LLC Membership Certificate certificate templates and badges

A stock certificate shows shares in a corporation. An LLC membership certificate shows a member's interest in a limited liability company, usually as a number of units or a percentage. The two look alike because both come from the same tradition of numbered, signed certificates with a seal.

The company's name, the member's name, the units or percentage held, the class of interest if the company has more than one, a certificate number, the issue date and the signatures. Many also add a short note on how the interest may be transferred, using the words of the operating agreement.

The people the operating agreement names for it. In many LLCs that is a managing member or a manager, often with a second signer such as a secretary or another member.

In a bound certificate book, each certificate is joined to a stub that stays with the company. Before the certificate is torn off, the company writes the number, the holder, the date and the units on the stub, so the book keeps a record of every certificate it has issued.

Use the same measure as your operating agreement and member register. Companies that divide ownership into units usually show the units, and some show the percentage as well so the member sees both.

A template gives you the page, not the rules. What a certificate must say, and whether your company uses certificates at all, depends on your operating agreement and the law where the company was formed, so check with your own lawyer or adviser before you issue them.