Terms

What does that LLC word mean?

Fifteen words keep showing up on LLC forms and state websites. Here is what each one means and how states use it.

Answered by the Ask About LLC editorial team · Updated November 13, 2026

All fifteen words

Annual report: The periodic update to the state covering address, agent and managers.
Articles of organization: The filing that brings an LLC into existence once the state approves it. It names the company, its agent and who filed.
Certificate of good standing: A document from the state that formed your LLC, confirming it exists and is up to date. Many states ask for one at registration.
EIN: The nine-digit number the IRS gives a business, used for federal taxes, hiring and banking.
Foreign LLC: How a state labels an LLC that came from somewhere else.
Foreign registration: Paperwork that adds a state to your LLC, with its own fee and a local agent.
Member: What an LLC calls its owner.
Minimum LLC tax: The state's yearly floor on what an LLC owes, separate from any report.
Operating agreement: A private agreement among the owners covering how the LLC runs and who owns what. It stays with company records and usually is not filed.
Organizer: The filer named on the formation document, who need not own any of the company.
Publication requirement: In a few states a new LLC must announce itself in a newspaper and then file proof that it did. It is a step after formation, and the entries below show where it applies.
Registered agent: Whoever your LLC appoints to receive its lawsuits and official state mail, at a street address inside the state.
Registered office: Where the LLC's legal papers physically go, within the state.
Service of process: How a lawsuit officially reaches a company: the papers are handed to its registered agent.
Statutory agent, resident agent and other names: The other titles states give a registered agent. The duties stay the same: accept the LLC's legal papers and notices.