The first step in filling out the Missouri Operating Agreement is to pick a business name.

You are first asked whether you have a name reservation number. This refers to the ability to reserve an LLC name with the state. Reserving a name isn’t required and most people won’t have a name reservation before forming their LLC.

Before picking a name, there are a couple of requirements to be aware of.

1. The name of your LLC must not be too similar to the name of another business entity already registered with the state of Missouri. You can verify name availability by doing a Missouri LLC name search with the Missouri Secretary of State to be sure the LLC name is available.

2. The name of the LLC must include one of the following entity identifiers at the end of the business name:
– Limited Liability Company
– Limited Liability Co
– Limited Company
– LLC
– L L C
– L.L.C.
– L. L. C.
– LC
– L C
– L.C.
– L. C.

While the Secretary of State page only shows “Limited Liability Company,” “Limited Company,” “LC,” “L.C.,” “L.L.C.,” or “LLC”, you can actually choose from all of the above.

The name can’t include an entity identifier of another entity, such as a corporation or Limited Partnership (LP or Ltd.)

3. Last, you may not use words that could imply the business is a part of a state or federal government agency, like the name of a state department, FBI, or Treasury.

Also, unless additional paperwork is filed with the state, a business can’t use words such as bank, university, or any licensed professional such as an attorney or doctor unless the business is licensed to provide those services and a licensed individual is part of the LLC.

Enter the LLC name, including the identifier, to continue.

This step allows you to select how long the LLC will exist. Most LLCs will choose perpetual as they don’t have a specified date to close the business. Entering a date is more often for investment-related entities.

The next step provides information regarding whether the LLC is Manager-Managed or Member-Managed.

A Member-Managed LLC is involved with the day-to-day operations of the business. Many LLCs are operated and run by the owner, in which case would be Member-Managed.

A Manager-Managed LLC refers to a Limited Liability Company that hires a manager to run the business, similar to hiring a CEO of a corporation.

Choose from one of the choices and move to step 4.

In this section, you will enter some basic information regarding the LLC’s purpose.

A little detail on what the business will do is necessary, but keeping this statement somewhat generic allows the purpose of the business to change and not need to amend the Articles of Organization later.

Related: How to Answer the Business Purpose Statement 

While you cannot back-date the formation date of your LLC, you can delay the start date of the LLC.

If you want the LLC to start on today’s date, leave this field blank, otherwise enter a date less than 90 days in the future to start.

In Missouri, an LLC can elect to be a series LLC, which is essentially multiple LLCs under one umbrella. This is an optional section.

Related: What is a series LLC?

Every Missouri LLC must have a registered agent who is responsible for receiving legal documents on behalf of the LLC. The registered agent must either be a Missouri resident or a business with a physical office in the state of Missouri.

You can either appoint an “Individual” such as yourself as the registered agent or appoint someone else, such as a friend, or family member, or an “Organization” such as a professional registered agent service.

The main requirements to be a Missouri registered agent are that they are an adult and be at a physical address during normal business hours.

Related: Should you be the registered agent?

The Organizer is someone who is involved with the LLC formation.  The Organizer may or may not be a member, such as a mentor, attorney, or accountant, but any of the initial member(s) could be listed as an organizer.

Select individual if a person is acting as organizer or organization if the organizer is operating as an agent of a company, such as an LLC formation service.

At least one person or organization is needed to register as the LLC organizer and will list a name and physical address (PO Boxes aren’t allowed.

This is an optional section, and here you can enter the principal office address of the LLC. The principal office address may be, but is not required to be, the actual place of the business to the physical street address, or the main location where the business records are kept.

A physical address must be used, as P.O. Boxes are not acceptable.

Next, review the submitted information to ensure it is correct. If it is, the organizer will click on the box certifying the above information is correct.

The organizer(s) will again certify that the information provided in the Missouri LLC Articles of Organization are correct.

After agreeing, it’s time to pay the state filing fee and submit the Articles of Organization to the Missouri Secretary of State!