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30-Day Setup Checklist After Forming a US LLC from Outside the US

2026-05-19

You completed formation through Stripe Atlas, doola, or Firstbase. Congratulations — the easy part is done. The next 30 days have a lot of small tasks that aren't obvious upfront. This checklist walks through them in the order that minimizes back-and-forth.

This is the checklist a non-resident founder of a US LLC or C-Corp actually needs. It's not "be sure to consult a lawyer" boilerplate — it's the concrete sequence.

Before You Start: The Three Things You'll Need Repeatedly

Almost every step below asks for some combination of:

If you don't have the phone yet, get it now. The EIN application, the bank-account application, the Stripe Atlas dashboard, and every business form ask for one. Going back to update it later in five places is harder than getting it now.

The cheapest realistic option, if you don't need to make calls, is around $7/month for a number-on-file service. If you actively call US customers, $15-$19/month from a business-phone service. (See our US Virtual Phone Services Compared for the full breakdown.)

Days 1-3: Foundation

✅ Confirm your EIN

If your formation service applied for the EIN for you, find the EIN confirmation letter (Form CP 575 or 147C) in your formation-service dashboard or email. Save it as a PDF. You'll need to upload it to every bank, payment processor, and tax-filing form for years to come.

If you applied for the EIN yourself by faxing Form SS-4, expect 4-6 weeks. (And yes, the IRS still uses fax for international EIN applications. See our EIN application phone guide for what to put on the form.)

✅ Verify your US mailing address works

Send a test piece of mail to your registered agent's address, or check that the mailroom service (if you have one through Firstbase or similar) is actively scanning incoming mail to your dashboard.

✅ Get your US phone number

If you haven't already, now is the time. The phone goes on every form you'll touch in the next 27 days. Don't wait until day 8 and then redo five forms.

Days 4-7: Banking

✅ Open a US business bank account

The most common choices for non-resident founders:

What goes on every bank application:

Each bank runs its own verification. Outcomes vary by carrier classification of your phone number, your home country, your business description, and several factors none of these banks publish. We don't claim any specific phone provider always passes verification at any specific bank — anyone who does is overselling.

If a bank rejects your application, you can almost always try a different bank. Don't read a single rejection as "I can't get a US business bank account."

✅ Save the account details

Once an account is open, screenshot the routing and account numbers and save them. You'll paste them into Stripe, into vendor onboarding, and into tax forms for years.

Days 8-14: Payment Processing

✅ Connect Stripe (if not already done by Atlas)

Stripe Atlas tends to set this up for you automatically. doola and Firstbase don't — you'll go to stripe.com and complete the business profile yourself.

The Stripe business profile asks for:

✅ Run a $1 test charge

Once Stripe is live, create a $1 test product and charge yourself. Confirm:

✅ Set up Stripe Tax (if selling to US customers)

If your customers are in the US, Stripe Tax is the simplest way to handle US sales-tax collection. Configure it now while you remember.

Days 15-21: Compliance and Filings

✅ Register a fictitious name (DBA) if needed

If you'll be operating under a brand different from your legal entity name (e.g., the entity is "Acme Holdings LLC" but you market as "Acme Cloud"), file a DBA / fictitious name registration in your formation state. Cost is $10-$50.

✅ Form W-9 / W-8BEN-E preparation

Once you start invoicing US customers, they'll ask for a W-9 (if you're a US entity) or W-8BEN-E (in some structures). Prepare a blank one with your company info filled in — including the US phone number. (See our W-9 phone field guide for the specifics.)

Save the completed PDF in your founders' shared drive. You'll send it to a customer once a month for the next several years.

✅ Bookkeeping setup

Set up either:

You don't need to be a bookkeeper. You do need every expense and every revenue line categorized. The accountant you'll hire for tax filing in 12 months will charge you double if your records are a mess.

Days 22-30: Public Presence

✅ Business website and email

If you don't already have:

Cost: $15-$50/year for the domain, $6-$12/month for Google Workspace or similar.

The website's contact section should list your US business mailing address and US phone number. Both should match what's on your formation documents.

✅ Business directory listings

At minimum:

Each listing asks for the company phone. Use the same number you've used everywhere else.

✅ Set up business email signatures

Standard B2B signature:

Make sure the phone in the signature is the same number you've used everywhere else. Inconsistency across signature / website / W-9 reads as "fly-by-night company" to careful B2B procurement.

✅ Final review: phone consistency

Now go look at every place you've put a phone number:

If they all match the same US number, you're done. If you find an inconsistency (you'd be surprised how often), update the outliers to match.

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If you need a US number on every form but won't actually be making calls, IncNumber is $7/month. SMS forwarded to email. Built for non-US founders of US companies.

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What This Checklist Doesn't Cover

This is the first 30 days. Beyond it, you'll have:

Hire a US tax accountant familiar with non-resident-owned LLCs before your first April 15. Costs run $300-$1,500 for the federal filings for a simple business. Don't try to do Form 5472 yourself the first year — the penalty for filing it wrong starts at $25,000.

Bottom Line

Day 1: get the phone before everything else, because every form asks for it. Days 1-7: bank and Stripe. Days 8-21: compliance, W-9, bookkeeping. Days 22-30: public presence, directory listings, email signature, consistency check.

Most non-resident founders try to do all of this on day 1, get confused, and end up with three different phone numbers and inconsistent records. The order matters less than the consistency: pick one US phone, one US address, one EIN, and use those three values everywhere for the next several years.

K

IncNumber Team

We help non-US founders keep a US phone number on file for $7/month. Built for Stripe Atlas, doola, and Firstbase customers.

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