• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Submissions
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Feb 5, 2023
  • Startup
    • Creating a Plan
    • Funding a Startup
    • Franchise Center
    • Getting Your Office Ready
    • Making Your Business Official
    • Marketing Your New Business
    • Personal Readiness
  • Run & Grow
    • Customer Service
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Legal
    • Operations
    • Risk Management
  • Leadership
    • Best Practices
    • Communication
    • Green Initiatives
    • Open Culture
    • Strategic Planning
    • People Skills
  • Sales & Marketing
    • Advertising and Lead Generation
    • Marketing Innovations
    • Marketing Plans
    • Online Marketing
    • Relationships
    • Sales Activities
  • Finance
    • Budgeting and Personal Finance
    • Payments and Collections
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Pricing Strategy
    • Working with Investors
    • Working with Lenders
  • Tech
    • eCommerce
    • Hardware
    • Software
    • Security
    • Tech Reviews
    • Telecom
  • Shop

SmallBizClub

Helping You Succeed

taxbandits banner
Home / Startup / Making Your Business Official / Documents Required for Corporate Entity Formation
Documents Required for Corporate Entity Formation

Documents Required for Corporate Entity Formation

1224 Views

Sep 6, 2018 By 1800Accountant

Forming a corporation can be an exciting time in the life of a business. It can also be lots of work. In order to become a corporation, your business will need to file documentation in the state of your choosing.

You can file documentation for your corporation in any state you want. Some states have favorable fees or taxes that you may be able to take advantage of. It’s important to do in-depth research, though, since other states, including your home state—if you’re not registered there—may charge you a fee to do business within that state.

Here are the most common documents you’re required to file for corporate entity formation in most states.

Articles of Incorporation

Whether you’re forming a C corporation or an S corporation, you typically need to file Articles of Incorporation, sometimes called a Certificate of Incorporation. You should be prepared to provide the following information on your business:

  • Corporate name – usually includes an identifier, such as “Corporation,” “Incorporated,” “Company” or “Inc.”
  • Business purpose – outlining what your business does or provides
  • Registered agent – see more below
  • Incorporator – the person or company preparing and filing the Articles of Incorporation
  • Number of authorized shares of stock – not necessarily the number of issued shares, as you may withhold some unissued shares to add owners later on
  • Share par value – the minimum stated value of each share, which may be different from the actual, fair market value
  • Preferred shares – as opposed to common stock
  • Directors – names and contact info for your corporation’s initial directors
  • Officers – those responsible for the corporation’s day-to-day activities
  • Legal address of the company – optional in many states, required in some

All the information in the Articles of Incorporation is made available to the public, so anyone has the right to access it.

Corporate Bylaws

Corporate bylaws outline specifically how you plan to conduct your business. Bylaws include issues of corporate governance, including how the board of directors will function, how stock is to be administrated, how meetings will be conducted and how often they will be held, procedures for corporate recordkeeping, the fiscal year of the corporation, how financial audits will be conducted, and rules on approval of contracts, loans, checks and other matters.

In some companies, the bylaws are written by the owners, while in others they’re written by the board.

Unlike the publicly available Article of Incorporation, corporate bylaws are private documents meant for your company’s leadership only.

Registered Agents

In most any state, corporations are required to have a registered agent located in the state of incorporation. The registered agent acts as the discrete handler of important legal and tax documents on behalf of the corporation and must be available during normal business hours. Your registered agent is your liaison with state government and is qualified to receive tax forms, service of process notices, correspondence from the Secretary of State, other official government notifications, and notices of lawsuits.

Having a registered agent means you save yourself the embarrassment of accepting legal and tax documents in front of customers or clients. Registered agents must have physical addresses (and not P.O. boxes). Since your registered agent’s address won’t change, you can freely move the location of your business without necessarily having to file more paperwork with the state. Registered agents often help corporations with compliance issues as well.

A knowledgeable accountant can help you prepare your Articles of Incorporation and your corporate bylaws. Consider consulting an accountant early in your business planning process.

Filed Under: Making Your Business Official Tagged With: Business Documents, Incorporation

Source: 1800 Accountant

1800Accountant

1800Accountant

1800Accountant is a national accounting firm that assists small and new businesses in all 50 states, Canada, Australia and the UK. Our mission is to provide small businesses with affordable accounting and tax preparation services. Our experienced team of over 100 in house tax professionals is ready to start working for your business today. Call for a free consultation.

Related Posts

  • 5 Legal Documents You Absolutely Need for Starting a Small Business
  • financial-tips-for-avoiding-startup-failureMoving from a Business Idea to Business Actuality
  • 4 Surefire Tips for Picking the Right Entity for Your Small Business

Primary Sidebar

From the Editor’s Desk…

Small Biz Gems

“You can’t ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”  —Steve Jobs

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Subscribe to our Mailing List

Run & Grow

two-key-digital-innovations-for-small-business

What Can You Do to Give Your Business a Boost?

Feb 2, 2023 By Charlotte Sylvester

Ways to Make Your Workplace More Secure in 2023

Jan 30, 2023 By SmallBizClub

6 Key Components of Building a Smart Warehouse in 2023

Jan 23, 2023 By SmallBizClub

8 Top Tips To Take Your Hospitality Business To The Next Level

Jan 20, 2023 By Jenna Hilton

taxbandits banner

Footer

About Us

Small Biz Club is the premier destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs. To succeed in business, you have to constantly learn about new things, evaluate what you’re doing, and look for ways to improve—that’s what we’re here to help you do.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 by Tarkenton Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms | Privacy