What is my best option? Dissolving business and clients still have outstanding time in prepaid service.

I have an IT service business set up as a single member LLC that I am dissolving at the end of the week. Some clients purchased prepaid blocks of service time that still have hours left, so basically I owe the client for unused time. No contracts were ever signed when the blocks were invoiced and purchased.

Which would be a better option:

1. Simply leave the clients hanging and not refund the remaining hours? I don't want to be a dead beat, but I simply don't have the cash to repay.

2. Have the LLC file for bankruptcy? Would this discharge debt owed to clients? The business has no other debt at this time.
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Answers (1)

Jan Matthew Tamanini

Jan Matthew Tamanini

Contributor Level 5
You say you are "dissolving" the LLC -- what do you mean? Are you simply closing your bank accounts and ceasing operations, or are you filing a Certificate of Dissolution with the PA Department of State (PA DOS) to dissolve the LLC? Dissolving your LLC through filing the required certificate means that you must certify to the DOS that you have either paid all of your existing liabilities or that you have applied all assets of the LLC toward payment of its liabilities.

A lot will depend on your circumstances both when you made the sales and when you wound up your business. You don't say why you're dissolving your company. If there are pending legal actions against the LLC, you'll also have to certify to PA DOS that you've provided for payment of any potential resulting judgment or settlement. If you're a single member LLC and you sold the prepaid blocks of service time to your clients knowing that the company didn't have the resources to fulfill these obligations -- particularly if those sales were recent -- your clients could file actions that could result in your personal liability for the obligations.

Regardless of the reasons for your dissolution, if your LLC has any assets left, AND if you haven't yet filed your dissolution certificate with PA DOS, you might want to discuss settlement options with your prepaid clients if you are on good terms with them. If you have few or no assets to use to reach settlements, you might be better off filing for Chapter 7 (dissolution) bankruptcy. In Chapter 7 cases, you will have a court-appointed trustee handling the remaining assets and liabilities, and you are taken out of the equation. At the end of the case, any remaining debts of the LLC would be discharged.
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