Start a Business
Start your business the right way.
Form your LLC or corporation, get your EIN, set up banking and payroll — then hand the books, filings and taxes to one team from day one. Most of our clients are right here in Florida; we also help founders starting a U.S. company from abroad.
Why this is different
Most formation services stop at the certificate.
There is a whole industry that will register a company for you in a few minutes and then vanish. The trouble is that registering the company is the easy part — the money and the risk are all in what comes next.
Payroll and its tax deposits. Florida sales tax. The annual report. Your federal return, and the quarterly estimates before it. These are the things that actually cost you if they slip — and a formation service that handed you a certificate and moved on is no help with any of them.
We form the company and then keep doing the books, the payroll, the filings and the returns. Same team the whole way, which means nobody has to be brought up to speed on your business in April.
The path
Six steps, in the order they actually happen.
Each one has a decision in it that is easy to get wrong and expensive to undo.
- 01
Choose your entity
LLC, S-corp or C-corp. For most Florida small businesses a single-member LLC — sometimes with an S-corp election once you're profitable — is the right start. If you have partners or plan to raise money, the answer changes. We walk you through it.
Find your entity type → - 02
Pick your state
If you live and operate in Florida, forming in Florida is almost always right — forming in Delaware or Wyoming just to seem sophisticated usually means paying fees in two states and registering back in Florida anyway. We tell you plainly when another state is worth it and when it isn't.
Compare the states → - 03
Form the company
Articles filed with the state, operating agreement or bylaws drafted, registered agent appointed. Done properly the first time, so you're not fixing the foundation later.
Start your intake → - 04
Get your EIN
Your federal tax ID — needed to open a bank account, run payroll and file taxes. For a U.S. owner we get it the same day online. (Starting from abroad? The route is different — see below.)
- 05
Set up banking & payroll
A business bank account, and payroll if you have employees — calculated, paid and filed, tax deposits included. This is where a company stops being paperwork and starts operating.
See bookkeeping & payroll → - 06
Stay compliant, every year
Florida's annual report (due May 1), sales tax if you sell taxable goods or services, and the federal and state filings that come with employees. We keep the calendar so a missed deadline never costs you.
Build your filing calendar →
Starting from outside the U.S.?
Founding from abroad? A few things change.
You do not need to be a citizen or a resident to own a U.S. company — but the path is genuinely different from a domestic founder's, and it is where the online guides get it wrong. We do this every week, in English or Spanish.
- The EIN takes a different route. The online assistant is closed to applicants without a U.S. taxpayer ID, so it goes in on paper — and it takes longer. We prepare and file it for you.
- Extra federal filings apply. A foreign-owned U.S. company has federal information reporting a U.S.-owned one does not — due even in a year with no tax and almost no activity. Missing them is expensive.
- Banking is the practical hurdle. Which banks and fintechs will onboard you depends on your nationality and whether you can visit. We tell you what is realistic for your passport, not a bank that will decline you.
- Whether you owe U.S. tax is fact-specific. A U.S. LLC owned by a non-resident is neither automatically tax-free nor automatically taxed. It turns on effectively-connected income — a real answer worth getting before you trade.
Free tools
Work out the answer before you pay anyone.
Including us. These give you the reasoning, not a lead-capture form with the answer behind it.
Questions
What founders ask us first
For most Florida small businesses, an LLC is the right start — simple, flexible, and it protects your personal assets. Once you're consistently profitable, electing S-corp treatment can cut self-employment tax. C-corps mainly suit companies raising venture capital. Our entity tool walks you through it, and we'll confirm the call before you file.
If you live and do business in Florida, form in Florida. The 'form in Delaware or Wyoming' advice you see online is aimed at venture-backed startups and privacy-focused holding companies — for a business that actually operates in Florida it usually just means paying fees in two states and registering in Florida anyway. Our state comparison lays out when another state genuinely helps.
Almost certainly yes — you need it to open a business bank account, run payroll, and file taxes. If you're a U.S. person with an SSN, we obtain it the same day online. If you're forming from abroad without a U.S. taxpayer ID, it takes a different route, which we handle for you.
It depends on what you sell. Florida charges sales tax on most goods and some services, plus your county's discretionary surtax. If you'll sell taxable items or have Florida employees, we register you with the Department of Revenue and handle the monthly filings — it's a separate agency from the one that forms your company.
Yes — and that is the whole point of using us rather than a file-and-disappear formation service. The filings that actually create risk all come after the company exists, and they come every year. We form it and then keep the books, run payroll, and file the returns, all with one team.
Yes, and it's a significant part of what we do. There is no citizenship or residency requirement to own a U.S. company. A few things work differently — the EIN route, some federal filings, and banking — which is why we've set out the details in the section above. We handle all of it.
Sí. We have bilingual professionals on the team, so you can go through the whole process — forming the company, the EIN, banking and ongoing compliance — in English or Spanish, whichever is easier for you.
Royal Business Group is a private firm and is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency. The IRS does not charge a fee to issue an EIN — our fee is for professional preparation and submission of the application.
Let's get your company started.
Fill in the intake form and we'll come to your call ready — or just talk it through first. Thirty minutes, no charge, no obligation.