Advisory
Business formation and entity selection
LLC or S corporation, sole proprietor or partnership — the choice has tax consequences for as long as the business exists, and it is far cheaper to make it correctly than to unwind it later.
✓ Entity selection with the numbers run✓ Formation and EIN handled✓ S corp election filed on time
The internet will form an LLC for you in ten minutes for ninety-nine dollars. What it will not do is tell you whether an LLC is the right answer, whether to elect S corporation treatment, what that election will cost you in payroll compliance, or that New York requires an LLC to publish notice in two newspapers for six consecutive weeks and will suspend your authority to do business if you skip it.
We run the actual numbers for your expected profit before recommending a structure, and we say plainly when the simplest answer is the right one. A sole proprietorship is the correct entity for a great many businesses in their first year.
The decision, honestly
Four structures, and the practical trade-off in each. The right answer changes as profit grows, and revisiting it is a normal thing to do.
Sole proprietor
No formation cost, no separate return, no liability protection. Self-employment tax on everything. Right for a great many first-year businesses.
Single-member LLC
Liability protection, still taxed on Schedule C by default. New York's publication requirement applies and costs real money in this county.
S corporation, or an LLC electing S treatment
Saves self-employment tax on distributions once profit is comfortably above a reasonable salary. Costs you payroll compliance and a separate return. There is a break-even and we will calculate yours.
Partnership or multi-member LLC
Right when there are genuinely multiple owners. The operating agreement matters more than the entity type, and allocation language written without tax advice causes years of trouble.
What formation actually involves in New York
Name availability and reservation
Checked with the Department of State before anything is filed.
Articles of Organization or Incorporation
Filed with New York State, with the registered agent designation.
The publication requirement
LLCs must publish in two Queens newspapers for six weeks and file a Certificate of Publication. Budget for it — it is not small in this county.
Federal EIN
Obtained the same day.
S corporation election
Form 2553 federally and CT-6 for New York. There is a deadline and missing it costs you a year.
State tax registrations
Withholding, unemployment insurance, and sales tax where applicable.
Operating agreement or bylaws
Reviewed for the tax provisions. We work alongside your attorney rather than replacing one.
Opening books
Chart of accounts, accounting method election, and the basis and capital accounts set correctly from day one.
Formation fees
Our professional fee. State filing fees and newspaper publication costs are separate and paid to third parties.
| Entity selection consultation Break-even analysis, in writing, credited against formation |
$350 |
| LLC formation Articles, EIN, registrations, publication coordinated |
$950 |
| Corporation formation Articles, EIN, registrations, organizational minutes |
$1,150 |
| S corporation election Form 2553 and New York CT-6 |
$275 |
| Late S election relief Rev. Proc. 2013-30 reasonable-cause filing |
from $650 |
| New business startup package Formation, elections, books opened, first-year planning session |
$1,850 |
General information, current for the 2026 filing season and not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Tax law changes, and the answer for your situation may differ. Speak to us before acting on anything you read here.
Questions
Business Formation — the questions we are asked most
Do I need an LLC to start a business?
No. You need one if you have meaningful liability exposure or if a client or landlord requires it. A great many businesses are correctly run as sole proprietorships for the first year or two, and forming too early is a real cost.
What is the New York LLC publication requirement?
New York requires a new LLC to publish notice in two newspapers designated by the county clerk for six consecutive weeks, then file a Certificate of Publication. In Queens the cost is meaningful. Failing to do it suspends the LLC's authority to do business in the state.
When must I file the S corporation election?
Within two months and fifteen days of the start of the tax year it should take effect, or at any point in the preceding year. Miss it and there is late-election relief available with reasonable cause, which we file regularly but which is not automatic.
Can you be my registered agent?
We do not act as registered agent, but we will point you to a service that does it properly for a reasonable annual fee.
Related
Often needed alongside this
Advisory
QuickBooks Setup
QuickBooks set up properly, migrated cleanly, or repaired after somebody else set it up — plus training for whoever does the entry.
The first conversation is free
Talk to a CPA before you decide anything
Twenty minutes on the phone or across a desk on Roosevelt Avenue. Bring last year's return if you have one — most of what we need in order to quote you is already in it.