A South Dakota 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 hunting lodge formed by a landowner, a guide and an investor from out of state: 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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota rule and no fee.
Distributions after a reserve, on the profit the members enter
For a hunting lodge in South Dakota, formed by a landowner, a guide and an investor from out of state, most agreements let the company keep a reserve before anything is distributed, then split what is left by ownership. With $150,000 of profit and a 10% reserve, $135,000 is distributable and the largest member's share of it is $67,500. Whether a South Dakota company distributes at all, and when, is the members' decision under their own agreement; the worksheet works the figure and publishes no rule about it.
The vote a major decision needs, as capital that must say yes
A major-decision clause names a share of ownership, and the worksheet turns it into money and names. At a 75% threshold on $70,000 of capital, $52,500 of contributions must vote yes, which with shares of 50.0%, 35.7% and 14.3% means particular members and not others. What a South Dakota agreement should set the threshold at is the members' call and their attorney's; the arithmetic is the same at any number.
The contribution schedule is the clause the rest reads from
A South Dakota LLC operating agreement usually opens with the members and what each put in, and every later clause reads from that schedule. On the worked example, three members contributing $35,000, $25,000 and $10,000 own 50.0%, 35.7% and 14.3% of the company. The worksheet takes the contributions and returns the shares, so the ownership clause is worked from the contribution clause rather than typed in beside it and later found to disagree.
Where a South Dakota agreement's rules live, and where its numbers do
Whether South Dakota requires a written operating agreement, what it must contain and what the state charges to form or maintain the company are questions for the South Dakota Secretary of State, 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 south dakota llc operating agreement
Where do I find what South Dakota requires an operating agreement to contain?
At the South Dakota Secretary of State, Business Services, 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 South Dakota 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.