When there is a new corporation being set up, it’s important to register it in the local government Department of Business Affairs before the corporation can start doing business. The requirements of the commerce ministry for registering a corporation can vary from state to state or country to country but some of these details are standard i.e. name and type of corporation and its purpose, board of directors, and company bylaws.
The corporation is asked to provide all the required details to the government department so they can be registered as a legal business. These details are often mentioned in documents known as articles of incorporation certificates of incorporation or corporate charters. This is an official document that includes all the basic details of the corporation when the nominated agent requests its registration.
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Key Elements to Include in Articles of Incorporation:
Name of the Company:
The first thing that you need to mention while preparing articles of incorporation is the official name of the company. This is important because not many states allow you to change the name of the business after it’s registered so it should be decided with all consideration and the finalized name of the corporation should be considered final for the entire duration of the corporation.
Type of the Organization:
There are basically two types of corporations i.e. for-profit and non-profit. Other types of corporations fall into these two types either its services provider corporation or a manufacturing corporation. The type of your corporation should be mentioned on this official document as it will become part of the permanent record with the local government.
Purpose for Starting Business:
Basically, the purpose of the corporation is the detail of the idea that you had when you decided to start the business. From providing IT solutions to healthcare services to manufacturing automobile spare parts, it can be any purpose and you need to mention it in the articles of incorporation document.
Details of Registered Agent:
Each corporation should have an authorized agent who deals with local government departments in order to register the corporation. This is the same agent who will get notifications and other details from the registration department. For instance, if any further details are required or the government needs additional documents, they will contact the nominated agent. Articles of incorporation documents should mention the full name of the agent, his contact info, and permanent address.
Details of Board of Directors:
Although some corporations elect a board of directors later when the corporation is registered but there is no law against electing board members before the legal existence of the corporations. In fact, there are some states that legally ask the agent to provide a list of boards of directors. This part should mention their names and contact information.
Details of Initial Employees:
This is again an additional portion of the articles of incorporation document as many countries don’t require a list of initially hired employees at the time of registration but still when you have already hired a bunch of employees for building up the corporation, mention their names and designation in the document.
Date of Effectiveness of the Organization:
Usually, the date a corporation is finalized is decided by the agent who gets it from the owner or board of directors. There are common examples of corporations that don’t have effective dates and in these cases, when the file reaches the secretary of state, he can simply write the same date when he received the file.
Duration of the Organization:
The one thing that a business owner doesn’t think of while setting up a new business is the date on which he will dissolve the company. Still, there are some corporations that are started for specific purposes and as soon those requirements are met, board members dissolve the corporations. If this is the case, you need to mention the duration for the corporation i.e. 3 years or 5 years depending on your specific needs and requirements.
