Before you take on your first paying client, a new LLC needs five things in place: a registered address, an EIN, a business bank account, a signed contract or engagement letter, and a ready-to-send invoice. Skip any one of these and you either cannot legally operate the way you think you can, or you look unprepared to the person about to pay you. None of the five take more than an afternoon to sort out.
Why this list matters before, not after
Most of these items are easy to put off because nothing forces you to have them on day one. You can technically form an LLC, get a client, and send an invoice from a personal email with no bank account or EIN in sight. The problem shows up later: a client asks for a W-9 and you scramble for an EIN, a bank wants to see a contract before it will treat a large deposit as business income, or a dispute happens and you realize you never wrote down the payment terms you agreed to on a phone call. Each of these five items is cheap and fast to set up before you have a client waiting on you, and slow and stressful to fix once you do.
1. A registered address that is not a liability
Your LLC needs an address on file for formation paperwork, and most states also require a registered agent address that can accept legal mail during business hours. Using your home address works, but it becomes public record and gets mailed to you by every data broker and marketing list that scrapes state filings. A virtual business address or a commercial registered agent service solves both problems for a predictable monthly cost. We covered the difference between the two options, and when each one actually applies, in virtual business address vs. registered agent. If a home address is your only option for now, a PO box for your LLC covers mail without covering the legal-agent requirement, worth knowing which gap it does and does not close.
2. An EIN, even if the IRS says you technically do not need one
A single-member LLC with no employees is not required by the IRS to have an Employer Identification Number, you can use your Social Security number instead. In practice, get the EIN anyway. The IRS’s own EIN application is free and takes about ten minutes online. Most banks require one to open a business account, most clients will ask for it on a W-9 before they cut you a check, and it keeps your SSN off contracts and invoices that could end up in someone else’s inbox.
3. A business bank account, separate from day one
Mixing personal and business money undoes the liability protection an LLC exists to give you, and it makes your first invoice look less credible to a client who might ask where their payment is going. We wrote a full breakdown of why this comes before your first invoice rather than after, and what it actually costs to set up, in do you need a business bank account before your first invoice. Short version: yes, and it takes a few days with the right documents in hand.
4. A signed contract or engagement letter before work starts
A verbal agreement or a friendly email thread is not a contract. SCORE, the SBA-partnered small business mentoring nonprofit, consistently advises new freelancers and small business owners to get scope, payment terms, and a deadline in writing before starting any paid work, precisely because disputes over what was agreed to are one of the most common reasons small businesses go unpaid. The contract does not need to be long. Scope of work, price, payment schedule, and what happens if the project changes covers most of what actually matters, and templates from a service like Rocket Lawyer or a simple one-page engagement letter you write yourself both work fine for early client work.
5. An invoice ready to send the day the work is done
Nothing slows down getting paid like realizing, after the work is finished, that you have not decided what your invoice should look like, where the payment details go, or what your invoice numbering scheme even is. Work these out before you need them. We put together a full walkthrough, including what to include and what to leave off, in your first invoice as a new LLC. From there, a free invoice generator or a proper invoicing tool gets you from finished work to a sent invoice in a few minutes instead of a few hours.
The one-afternoon checklist
- Registered address or registered agent on file, not your home if you can avoid it
- EIN applied for through IRS.gov, free and roughly ten minutes
- Business bank account opened, separate from personal accounts
- A one-page contract or engagement letter template ready to send to your first client
- An invoice template or tool picked out and ready to use
Ready to send invoice #1 the right way?
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Start Your Free TrialWho this checklist is for
This applies whether you are a solo freelancer forming an LLC for the first time or you are further along and realizing you skipped a step. It is built for people who are self-employed and taking on client work directly, not for LLCs that already have staff, a formal accounting setup, and an established client base. If that is you, most of this is already handled, and the gaps are usually smaller and more specific than a full five-item list.
Frequently asked questions
The IRS does not require it for a single-member LLC with no employees, you can file using your Social Security number instead. Most freelancers get one anyway because banks and clients ask for it, and it keeps your SSN off documents that leave your hands.
In most states, yes, as long as you are available at that address during business hours to accept legal mail. The tradeoff is that the address becomes public record. A virtual address or registered agent service keeps your home address private for a monthly fee.
No. A one-page engagement letter covering scope, price, payment schedule, and what happens if the project changes covers most early client work. What matters is having it in writing before work starts, not how formal it looks.
Nothing stops you technically, but the payment lands in a personal account, which mixes business and personal funds and weakens the liability separation your LLC is meant to provide. It also makes bookkeeping harder to untangle later.
Most new LLC owners can handle all five in a single afternoon: the EIN application takes about ten minutes online, a business bank account can often be opened same-day with the right documents, and a contract template and invoice tool are both ready to use immediately once chosen.
Get the invoicing part of this checklist done in one step.
Billbooks gives you invoice templates, quotes, and payment tracking without a spreadsheet. Free for 30 days, no credit card needed.
Start Your Free TrialSources: IRS, Apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) Online; SCORE, SBA-partnered small business mentoring resource on contracts and engagement letters for freelancers.
