Jargon

LLC jargon, decoded

Fifteen terms keep showing up on LLC forms and state sites. Here's what each one means and how your state treats it.

Straight from the LLC Straight Talk editorial team Last updated November 13, 2026

Every term

Annual report: The regular update you send the state about your LLC's address, agent and managers. Miss it and the LLC can lose good standing.
Articles of organization: A short state form, sent in with a fee, that starts the company. Get a detail wrong and fixing it later can cost you an amendment fee.
Certificate of good standing: Proof from your home state that the LLC is up to date on its filings. Fall behind on annual reports and the state may refuse to issue it.
EIN: Your LLC's federal tax ID, used for banking, hiring and tax returns. You can apply to the IRS yourself for free, or pay a service to do it.
Foreign LLC: Any LLC created under another state's law counts as foreign once it starts working in a new one.
Foreign registration: The filing an LLC from elsewhere makes to do business in a new state. Some states call the approval a certificate of authority.
Member: Somebody who owns a share of the company.
Minimum LLC tax: A fixed yearly tax that a few states charge LLCs even when they earn nothing. It's billed apart from the report fee, and it keeps coming while the LLC stays registered there.
Operating agreement: The owners' own agreement about how the LLC runs and who owns what. It stays with the company's records and usually isn't filed anywhere, but banks sometimes ask to see it.
Organizer: The party that submits formation for the owners, who doesn't have to own anything.
Publication requirement: A few states want a newspaper notice of the new LLC plus proof it was published. What you pay depends on the paper and how long the notice runs, so it's a cost apart from the filing fee.
Registered agent: The person or company your LLC names to take lawsuits and official state mail on its behalf, using a street address in the state where the LLC is registered.
Registered office: Where the agent takes delivery of court papers and state notices. Anybody can look it up, so pick one you're fine having public.
Service of process: How legal papers officially reach a company: a person hands them to the agent, and from that moment the clock on any response starts running.
Statutory agent, resident agent and other names: Statutory agent, resident agent and similar titles all mean the registered agent role.