[TriLUG] Consultants ... business license?

Greg Brown gwbrown1 at gmail.com
Thu Dec 13 15:40:14 EST 2007


I'm a big fan of setting up a LLC.  As the "limited liability" name implies
it helps protect your personal assets in case something very bad happens.  I
used a lawyer by the name of John Cook to set up my LLC.  He was a good
lawyer, and thorough.

Greg

On Dec 13, 2007 3:24 PM, Alan Porter <porter at trilug.org> wrote:

>
> >  I am adding a couple of clients to my after-work schedule. One of them
> > would like me to have business license in order to sign a support
> contract
> > with me. This may be a dumb question, but where do I begin this task?
> I'd
> > appreciate suggestions regarding getting/having a license? This is my
> first
> > foray into being my own boss.
> >
>
> It sounds to me like he wants you to have some sort of business
> structure, and not necessarily a "license" (which is required by
> some cities in order to do certain types of business).
>
> You can:
>
> (1) be a sole proprietor:
> - Working under your own name.
> - Working under an alias (fill out a "doing business as" form at
> the county registrar of deeds, using your own SSN.
>
> You'll file your income in schedule C of your personal 1040.
> There is no shield for liability. It would be easy for someone
> to sue you personally for something your company did.
>
> (2) form a corporation:
> - S-corp, simple, fill out a form at the NC Sec of State
> - LLC, same, but costs a bit more, differences are subtle
> - C-corp, costs a lot, usually only for large businesses.
>
> You'll file a separate tax return. There is some shield for
> liability. It's harder for someone to take your house for some
> boneheaded thing your employees do (but it can still be done).
>
>
> Alan
>
>
>
>
>
> .
>
>
>
>
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