For consultants and consulting firms

You sell your judgment. Protect it with structure

A consulting business runs on client contracts and expertise, which makes the entity, your agreements, who owns the deliverables, and how you handle subcontractors and taxes the things that decide how protected you are. We set it up correctly, whether you are a solo consultant or building a firm.

Set up your practice How do you operate?
LLC liability protection Contracts and IP clear S-corp when it pays
The setup behind consultants and consulting firms LLC liability protection Agreements and IP clear 4.9 from 8,200+ reviews Taxes and renewals tracked
Entity
An LLC between a client dispute and your assets
Contracts
Scope, payment, and IP clear in every engagement
Subcontractors
Agreements and classification, done right
Tax
Quarterly estimates, and S-corp when it pays
The risk in advice

You get paid for your judgment. That is also the exposure

Consulting is unusual: a client can blame the outcome on your advice even when you did everything right, and a vague statement of work makes that argument easier. Add subcontractors whose work you deliver as your own, and unclear IP ownership, and a good engagement can turn into a dispute over scope, deliverables, or who owns what.

We form the entity that separates you from a claim, put your engagements under clear agreements with scope and IP defined, and get your subcontractor and tax setup right, so the business behind your advice is as solid as the advice itself.

Working on handshakes
  • No entity between you and a claim
  • Vague scope and no liability cap
  • Unclear ownership of deliverables
  • Subcontractors with no agreement
  • Quarterly taxes never set up
Set up on File.Business
  • An LLC between you and a claim
  • Scope and liability defined in writing
  • IP ownership clear in every contract
  • Subcontractor agreements in place
  • Quarterly taxes on a calendar
Your setup depends on how you work

Pick how you operate, see the setup

Solo, with subcontractors, or building a firm, the right structure changes. Choose yours to see exactly what we put in place.

Solo consultantThe lean, protected setup
Entity
LLC for liability protection
Contracts
MSA and SOW, with IP clear
People
Just you, no payroll
Tax
Quarterly estimates, S-corp later

The lightest setup: an LLC, clean contracts, and quarterly taxes, with an S-corp election ready when your profit grows into it. Form your LLC.

The whole consulting setup

Everything a consulting business needs, in one place

Entity, contracts, people, and tax, handled and kept current together.

LLC formation

A shield around the practice

EIN

Federal tax ID for the business

Client agreements

Master service and statements of work

IP ownership

Deliverables assigned cleanly

Subcontractor agreements

Classified, with IP flowing to you

Sales tax

Only where services are taxed

S-corp election

When your profit makes it pay

Compliance calendar

Taxes and renewals, tracked
How your practice gets set up

From first engagement to a business that protects you

Five steps, in the right order. Select one to see the detail.

Step 1

Form the LLC that shields you

Because a client can claim your advice caused a loss, an LLC that separates your personal assets from the business is worth having from the start. We form it in your state, with fees passed through at cost.

A shield between you and a client claim.
Entity: LLC FORMED
Personal assets separated
Ready to engage
Step 2

Get your EIN and business banking

The EIN is your federal tax ID, and a business account keeps client payments, expenses, and any payouts separate from your personal money. Both come before your first invoice.

A dedicated account for fees and expenses.
EIN: ISSUED
Business banking opened
Ready to invoice
Step 3

Put engagements under contract, with IP clear

Each engagement belongs under a master service agreement plus a statement of work that defines scope, payment, a liability cap, and who owns the deliverables. We put the structure in place so a project change does not become a dispute.

Scope, liability, and IP, defined up front.
MSA: IN PLACE
IP ownership clear
Protected engagements
Step 4

Set up subcontractors and taxes

If you bring in help, we put subcontractor agreements in place with the IP assigning to you and the classification set correctly, then set up your quarterly estimated taxes and flag an S-corp election when profit supports it.

Subs classified, taxes on a calendar. S-corp election.
Subs: UNDER AGREEMENT
Quarterly taxes set
Clean and compliant
Step 5

Grow from solo to firm, cleanly

As you add partners, hire employees, and grow profit, new pieces appear: a multi-member operating agreement, payroll, workers comp, and eventually the S-corp election. We handle the filings and flag the elections so growth never leaves a mess.

Partners, payroll, and elections in the calendar.
Filings: TRACKED
S-corp when it pays
Clean as you grow
How this compares for a consultant

Built for advice and contracts, not a generic business

Most setups skip the scope, the IP, and the subcontractor agreements. Here is the difference.

CapabilityFile.BusinessDIY formsLocal bookkeeperGeneric filer
Entity and client agreementsTemplatesNoFormation only
IP ownership definedNoNoNo
Subcontractors classifiedNoSometimesNo
Quarterly taxes and S-corpNoBooks onlyPer filing
Grows from solo to firmNoVariesNo
Transparent, published pricingHourlyPer filing

The honest version. A good attorney is worth it for your master agreement and any dispute, an accountant for your books and S-corp payroll, and an agent for errors and omissions insurance, and nothing here is legal advice. What File.Business does is form the entity, put agreements and IP in place, classify subcontractors, and set up tax, so your specialists focus on the hard cases. Compare on the comparison hub.

