The first thing to do in the North Dakota LLC formation process is to make sure the name you want is available, as each LLC name has to be different from other registered entity names in the state of North Dakota. If the name isn’t different and you can get consent from the registrant, you can still file to use it.

You are asked if you had previously reserved a name, and this is optional. If the name had not already been reserved, you would select “No” and then enter the name you would like to use.

An LLC name is required to include an entity designator at the end of the business name. The allowed designators in North Dakota include:
– Limited Liability Company
– LLC
– L.L.C.

If you haven’t verified already, be sure to do a North Dakota LLC name search with the Secretary of State to be sure the LLC name you want is available.

In this section, enter the street address, city, state, and zip code of the initial principal office.  The principal executive office is often a location where business activities typically take place or where company records are stored. Alternatively, this can be the address of the registered agent, which we will cover in a couple of steps.

This address must be a physical street address and not a PO Box.

In step 3, enter the LLC’s primary mailing address. This can be the address of the principal office; however, if you prefer that correspondence from the North Dakota Secretary of State go somewhere else, enter that address here.

Every LLC in North Dakota is required to have a registered agent. A North Dakota registered agent is a central point of contact to receive legal documents, tax notices, summons, subpoenas, etc., on behalf of the LLC.

The basic requirements to be a registered agent in North Dakota include:
– The agent must be a North Dakota resident at least 18 years of age or a commercial registered agent service that is registered with the Secretary of State.  See the Secretary of State’s Commercial Registered Agent List.
– The agent must have a physical address in the state (PO Boxes aren’t allowed).
– The agent must generally be available during normal business hours at the address provided to receive service of process.

Step 5 provides an option to decide when the LLC becomes active.

If you want the LLC to start on today’s date, choose the box that says, “When filed with the Secretary of State.”  Otherwise, select the box that says “On a Specific Date” and enter a date less than 90 days in the future to start.

The main reason for delaying the LLC start date is when the filing is being done close to the end of a calendar year, and the business will not have any activity until the start of the next year.  By delaying the start, you may have saved yourself from filing a tax return for a partial year.

In this section, you can indicate how long the LLC will remain in existence.  Most LLCs will choose a perpetual (indefinite) existence; however, some businesses (usually investment-related) will have a specific future closure date in mind.

In Article 7, you can either adopt the default statement “General Business” or provide some basic information about what the business does. It’s generally better to keep a broad statement in case the focus of the business ever changes.

Next, there is a drop-down for the designation of the Limited Liability Company. In this, you can either select “No special designation,” which is the most common, or “Series.” A Series LLC is a parent LLC that has one or more individual series under the umbrella of the LLC. The individual series are protected from liabilities and losses and are most commonly used for real estate investment businesses, where each property is protected in one series instead of having multiple LLCs for each property.

Next, enter the name and mailing address of the LLC organizer(s) who are forming the entity. This can be an individual, such as an LLC member or attorney, or a business, such as an LLC formation service.

At least one organizer must be entered.

After entering the organizer(s) information, the submitted information needs to be checked that it is correct, and then the organizer will sign.

Then payment is provided, and the Articles of Organization are submitted to the North Dakota Secretary of State.