Iowa LLC

Last updated on March 1, 2023

Limited liability companies in Iowa offer a variety of advantages to entrepreneurs. Here's how to form and maintain an active LLC in the state of Iowa.

$50

Formation fees

$10

Name reservation fees

$30

Biennial report fees

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What is an LLC?

Limited Liability Company

LLC is a business entity in the U.S that provides limited liability to its members. It has characteristics from both corporation and sole proprietorship. LLCs are permitted under State statutes of each US state.

Limited liability

Personal assets are protected for people with limited liability when they are sued.

Corporation

A business entity that can issue shares and give limited liability to shareholders.

Members

Owners of an LLC are referred to as members. They own membership interest in the LLC.

Sole proprietorship

Where an individual engages in business activity without formal organization.

Types of LLC

Depends on the number of members and whether it has elected to change its IRS classification.

Single-member LLC

Has only a single member. IRS considers it as a sole proprietorship for tax purposes.

LLC as C-corp

Owners of an LLC are referred to as members. They own membership interest in the LLC.

Multi-member LLC

Has two members. IRS considers it as a partnership for tax purposes.

LLC as S-corp

A special election for a maximum of 100 US shareholders.

Actions

Here are some possible actions to take in an Iowa LLC. Click below to read in detail:

How to form an LLC in Iowa?

Follow these 7 steps:

1. Name your LLC

Think of a list of names for your business that your customers would find appealing. Show it to your friends and some customers and get their feedback. If you already have a few names in mind, great.

To check if those names are available in the state of Iowa, go to the official entity search tool on the Secretary of State website. It’s free to search.

You can reserve a name with the state, by paying reservation fees. The reserved name will be expired after a specified duration. If you are filing Certificate of Organization, you need not reserve a name separately.

Reservation fees

$50

Reservation duration

1 hour

Every LLC needs to be identified with a designator. The name of a limited liability company must contain the words “limited liability company” or “limited company” or the abbreviation “L.L.C.”, “LLC”, “L.C.”, or “LC”. “Limited” may be abbreviated as “Ltd.”, and “company” may be abbreviated as “Co.”

Make sure you follow LLC naming guidelines specified by Iowa state as per Iowa Code §489.108. This includes not using names similar to existing companies, etc.

2. Get a mailing address

If you have an office or factory in Iowa, you can use that as your official company address. Note that this address will be made public. You can even use your home address as your official company address. But that may not give you privacy.

Alternatively, pick a virtual office address. This way, you pay a company for a street address and they handle all your mailing. You can then give this address to the state.

3. Hire a registered agent

Every Iowa LLC requires a registered agent in the state. If you are a resident of Iowa, you can be the registered agent for your LLC. However, your details will be made public and you must be available during all business hours to receive service of process.

Alternatively, there are companies that provide registered agent services for a fee. Pay for their service and you get to keep your privacy and ability to freely move around without worrying about compliance.

4. File Certificate of Organization

Once you have a registered agent and an official office address, you can go ahead with filing your Certificate of Organization. You can file it online on Iowa Secretary of State website.

Filing fees

$50

Processing time

1 hour

Address

Lucas State Office Building

321 E 12th St

Des Moines, IA 50319

5. Create an Operating Agreement

Operating agreements are not mandatory in Iowa, but it is highly recommended. There are websites where you can customize operating agreements to your needs. Create and get it signed by your LLC members.

6. Get Employer Identification Number (EIN)

EIN is used by IRS to identify business entities. You create an EIN for free at IRS website.

7. Open a business bank account

It is important to separate your business and personal transactions. There are several ways to create business bank accounts. You can definitely open business checking accounts at traditional banks like Chase, Wells Fargo, etc. There are several other modern banking solutions that offer plenty of benefits to entrepreneurs.

Entity name

Every LLC should have a unique name in Iowa. Iowa maintains a list of names of entities in the state. Go through it to check if your chosen name is available.

Search for names

Go to the official website of the Iowa business entities search tool to see if the name you want is available.

Searching fee

Free

Reservation

You can reserve a name for your LLC for a specific duration by paying reservation fees to the Iowa business services. You will have to file your LLC formation documents within this period to keep the name. Alternatively, you can directly go ahead with the LLC formation without any reservation. That's fine too.

Reservation fee

$40

Reservation period

120 days

LLC naming guidelines

The name you choose for your LLC must the official naming guidelines.

