What is actually at stake
Filing your LLC yourself is not risky. Filing it carelessly is.
The question is not whether you are capable of completing a form. It is whether the specific things that go wrong would go wrong for you - and what each one costs to put right.
On file
Factors, and what each one exposes you to
The name is rejected
A designator that does not match the state's rules, or a name too close to one already registered.
Usually the filing fee and a restart, not a disaster. Most states will not refund a rejected filing, so it is a second fee and a second wait.
Your address goes on the record
Naming yourself as registered agent puts a physical address in a public, searchable database.
Permanent and hard to undo - the record persists in aggregators long after a state filing changes it. This is the factor most likely to be worth paying to avoid.
The annual report is missed
No reminder, no calendar entry, and a deadline that arrives a year after anyone was thinking about it.
Late fees first, then delinquent status, then administrative dissolution. Reinstatement is a separate filing with its own cost.
The operating agreement is a template nobody read
Most formation packages include one. With more than one member, the default terms are the thing that matters.
Invisible until there is a disagreement, and expensive at exactly that moment. Neither route solves this; only a lawyer does.
You operate where you are not registered
Forming in one state and working in another, which is more common than it sounds.
Back fees and penalties in the second state, and in many of them an inability to bring suit there until it is put right.
Read more in Can Filing an LLC Wrong Cost You Money Later?, What Are the Most Common Errors When Registering an LLC on Your Own? and What Compliance Deadlines Do People Miss When They DIY an LLC?.
Fees and deadlines
What the states actually charge
California
- Articles of Organization filing fee $70.00 ca.gov
- Statement of Information fee $20.00 ca.gov
- FTB annual LLC tax $800 per year ca.gov
More in Are There Risks to Registering Your California LLC Yourself?
Florida
- New LLC total filing cost $125.00 ($100 filing + $25 registered agent) fl.gov
- Annual report fee $138.75 fl.gov
- Annual report received after May 1 $538.75 (a $400 late penalty) fl.gov
More in Are There Risks to Registering Your Florida LLC on Your Own?
Georgia
- Articles of Organization fee $110.00 ($100 filing + $10 service charge) ga.gov
- Annual registration fee $60.00 (online and paper) ga.gov
- Penalty for late filing of annual registration $25.00 ga.gov
More in What Mistakes Do People Make Filing a Georgia LLC Themselves?
New York
- Articles of Organization filing fee $200.00 ny.gov
- Biennial Statement fee $9.00 ny.gov
- Annual filing fee on Form IT-204-LL $25 minimum, up to $4,500 by NY source gross income ny.gov
More in Is the NY LLC Newspaper Publication Rule Hard to Do without Help?
Texas
- Certificate of Formation filing fee $300.00 texas.gov
- Assumed name certificate fee $25.00 state.tx.us
More in Are There Risks to Registering Your Texas LLC Yourself?
Federal
- An EIN is free directly from the IRS $0 (free) irs.gov
Asked and answered
Start from the question you have
- What are the most common errors when registering an LLC on your own?
- What could go wrong if I form my LLC myself instead of hiring someone?
- What compliance deadlines do people miss when they DIY an LLC?
- Are there risks to registering my California LLC myself?
- Are there risks to registering my Florida LLC on my own?
- What mistakes do people make filing a Georgia LLC themselves?
- Is the NY LLC newspaper publication rule hard to do without help?
- Are there risks to registering my Texas LLC myself?