Does Texas require an operating agreement?
No. Texas's LLC law doesn't require an LLC to have one: where the company agreement doesn't provide otherwise, the Business Organizations Code governs the company's internal affairs (Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 101.052). It's still worth having. Without one, the Texas Business Organizations Code decides how profits are shared, who can act for the LLC and what happens when a member leaves, and banks often ask to see a signed agreement before opening an account for an LLC.
The Texas Business Organizations Code lets the agreement be oral or implied as well as written (Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 101.001(1)). A signed, written agreement is still the only kind a bank, a court or a new member can read.
The Texas Business Organizations Code calls an operating agreement a “company agreement” (Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 101.001(1)). It's the same document; when you choose Texas, the template uses that name for the title.
Texas's LLC law and this template
Texas LLCs are governed by the Texas Business Organizations Code, Title 3, Chapter 101 (Limited Liability Companies) (Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code ch. 101). Where your agreement is silent, the act's default rules apply. Where the act lets a company agreement change one of its rules, your agreement controls.
Choose Texas in the form and the agreement names the State of Texas as the LLC's home and governing law, refers to the Certificate of Formation filed with the Texas Secretary of State, and defines “the Act” as the Texas Business Organizations Code. Everything else adapts to your answers: one member or several, run by the members or by managers, with or without a buyout when a member dies.
What the Texas agreement covers
The agreement follows the order most operating agreements use: formation, name, principal office, registered agent, purpose and term; each member's contribution and, with several members, capital accounts and percentage interests; how profits, losses and cash are shared; management by the members or by managers, with the major decisions that need every member's consent; taxes, books, records and a separate bank account; transfers, new members, withdrawal and what happens when a member dies; and dissolution. Schedule A lists each member's contribution and share.
Forming and keeping a Texas LLC
The operating agreement stays with the LLC's records; these are the filings that go to the state. Check that the name is free first with our Texas LLC name search.
| Texas | |
|---|---|
| Forming the LLC | Certificate of Formation, $300, filed with the Texas Secretary of State |
| Name must end with | “limited liability company”, “limited company”, “or an abbreviation of either phrase (such as LLC or L.L.C.)”, “("limited" or "company" alone does not satisfy the requirement for an LLC)” |
| Recurring report | Public Information Report with the franchise tax report, due May 15 each year |
| State tax or fee | Franchise tax (none due at or below $2.65 million in revenue for 2026-2027) |
| Name reservation | $40, 120 days |
| Good standing certificate | Certificate of Fact - Status, $15 |
How to finish your Texas agreement
- Type the LLC's name exactly as it appears on its Certificate of Formation, ending included.
- Fill in or strike out anything left as a blank line, and make Schedule A's percentages add up to 100%.
- Have every member read and sign it. Electronic signatures count, and members can sign separate copies.
- Keep the signed agreement with the LLC's records; don't send it to the Texas Secretary of State. Give each member a copy.
For an LLC with one owner, see the single-member operating agreement; with partners, the multi-member version explains shares, voting and buyouts.
Sources
Checked on 2026-10-08 against the state's own pages:
- https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/BO/htm/BO.101.htm
- https://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/sosda/index.shtml
- https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/franchise/
Common questions
Does Texas require an LLC operating agreement?
No. Texas's LLC law doesn't require one, but it's worth having: without it, the Texas Business Organizations Code's default rules decide how profits are shared and who can act for the LLC.
Do I file the operating agreement with the Texas Secretary of State?
No. The Texas Secretary of State receives the Certificate of Formation; the operating agreement is an internal document that stays with the LLC's records.
What does Texas call an operating agreement?
The Texas Business Organizations Code calls it a “company agreement”. It's the same document, and the template titles it that way when you choose Texas.
Is this Texas operating agreement template free?
Yes. There's no sign-up and no email address, and the agreement is built in your browser, so nothing you type is sent to us.