Operating Agreement

I needed to create an Operating Agreement this morning for Green Cheeks, LLC. Wells Fargo requires a copy of one for their new business checking accounts. Honestly, I did not realize that I needed to make one, but it's not that hard to create a basic agreement, especially since I am the only owner.

The Operating Agreement is basically the written agreement among an LLC's members that governs the LLC's business practices, the members responsibilities and their financial duties. Wikipedia explains it well.

If you do not have one, the only complication you may face is that Texas "defaults" your operating agreement to one that they carry for businesses (same often applies to other states). I did not like that idea, especially since I do not know what the terms are... so I spent the hour to create my own.

I managed to find a great basic template for a Texas LLC. I have uploaded it to my GoogleDocs. All you have to do is click the link, copy the text and paste it into Word. Make sure that you fill in the blanks for:

• your company name,
  
• your name (and any other partner's names), and
  
• the date of formation which can be found on your Certificate of Filing (that you should've filed already with the Texas Office of the Secreatry of State).

Take the time to read through the document and make sure that it makes sense! The default wording is for a male owner of a single-member LLC. So if you are female, change "him" or "his" to "her." Or if you have multiple members (partners), then make sure you include all of their names and change the wording to reflect all parties!

Enjoy.