Starting a LLC in Missouri, now what?

[Emsterdad]

Hello, im a first time business owner (starting a LLC this week) that need to invoice customers in Canada and the US. I was wondering if anyone here has any experience recieving payment?

I have a attorny, and a CPA så taxes and the startup of the LLC are taken care of.

What i need to know is:

1. What banks provide good corp accounts/services?
2. How do i start sending out invoices/how does the process work?
3. Anything else i should think of?

My goal is to be able to send my primary customer an invoice in 2 weeks, get it paid and be able to withdraw money and drink beer (well maybe not beer but you get the idea).

Ps. The LLC will have me as only employee and owner, and i do from home consulting making between $4-$6.000 a month/pre-tax. Ds

[SlowHabit]

Shouldn't you be asking your attorney and CPA on this?

[BradleyT]

Get QuickBooks Pro 2007 - it has invoicing.

[Emsterdad]

Yeah i should ask my CPA, but its gonna take like a week until i meed him, just thought id get a head-start.

Quickbooks pro? electronic invoicing or print-and send? What i want to know most is how the "process of invoicing" is and what i need to send-invoice/recieve-payment.

Im from Sweden and have VERY little knowledge of how companies work in the US, as far as invoicing, banking etc.

[Emsterdad]

Thx for your input by the way, im gonna check out Quickbooks.

[BradleyT]

Depends on the company really but some do e-mail, some do fax, some do snail mail. Fax or snail mail are probably still the most popular.

[Alltimed]

As a fellow Missourian I will offer some advice. If you are in an area with Commerce Bank I have been very satisfied with their business checking account. Also, I believe Microsoft has a small business accounting software that a friend of mine raves about. Not quite sure on the name but he seems to love its functionality.

[lgas]

An invoice is just a bill. The process is you send the bill to your customer and they pay you. There's no specific format it has to be in, but most people use quickbooks if they are small or some enterprise ERP system if they are big, so they all end up looking pretty similar. They say who the invoice is from, who it is to, what services were rendered at what prices, and what the total amount due is, and what the terms are (due on receipt, net 30, etc).

If you are working with a company that has issued a purchase order, you should reference the PO number on the invoice. You should also include a unique ID on each invoice, so you can refer to a specific invoice. If you use Quickbooks it automatically generates an invoice number like "974-1001" which would help mask the fact that you are a small shop and this is your first invoice -- if it weren't for the fact that everyone else uses Quickbooks too so they know what's up.

Sometimes people get fancy and include information about previous payments and total contract prices and remaining amount to be billed, etc. but that's all basically up to you. Ultimately you just use the invoice to make the client aware how much they need to pay you and by when.

[Emsterdad]

Ok. But basically (from what i have figured) all i need to have is:

1. A registered LLC with Tax License
2. A Bank account (take all my papers and walk to a bank?)
3. Quickbooks 2007 (to create nice looking invoices, and send out to customers).
4. Wait for the money to reach my account

Correct, or am I missing something? Is it this easy to start a LLC and be up and running?

Thanks for all the help!

[IRuleYouHard]

I am looking to start one of my own. I would like more info on the whole process of starting an LLC if anyone wants to help a guy out [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]