# KNOWLEDGE — Finances (formation)

## Current budget
- **Business formation budget: $1,000 (current, set by Sam).**
- This is the working budget to **stand up the entities** — not an operating, marketing, or
  hiring budget. Treat it as a hard ceiling until Sam changes it.

## Known Indiana formation costs (from the sns-network-solutions `legal-structure.md`)
| Item | Cost |
|------|------|
| Form an LLC — Articles of Organization on INBiz | ~$95 each (parent + each subsidiary) |
| EIN (IRS) | Free |
| Registered agent | Free (Sam serves as agent, South Bend address) |
| Operating agreement | Free if self-drafted from templates; attorney review optional (variable) |
| Business Entity Report | ~$32 every 2 years, per entity |

## What $1,000 covers
Comfortably: forming the **parent Holdings LLC** (~$95) and **SNS Networking LLC** (~$95),
with buffer for optional attorney review, a business bank account, and incidentals. It does
**not** stretch to forming all three subsidiaries at once — and it shouldn't (entities are
formed only as each begins real work).

## Rule for me (Chief)
- Track spend against the $1,000 budget; keep a running sense of what's left.
- Any proposed spend that would materially draw it down, or exceed it → **escalate to Sam.**
  Spending money is gated — I never commit funds myself.
- This is **not** tax/legal/financial advice; entity, tax, and legal questions route to Sam's
  attorney/CPA.

_Update this file when Sam changes the budget or when formation costs are actually incurred._
