790+ step-by-step guides, written by specialists.
Every filing, deadline, and decision a business owner faces, explained from zero in plain English. Written by the specialists who prepare these filings every day, checked against the primary source, and free to every founder, customer or not.
Ask it here. We already wrote the answer.
Type what you are trying to do, in your own words. The library covers formation, compliance, tax, equity, and everything a state or the IRS can send you.
Pick a shelf, or wander.
Nine collections, each tended by a specialist. Counts are real and move as the library grows.
Compliance Basics
The rules every entity lives under: reports, agents, licenses, and the calendar that ties them together.
Tax Guides
How LLCs and corporations are actually taxed, which deadlines bite, and the elections that change everything.
State-by-State Guides
Formation, fees, and annual duties for your state, not a national average that fits nobody.
Industry Guides
Restaurants, real estate, e-commerce, healthcare: the licenses and rules that only apply to you.
Founder Academy
Equity splits, 83(b) elections, SAFEs, and the paperwork of raising money without losing the company.
Glossary
Every compliance term you will meet, defined in one plain sentence before the fine print.
Free Legal Forms
Operating agreements, resolutions, and notices. Download, fill, and keep with your records.
The Blog
Long-form guides and rule changes, published and updated as the states and the IRS move.
FAQs
Short questions with complete answers, each cross-linked to the deep guide behind it.
Most-read right now.
The six guides founders keep in a pinned tab. Each one is the full answer, not a teaser.
Default pass-through, the corporate option, and where the S-corp election fits.
Read → Choose an entityLLC vs corporationThe honest comparison, with the specific cases where each one wins.
Read → Deadlines2026 tax deadlinesEvery federal date that applies to a small business this year, in one calendar.
Read → EquityThe 83(b) walkthroughThirty days to file, and why founders set three reminders for it.
Read → GovernanceWrite an operating agreementWhat every clause does, and which ones your LLC actually needs.
Read → BankingOpen a business bank accountThe documents banks ask for, and how to arrive with all of them.
Read →Everything a business ever files, in four seasons.
The 790+ guides are not a pile; they map a lifecycle every company walks. Know the four seasons and you know what is coming before it arrives.
Two truths make this map useful. First, the seasons arrive in order but never leave: a growing company is still operating, still renewing, still filing quarterly, so the calendar only gains entries. Second, the expensive mistakes are almost always season boundaries crossed without the paperwork: hiring before payroll setup, selling into a state before registering, granting equity without the thirty-day election. When something new is about to happen in your business, look up its guide first; that habit alone is most of compliance.
Read up. Then let us file it.
The library exists so your next filing is a decision, not a leap. When you are ready, the doing part is ours.
- 1Learn
Start from the guide that matches your question and follow its links until the picture is complete.
- 2Decide
Turn reading into a decision with the entity quiz and the side-by-side state comparison.
- 3File
The filing itself takes minutes, and a specialist reviews it before it goes to the state.
- 4Operate
The Business OS keeps the calendar, records, and reminders, so what you learned becomes routine.
Not sure what to file yet? Take the entity type quiz or compare states side by side. What a filing costs lives in one place: pricing.
The guides library, answered.
Who writes and reviews these guides?
The same specialists who prepare filings for customers write the guides, and a second specialist reviews each one before it publishes. Legal topics are additionally checked by attorneys in our attorney network. If you spot something that looks off, tell us and a specialist will re-verify the page against the primary source.
Are the guides really free, or is there a catch?
Really free. No account, no email wall, no partial answers that end in a sales pitch. The business logic is simple: if the library gives you the complete answer, you will remember who wrote it when you have a filing to make. If you want new guides as they publish, the newsletter is optional and asks for nothing but an address.
How often are guides updated when laws change?
Fee, deadline, and rule changes trigger an update to every affected page, and each guide carries the date it was last reviewed. Time-sensitive pages, like the tax deadlines calendar and the state guides, are on a scheduled review cadence in addition to change-triggered updates.
Where should I start: guides, FAQs, or the glossary?
Start with the question you actually have. If a single unfamiliar word is the problem, the glossary defines it in one plain sentence. If the question is short, the FAQs answer it completely and link deeper. If you are facing a whole process, begin with Compliance Basics and follow the path it lays out.
Do these guides replace advice from a lawyer or CPA?
No. They are educational, and they are honest about where the edges are. A guide can tell you how an 83(b) election works and what most founders do; it cannot weigh your specific facts. When a page touches a decision that deserves professional judgment, it says so and points to the attorney network or a tax professional.
What if my state or situation is not covered?
Check the state guides first, since state pages carry rules that never make the general guides. If the answer still is not there, ask a specialist. Real questions from founders are where new guides come from, so asking improves the library for the next person. The Help Center covers questions about using File.Business itself.
How do the guides connect to actual filings?
Every guide ends where the reading ends and the doing begins: the matching filing on start filing, prepared and specialist-reviewed. Guides never quote service prices. When you want numbers, pricing is the single source, so the library stays a library.