DBA or LLC
I'm a solo house cleaner in California. I'm looking to start expanding services to a larger clientele. Would like to transfer from my personal accounts to a business account and hire 2 employees. Would registering as a dba or llc be better? Thank you
Answer:
As a CPA, I came across this website and joined just last week, and I just came across your question.
If you are limiting your choices to either a dba or an LLC, then I would recommend an LLC, for three reasons.
First, an LLC gives you some legal liability protection if you are ever sued. A dba does not give you any legal liability protection.
Second, from a tax perspective, both a dba and an LLC would be taxed the same (for federal income tax purposes), assuming that you did not make any election to treat the LLC differently. However, having an LLC gives you the option to elect to treat the company as an S corporation. You don’t have that optionality with a dba. Keep in mind that making the S election for the LLC would require that you file a separate federal income tax return for the business each year. However, the tax savings that an S corporation election can afford could make it worthwhile, especially because it sounds like you intend to grow the business.
Finally, the LLC probably gives your business a little more legitimacy and professionalism, in the public’s eye.
Consider that you could choose the LLC and have the LLC get the dba – the best of both worlds. So you don’t necessarily have to treat this decision as one where you must choose one or the other.
I congratulate you on planning for the future. If you wish to engage me to help, please feel free to reach out to me.
Adam Dickreiter
