Legal Question in Business Law in Washington

Re: forming an llc online

I think you might be confusing apples and oranges.

Intuit and Quick Books are both accounting software, as far as I am familiar with them, and really are only a part of the formation process to the degree that accounting might be involved.

To form an LLC (or a corporation or limited partnership) you must file through the Corporations Division of the office of the (Washington) Secretary of State. An LLC may indeed be legally formed on line, but only through the website of the Secretary of State.

Now we come to that all important word in your question, "safely". It is a good idea to know why you want an LLC, as opposed to, for example, an S Corp. Both have pass through taxation, and both provide the owners with some protection from personal liability. However, they differ in how ownership is held, how ownership interest may be sold, and in many other ways. In addition, if you do not follow through with all the required formalities on any of these entities, you may lose the liability protection.

In other words, you can indeed form an LLC on line.

If Intuit and Quickbooks have developed software to produce formation documents, you should still be concerned as to whether they are specific to Washington State, and you should be sure you thoroughly understand what you are doing and why you are making whatever choices you are making. If you are unclear about these things, you may potentially save yourself a lot of grief (and money) down the road if you consult an attorney to help you understand the process. This need not be an expensive proposition, particularly if you are trying to form a micro-business.