An operating agreement sample is what most owners read before writing their own, and what a sample mostly shows is blanks: a contribution per member, a percentage per member, a reserve, a threshold for a major decision, a rule for admitting a member. The wording around the blanks is the attorney's job and this site does not supply it. The numbers in the blanks are arithmetic on figures only the members know, and getting them wrong is how a two-thirds vote turns out to need a member who has already left. This page reads an example agreement for its numbers, in the order the clauses come, and points at the free worksheet on this site that works them from yours.
What an example agreement records first: members and capital
Every sample opens with the company's name, state and purpose, then the members and their contributions, dated and valued. That schedule is the clause the rest of the document reads from. The worksheet takes three members' contributions, say $50,000, $30,000 and $20,000, and returns the ownership shares of 50%, 30% and 20% that the next clause records, so the two clauses are worked from one set of figures rather than typed separately and later found to disagree.
The money clauses in an example: profit, reserve and distribution
A sample's profit-and-loss clause usually splits by ownership and its distribution clause lets the company keep a reserve first. Worked on $120,000 of profit with the shares above, the largest member's distribution is $60,000 before any reserve, and less by exactly the reserve's share after it. The worksheet shows each member's figure from the profit and reserve you enter; whether and when to distribute is the members' decision under the agreement, not a figure this site asserts.
The decision clauses: what a vote needs, in capital and in names
A sample's voting clause names a percentage for major decisions, and an example agreement at 67% needs $67,000 of $100,000 in capital to say yes, which with shares of 50, 30 and 20 means two particular members. The worksheet turns any threshold into the capital and the members it takes. The amendment and admission clauses are thresholds too, and the amendment worksheet on this site works the new member's share and everyone's dilution when one is admitted at a valuation.
Using a sample without copying its numbers
The shape of a sample transfers; its figures do not, because they are somebody else's company. Take the clause list, work your own contributions, profit, reserve and thresholds on the free worksheets, and have the wording drawn for your state by counsel. LLC Lane Pro keeps the finished agreement, every amendment and every member's share against the company so the sample you started from is never the record you rely on.
Questions people ask about operating agreement sample
Where can I get a free operating agreement sample?
This site publishes worksheets, not sample clause text. The worksheets work the numbers a sample's blanks ask for, free, with no account; the wording for your state is your attorney's.
What should an LLC operating agreement example contain?
The company's name, state and purpose; the members and their contributions; ownership shares; how profit and loss are split and what reserve is kept; management and voting thresholds; how members leave and join; amendment; and signatures.
Can I sign a sample as my own agreement?
Whether a sample's clauses fit your state and your company is a legal question this site does not answer. What you can take from here is the arithmetic, so that the numbers you fill in agree with each other before anyone signs.