A Illinois LLC operating agreement is the document the members write for themselves: who put what in, what share of the company that buys, how profit is split after the company keeps a reserve, and what share of ownership a major decision needs. Take a commercial cleaning company formed by a founder, an operations partner and an investor: every one of those is a number in a blank, and the blanks are where the agreement goes wrong, because they are typed in one at a time and never checked against each other. This page walks what the agreement records for a Illinois company like that one, works its example from the members' own figures, and points at the free worksheet on this site that does the same arithmetic from yours. It publishes no clause text, no Illinois rule and no fee.
Major decisions: the ownership that carries them
For a commercial cleaning company in Illinois, formed by a founder, an operations partner and an investor, selling the company, admitting a member and borrowing are usually reserved to a supermajority. The example sets that at 65%, which on $100,000 of capital is $65,000 that must vote yes, and with shares of 60.0%, 30.0% and 10.0% the worksheet shows which members that is. A Illinois owner sets the threshold they and their co-members agreed; the page works it and asserts nothing about what the law requires.
Start with capital, because ownership is worked from it
An operating agreement for a Illinois LLC is mostly numbers in blanks, and the first blanks are the contributions. The example on this page uses $60,000, $30,000 and $10,000, so the company holds $100,000 and the members own 60.0%, 30.0% and 10.0%. Enter your own capital and the worksheet returns your own shares; the point is that the ownership clause and the contribution clause can never disagree, because one is computed from the other.
What the profit clause pays out once the reserve is kept
The distribution clause in a Illinois agreement typically pays profit by ownership after a reserve the members choose. On $100,000 of profit with a 20% reserve, $80,000 goes out and the largest member receives $48,000. The worksheet shows the figure for each member from the shares above; when to distribute, and whether to hold more back, is a decision the agreement leaves to the members and this site leaves to them too.
Where a Illinois agreement's rules live, and where its numbers do
Whether Illinois requires a written operating agreement, what it must contain and what the state charges to form or maintain the company are questions for the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services, named below, and for your attorney; this page publishes no rule text, no fee and no legal advice. What it does publish is the arithmetic the agreement records: the shares from the contributions, the distributions from the profit and the capital a decision needs, worked free on this site from the members' own figures, and kept against the company by LLC Lane Pro when the members want the record.
Questions people ask about llc operating agreement illinois
Is a Illinois LLC operating agreement filed with the state?
Generally the agreement is a private document the members keep, and the articles are what the state holds; whether Illinois has any filing or content rule for the agreement is a question for the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services and your attorney, not for this site.
What figures should be worked before the agreement is signed?
Each member's share from the contributions, each member's distribution on a given profit after the reserve, and the capital a major decision needs at the chosen threshold, which names the members it takes. The free worksheet works all three.
What does LLC Lane Pro add to the free worksheet?
The record: every company, member and share kept and dated, every agreement and amendment with its status, your name on the paperwork and an export when the bank or the accountant asks. The worksheet itself stays free.