Here are some of the guidelines in simple language:

  • 1

    The name of a limited liability company must contain the words “limited liability company” or “limited company” or the abbreviation “L.L.C.”, “LLC”, “L.C.”, or “LC”. “Limited” may be abbreviated as “Ltd.”, and “company” may be abbreviated as “Co.”

  • 2

    Don’t include terms that indicate that you are doing an activity that you are not authorised to do.

  • 3

    Your name should be ‘distinguishable’ in the Secretary of State records. Adding a punctuation or ‘the’ does not make it distinguishable.

  • 4

    Don’t use words that makes it seems like you are a governmental entity or has an affiliation.

Certificate of Organization

In Iowa, Certificate of Organization is the form you file with the Secretary of State to form an LLC. It contains the articles of formation for the LLC.

Filing Certificate of Organization

There are a couple of ways to file

  • File it online on Iowa Secretary of State website

    Visit

  • Mail a form to the state department

    PDF

Address

Lucas State Office Building

321 E 12th St

Des Moines, IA 50319

Online fee

$50

Online processing time

1 hour

Mailing fee

$50

Mail processing time

2 weeks

Note

Since Iowa does not have a standard Certificate of Organization to file by mail, you should draft one based on the guidelines mentioned in the PDF.

LLC Biennial Report

Every LLC has to file this report in Iowa to stay compliant with the state laws.

Filing Biennial Report

Iowa LLC is expected to file this report biennially

  • File it online on Iowa Secretary of State website

    Visit

Online fee

$30

Online processing time

instant

Failure to pay

Iowa does not charge late fees if you miss your filing deadline but may administratively dissolve your LLC after a few months for failure to file a biennial report.

Registered agent

A registered agent is an agent of your LLC on whom any notice, process or demand may be served. Every LLC in Iowa needs to have a registered agent located in the state.

Requirements

According to Iowa Code § 489.14203:

  • 1

    Registered agent can be an individual or an authorised organisation.

  • 2

    Registered agent must have a street address where they can personally receive service of process.

  • 3

    Office of Registered agent cannot be just a mailbox service of a telephone answering service.

EIN

An Employer Identification Number, also known as Federal Tax Identification Number, is used to identify a business entity.

Who must have an EIN?

  • Single member LLC elected to be taxed as C-corp or S-corp

  • Single member LLC with an employee

  • All multi-member LLC

How to get an EIN?

  • Visit IRS website to apply for an EIN online.

    Visit

  • Alternatively, you can mail or fax Form SS-4 to the IRS

    PDF

Address

Internal Revenue Service


Attn: EIN Operation


Cincinnati, OH 45999


Fax: 855-641-6935

Operating agreement

Operating agreement is an internal business document that outlines the general rules and policies of the LLC.

Importance

It is not a legally mandatory document. However, it is recommended to have one since many courts, banks and financial institutions use it for verification. It is also nice to clearly outline the duties and relations between multiple members of an LLC—so you avoid any confusion in the future.

Format

There is no ‘required’ format for an operating agreement. You can include anything reasonable in it. In general, it has the following sections:

Basic Business information

Contains name, address, names and details of members, purpose

Member relationship

Contains membership interest, decision making process, powers, duties.

Membership transfer

Contains details on how to add or remove members and managers.

Accounting and tax

Contains details on how company records and distributions are maintained.

Dissolution

How to dissolve, wind up and terminate, due process to follow and exceptions.

LLC in Iowa

Similar to LLCs, there are other business entities that are considered by businesses in Iowa.

Iowa Business search

Iowa LLC add member

Iowa LLC remove member

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Why we like StartGlobal?

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StartGlobal: Legal + Taxes + Bookkeeping for solopreneurs

Product

For small businesses, managing taxes, accounting and everything legal is just a pain. Nobody wants to do it, but they have to. Instead of working with CPAs, attorneys and others separately, Start brings all of them under a single subscription. It’s just smooth.

Team

I know the team behind StartGlobal very well. It’s a very hardworking group of individuals who are genuinely passionate about small businesses. They are backed by successful founders like Balaji Srinivasan, Biz Stone(Twitter) and others.

Price

Getting a CPA or attorney is a matter of thousands of dollars. It’s just unfair to pay so much when you’re a small business. Start has a single subscription that covers it all. It is a definite money saver.

$599 one-time