A Michigan 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 an auto parts machining business formed by three former plant workers with severance to invest: 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 Michigan 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 Michigan rule and no fee.
Start with capital, because ownership is worked from it
For an auto parts machining business in Michigan, formed by three former plant workers with severance to invest, an operating agreement for a Michigan LLC is mostly numbers in blanks, and the first blanks are the contributions. The example on this page uses $60,000, $30,000 and $15,000, so the company holds $105,000 and the members own 57.1%, 28.6% and 14.3%. 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 Michigan agreement typically pays profit by ownership after a reserve the members choose. On $120,000 of profit with a 10% reserve, $108,000 goes out and the largest member receives $61,714. 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.
Major decisions: the ownership that carries them
Selling the company, admitting a member and borrowing are usually reserved to a supermajority. The example sets that at 75%, which on $105,000 of capital is $78,750 that must vote yes, and with shares of 57.1%, 28.6% and 14.3% the worksheet shows which members that is. A Michigan owner sets the threshold they and their co-members agreed; the page works it and asserts nothing about what the law requires.
Where a Michigan agreement's rules live, and where its numbers do
Whether Michigan requires a written operating agreement, what it must contain and what the state charges to form or maintain the company are questions for the Michigan Corporations Division (LARA), 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 michigan
Where do I find what Michigan requires an operating agreement to contain?
At the Michigan Corporations Division (LARA), linked below, and from your attorney. This site publishes the arithmetic the agreement records and nothing about what the state requires the wording to say.
Can the members split ownership differently from their contributions?
Yes, if the agreement records the agreed split. The worksheet shows what the contributions alone imply, so a different split is a decision the members have seen rather than an accident in the blanks.
Does the worksheet store my Michigan company's figures?
The free worksheet stores nothing and needs no account; it works the figures on the page and prints them. LLC Lane Pro keeps every company, member and agreement against the record for the members who want the history.