Your account application with our partner bank is prepared for you as part of plan setup. What follows is what a bank asks for and why, which matters most if you open the account at an institution you choose yourself.
What type of account do I need?
You need a business or commercial account, not a personal retail account. The LLC is a separate legal entity with its own EIN, and the bank account must reflect that separation.
You are establishing a business account for a limited liability company where you serve as the manager. That is the standard product a bank already has a process for.
What documents does the bank need?
You will provide your Articles of Organization, the state filing that created the LLC, and your Operating Agreement, the internal document governing how the LLC operates. Together these prove the LLC exists and establish your authority to act on its behalf.
The Articles of Organization come from your state filing. The Operating Agreement is prepared as part of your plan setup and shows you as the manager with signing authority.
You will also need the LLC's EIN, which confirms the LLC's tax identification number.
Who signs for the account?
You sign as manager. You are opening the account on behalf of the LLC, not as an individual depositor.
The bank will verify your identity through standard "Know Your Customer" procedures: photo ID, address verification, and the usual account opening paperwork. Your signature authority comes from your role as manager, documented in the Operating Agreement. The bank may ask to see the section granting that authority.
Where the opening deposit comes from
Every dollar that enters this account must originate from plan funds. You cannot make an opening deposit from personal money, even a small one, and even if the bank asks for it as a condition of opening the account.
If an institution requires a personal deposit to open, that requirement cannot be met and the account cannot be opened there. Funding arrives from the IRA once the account exists.
What banking services can I use?
You can access standard banking services: checks, debit cards, online banking, mobile banking, wire transfers, and ACH transactions.
Credit instruments are the exception, and the caution here is firm. The LLC cannot accept a credit card, line of credit, overdraft protection, or any other feature that extends credit to the account. Each of these requires your personal guarantee, and a guarantee is an extension of credit between the plan and a disqualified person, which IRC Section 4975 prohibits.
Banks offer these products routinely at account opening, often as a package. Decline them at the point of offer rather than accepting and unwinding later.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can I open the bank account?
Once you receive your LLC documents. That delivery includes the filed Articles of Organization, the Operating Agreement, and the LLC's EIN, which together are everything a bank will ask for. Formation timing depends on how quickly your state processes the filing.
If there is a co-manager, will they need to sign?
Only if you want them to have signing authority on the bank account. A co-manager who will transact on the account provides their personal information to the bank and signs the account agreements alongside you. Bank signing authority is a separate matter from the co-manager designation in the Operating Agreement, so naming someone as co-manager does not by itself put them on the account.
What if I need to make changes to signers later?
Provide a manager resolution to the bank showing the updated authorization.
Can the LLC hold more than one bank account?
Yes. An LLC can hold multiple accounts, which some account holders use to separate operating cash from funds reserved for a specific property.
Does the account need to be in the state where the LLC was formed?
No. The LLC's state of formation and where you hold the account are independent. What the bank needs is the formation documents from whichever state filed them.