BosAI for consultants

An operator who knows the consulting playbook

Ask in plain English. BosAI knows contracts, IP, subcontractors, and tax.

BosAIOwner workspace, Beacon Consulting Group

A client says the deliverables are theirs now. Is that right?

It depends on your contract. Clients usually own the final deliverables, but you keep your pre-existing tools, frameworks, and methods, and a good statement of work says exactly that. I have your agreements set so the split is clear, which is what stops this from becoming an argument.

I want to bring a subcontractor onto a project. Anything to watch?

Two things. Their work should assign its IP to you so you can deliver it to the client cleanly, and you need to keep them a genuine contractor, because too much control can make them look like an employee. I have subcontractor agreements ready with both handled.

Should I switch to an S-corp?

Once your profit after expenses is consistently high enough, an S-corp election can cut self-employment tax on distributions, with a reasonable salary. I am watching your numbers and will flag the moment it pays, then file it. See S-corp election.
From a consultant

A dispute over scope that never happened

I ran my consulting work off email agreements until a project ballooned and a client argued I owed months of extra work for free. That was the wake-up call. File.Business formed the LLC, gave my engagements a real scope and liability cap, and set up subcontractor agreements so the work I deliver is actually mine to deliver. The next scope disagreement lasted one email, because the contract already answered it.
Principal
Independent management consultant
Scope
defined in every SOW
IP
clear, and assigned by subs
Tax
quarterly, then S-corp

Representative composite based on consulting outcomes. Nothing here is legal or tax advice; consult your professionals for your situation.

Consulting guides and tools

The entity, the agreements, and the tax

Practical resources for setting up and running a consulting business. All free to read.

Guide

Form an LLC

The shield your practice needs.

Read the guide Guide

Agreements and IP

Client and subcontractor terms.

Read it Guide

S-corp election

When it starts to cut your tax.

Read it Live tool

Compliance calendar

Taxes and renewals, tracked.

Open the calendar
For the questions consultants actually ask

Straight answers on entity, contracts, and tax

Should my consulting business be an LLC or an S-corp?
Most consultants start as an LLC for its liability protection and simple setup. Once profit is steady and high enough, electing S-corp treatment can reduce self-employment tax on the portion you take as distributions, subject to paying yourself a reasonable salary. We form the LLC now and file the S-corp election when your numbers make it worth it. See S-corp election.
What contracts does a consultant need?
At a minimum a master service agreement plus a statement of work per engagement, covering scope, payment, IP ownership, confidentiality, and a limitation of liability. Getting scope and liability right is what protects you when a project changes or a client is unhappy. We get your entity and structure in place; an attorney is worth it for your core template.
Who owns the deliverables I create?
It depends on the contract. Clients usually expect to own the final deliverables, while you keep your pre-existing tools, frameworks, and methods. Spelling that out avoids a dispute later, and if you use subcontractors, their work needs to assign to you first so you can pass clean ownership to the client. We help you set the structure up. See agreements.
How do taxes work on consulting income?
Clients pay you as a business without withholding, so you owe income tax plus self-employment tax and generally make quarterly estimated payments, deducting your business expenses. We set up the entity and your quarterly estimates and flag an S-corp election when your profit supports it.
What changes when I bring on subcontractors?
You take on 1099 filings, subcontractor agreements, and classification, and their work should assign its IP to you so you can deliver it cleanly to clients. Control over how they work also matters, because a subcontractor who looks like an employee can be reclassified. We put the agreements and classification in place.
Do consultants charge sales tax?
Usually not, since most states do not tax professional consulting services, but a few tax specific things like certain information or data services, and the rules are shifting. We check how your state treats what you sell and register you only where collection is actually required. See sales tax registration.
Do I need professional liability insurance?
Many consultants carry errors and omissions coverage, because a client can claim your advice caused a loss even when you did nothing wrong, and your LLC does not cover that kind of claim. Insurance comes from your agent; we make sure the entity and contracts are set up to work alongside it.
Does this replace my accountant or attorney?
No, and this is not legal or tax advice. A good accountant is worth it for your books and S-corp payroll, and an attorney for your master agreement and any dispute. File.Business forms the entity, handles subcontractor agreements and classification, and sets up tax, so your specialists focus on the high-value work. Talk to us.
Protected, contracted, and tax-ready

Advise with a clean business behind you

Form the LLC, put your engagements under clear agreements with IP defined, and let us handle subcontractors and tax. Start now, or talk with our team about your practice.

Set up your practice See agreements and IP
SOC 2 Type II · Not a law firm · State fees passed through at cost