Fourthly, you will not have protection. Whatever you will be doing will be illegal and you can lose what you have made as well as what belongs to you personally. With an LLC Pennsylvania, you can enjoy protection but only if you have good standing with the Pennsylvania Department of State. And for you to have this, you must be registered and must be compliant with the law. Skipping one step means you will have no protection in court and you can watch all your savings go down the drain in the event of a lawsuit.
If not for any other reason, it’s to be on the right side of the law. Unless you want to keep looking over your shoulder every day, it’s better to get things done right from the start and to enjoy more rights. Plus, it will help you organize your activities even better because you will have more opportunities to liaise with professionals. Is there a reason why not getting registered would work in your favor? None at all. Let’s see how you can avoid these worst-case scenarios.
Preparing to File Your Pennsylvania Certificate of Organization
As you work towards getting your LLC officially on record to open up more opportunities, you have to ensure you get every detail right. It’s easy to make one mistake and find yourself having to repeat the process. To help you avoid this, we have come up with a list of items you must include:
How to create Pennsylvania Certificate of Organization
To conduct business in Pennsylvania, you will be required to submit two files, both of which you must fill correctly.
1. Certificate of Organization
This, being the main document, should contain:
- Your business name: please note that this should be in line with the regulations. If you have questions about it, please refer to the guidelines to avoid having to file the Certificate of Organization with the state twice. Also, make sure that nobody else has reserved or used the name.
- Your point of contact address: if you will be receiving your business documents, you can leave this as the business address. If not, make sure you include the address of the person or company you have assigned this role. Without this, your document will not go through.
- The name of each organizer of the business accompanied by a signature from each person named under this section:
- Effective Date: it refers to the date you want the business to be active. It can be the date that you get your approval or it can be sometime in the future.
- The purpose of your business: the activities should be legal. For people offering professional services, please note that you need to have licensing to accommodate such activities.
- Description: Follow through with a breakdown of what you will be doing. It does not have to be lengthy but should provide the authorities with enough summary. For example; interior design services.
- Your tax ID: Depending on the number of people in the company and whether you have hired people, you may need to apply for this number.
2. Docketing Statement
An additional Docketing Statement should show:
- The business name;
- The name and address of your point of contact;
- The purpose of the venture;
- Your tax ID;
- When your fiscal year will end.
Filing Options
With both documents ready, you can go ahead and file them using:
Online
For fast completion, you can create an account online using Pennsylvania’s online filing system and go through each of the prompts, ensuring that you do not leave out any pertinent details. Make your payment and submit the papers.
By mail application
Alternatively, you can fill the forms annually and send them to:
Pennsylvania Department of State
Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations P.O. Box 8722
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8722
FAX
You can also fax them to (717) 705-0927 or (717) 783-2244
In Person
If you would like to visit the state office and make the delivery, this also works. However, we advise that you check when the offices will be open before taking your forms to:
Department of State Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations
401 North Street, Room 206
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Please note that you will pay $125 each time you make a submission. To avoid paying this amount and having to repeat the process, go over your documents carefully before sending them to the Department of State.