How to Get Articles of Incorporation
The articles of incorporation, sometimes known as a charter, are the fundamental rules that govern a corporation and are required by state law to incorporate a business in the United States. After drafting your articles of incorporation for your business, the articles should be filed with your state's secretary of state office. Filing the articles makes them publicly available and links the articles to the incorporation of the business entity.
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Instructions
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Determine in which state your business will be incorporated. For most small businesses, the state for incorporation will be the home state of those starting the business. However, for some corporations, Delaware has been a desirable place to incorporate because of its well-established system of corporate law.
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Go to that state's secretary of state website for rules and requirements. To find your state's secretary of state's website, use the search engine at the National Association of Secretaries of State (see Additional Resources). Once you have selected the state in which you plan to incorporate, that state's secretary of state will govern the incorporation process. Each state has slightly different rules about filing costs and methods of filing. Check the secretary of state website to confirm that you are compliant with that state's requirements.
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Draft articles of incorporation. The articles of incorporation normally include the name of the company, the name of the person/people organizing the corporation, whether the corporation may issue stock, the purpose of the corporation, and the names of the initial Board of Directors. Again, different states may have slightly different requirements regarding the contents of the articles of incorporation, but this list is common to most of them.
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Present the draft articles of incorporation to the owners of the business. Before incorporating the business and making it bound to the articles of incorporation, the owners of the business should agree to the articles. This step can be accomplished in the course of a meeting in which the consent of the owners is given.
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File the articles of incorporation with the state secretary of state. In many states, the articles of incorporation can be filed electronically. In most other states, a hard copy can be mailed to the secretary of state with state designed forms. In either case, you should expect to pay a fee with the filing.
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Tips & Warnings
In most states, a corporation is permitted to take on any legally permissible activity that an individual could. Consequently, many articles of incorporation keep the purpose of the corporation very broad so that the corporation can change businesses or practices as time passes. For example, the articles might allow for "any lawful purpose" and be acceptable.
Incorporation of a business almost always affects how the income of the business is reported to and taxed by the Internal Revenue Service. Consult a certified public accountant to determine how to remain compliant with IRS requirements. Incorporation usually requires annual renewals with the state secretary of state.
