Whether to form an LLC per location is a question for your attorney and CPA. On the payments side, each separate legal entity needs its own Stripe account, its own bank account and, in practice, its own set of books. Locations inside one entity can share all three and be reported separately by class or tracking category.
What changes for payments with one entity or an LLC per location?
A payment processor opens an account for a legal entity: the business that takes the money and reports it. Stripe, for one, requires a separate account for each legal entity. So the structure you choose sets how many accounts, bank accounts and books you run.
1 of each. One reconciliation a month, with reports split by class.
3 of each. Three reconciliations a month. Money that crosses locations needs an intercompany entry.
Here is the difference for a group with three locations:
| For three locations | One entity | An LLC per location |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe accounts | 1 | 3 |
| Bank accounts receiving payouts | 1 | 3 |
| QuickBooks or Xero files | 1, with a class or tracking category per location | 3 |
| Payouts to reconcile each month | 1 stream, split by location | 3 streams |
| When one location's customer pays another | Reclassify in one file | An intercompany entry between two files |
Many groups end up in between: older locations under one entity, newer ones in their own LLCs. The same rules apply location by location, so a mixed group runs both setups side by side.
What should we ask our attorney and CPA?
- How much liability separation do we need between locations?
- How would each structure be taxed, and what does each cost to file?
- Do our lenders, landlords or state licensing expect an entity per location?
- If we plan to sell or add a location, which structure makes that simpler?
How do payments work under one entity?
One Stripe account takes every payment, and one bank account receives the payouts. The work is in the tagging: every invoice and every payment carries its location, so your books can report each location separately.
In QuickBooks Online that tag is usually a class. In Xero it's a tracking category. Set one up per location before the first payment lands, and make sure whatever creates your invoices fills it in. Month end is one bank reconciliation, then a report by class or category.
The risk is drift. If payments arrive untagged, someone has to go back and assign them, and the location reports stop matching the bank.
How do payments work with an LLC per location?
Each entity has its own Stripe account, its own bank account and its own QuickBooks or Xero file. A customer's payment has to be routed to the entity that sold them the program or the service, so the money and the record land in the same place.
Month end is one reconciliation per entity. Shared costs, such as a central billing team or software, are allocated across the entities with intercompany entries. A customer who pays the wrong location creates an entry between two files rather than a reclassification in one.
Count it for your own group:
What happens when a location opens or is sold?
Under one entity, a new location is a new class or tracking category and a new tag on its invoices. Under an LLC per location, it's a new entity: a new Stripe account, bank account and books file before it can take a deposit.
When a location is sold, an LLC per location usually moves as a unit, with its accounts and its history. Under one entity, the location's plans and balances have to be separated out first. Plans already running stay on the account that started them until they're moved or paid off. Agree how that works before the sale closes.
Whichever you choose, Paycove runs every location from the deal in your CRM and pays each one into its own Stripe account and QuickBooks or Xero file, so nobody routes payments by hand.
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