I filed my second LLC with the Arizona Corporation Commission this month, so the steps are fresh. Arizona makes this simpler than most states, and cheaper.
The filing is called the Articles of Organization, it goes to the ACC and not the Secretary of State, and it costs $50, or $85 expedited. You need a statutory agent with an Arizona street address who formally accepts the job. If your business address sits outside Maricopa or Pima County, you publish a notice of formation in an approved newspaper within 60 days, three runs. Inside those two counties, the Commission posts the notice itself and you skip the newspaper entirely.
Arizona charges no annual report and no yearly fee, which surprises people from other states. Your EIN comes free from the IRS in about ten minutes. The operating agreement never gets filed anywhere, but your bank will ask for it.
Whether an LLC is the right structure for your situation is a conversation for an attorney or a CPA. Once you have decided, I prepare the whole packet.
SJ
Nothing here is legal advice. It is general information about how the process works, from an Arizona Certified Legal Document Preparer.