Can a CPA Set Up an LLC for a Client?

As a seasoned accounting professional, you have earned your clients’ trust and respect. Because your business clients know they can count on you to handle their accounting and tax matters, they may wonder about other ways you can assist them. For instance, someone might ask if you can help them set up an LLC or handle other business filings.

Fortunately, that’s a perfectly feasible request for CPAs to fulfill. No legal requirement exists for business owners to ask an attorney to file their business formation or compliance documents. If entrepreneurs don’t feel confident about preparing and submitting their own filings, they may ask another trusted resource—such as an accountant—to help them.

How Accountants Can Benefit Setting Up Business Entities

Your CPA firm has much to gain from adding business formation and compliance filings to your offerings:

• Increase customer loyalty and retention – By providing additional services, you will reinforce your role as a trusted and reliable resource. The more you can do for your clients, the more value they’ll find in your business relationship, and the more likely they will stay with you as their company grows and evolves.
• Bring in additional revenue – Accounting firms typically experience a drop in revenue after the busy income tax preparation months have passed. Adding business formation and compliance services generates a new revenue stream with year-round income potential.
• Enjoy a competitive advantage – Your CPA firm will stand out from the competition if you offer a more comprehensive portfolio of business services than other accountants. By handling business filings, you’ll set yourself apart and attract more clients because you can address more of your customers’ needs.

What Other Business Filings Can a CPA Handle for Clients

Filing LLC registration forms is just one of many types of filings you can help clients with to save them time and make it easier for them to start and grow their businesses.

Other formation and compliance services to consider include:

• Incorporation – If your clients want to incorporate as a C Corporation or other Corporate entity, you can help them with their business registration filing.
• S Corporation Election – You can help clients formed as a C Corporation or LLC apply for S Corporation tax treatment.
• BOI Report – Most newly created and existing registered business entities are subject to the Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirement (which began in 2024). You can assist your clients by completing and submitting the report on their behalf.
• Employer Identification Number (EIN) – You can help your clients by filing their application to obtain their federal tax ID number.
• Doing Business As (DBA) Registration – Assist clients by filing their fictitious name registration forms.
• State Payroll Tax Registration – You can help clients who have employees register for their state income tax (SIT) and state unemployment insurance (SUI) accounts.
• Sales and Use Tax Registration – If clients must pay sales or use tax, you can help them register for those tax accounts at the state or local level.
• Initial and Annual Reports – If clients must submit an initial report or annual report to their state, you can handle those filings.
• Articles of Amendment – Clients must notify the state of major changes to their business entity — such as changing their company name, moving to a new location, shifting the business activities that the company engages in, adding or removing LLC members or a corporation’s directors, etc.
• Registered Agent – Designate a registered agent for your clients’ entities.

How to Get Started Offering Business Formation and Compliance Services to Your Clients

I understand if you’re thinking, “This all sounds great, but I don’t know the first thing about preparing those filings for my business clients?”

Don’t let that prevent you from the opportunity to serve your clients more fully and generate additional revenue for your firm. Consider partnering with a business formation and compliance services company with specialized expertise in handling filings in all 50 states.

The CorpNet Partner Program, for example, gives you two ways to offer formation and compliance services with minimal effort on your part and full support from our filings specialists:

1. Reseller Program – We give you a wholesale discount on our services and you resell them under your own brand at whatever price points you choose—while we serve as your silent fulfillment partner behind the scenes. We do all the work, and you get all the accolades from your clients! Our intuitive portal and dashboard make the process simple and convenient.
2. Referral Program – When you refer clients to us and they sign up for our services, you get a commission for the sale. We collaborate directly with your clients and handle everything from start to finish.

You can even participate in both programs if you’d like to resell certain services while referring clients directly to us for others.

Having a fulfillment partner like CorpNet enables you to expand the breadth of your services without the time and cost of intensive training, infrastructure changes, or excessive workload.

Ready to Be a Hero to Your Clients and Boost Your Revenue?

Become a CorpNet Partner! We offer:

• No cost to participate
• Two ways to participate: Reseller or a Referral partner—choose one or both!
• Support from a dedicated CorpNet account manager with expertise in handling business filings in all 50 states
• Turn-key marketing resources for promoting your business formation and compliance services
• CorpNet Compliance Portal with a dashboard for staying on top of your clients’ compliance responsibilities and due dates