An operating agreement is an agreement among limited liability company ("LLC") members governing the LLC's business, and members' financial and managerial rights and duties. Many states in the United States require an LLC to have an operating agreement. LLCs operating without an operating agreement are governed by the state's default rules contained in the relevant statute and developed through state court decisions. An operating agreement is similar in function to corporate by-laws, or analogous to a partnership agreement in multi-member LLCs. In single-member LLCs, an operating agreement is a declaration of the structure that the member has chosen for the company and sometimes used to prove in court that the LLC structure is separate from that of the individual owner and thus necessary so that the owner has documentation to prove that he or she is indeed separate from the entity itself.
Limited liability companies are very flexible in nature and the operating agreement defines each member or manager's rights, powers, and entitlements. This includes capital accounts, membership interest, distributions of profit and allocated tax responsibility, etc. This internal document is an agreement set by the company members that contains provisions for critical items and rules that run the company. Operating agreements can be amended at any time by the company members or managers.
References
External links
- Operating agreement template