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When the owners of a business decide to incorporate their company, as part of the incorporation process they are required to produce a legal document called it's "Articles Of Incorporation". A company's Articles effectively define the framework or rules within which the business will operate from a legal perspective. A business can not become an incorporated legal entity until it's Articles of Incorporation have been filed.
Typical articles of incorporation contain information on the name of the incorporator, whether or not the company is a stock or non stock organisation, and if it is a stock organisation, the number and type of authorised shares the corporation may issue.
Also required is the address of the company's registered office, the names of the board of directors and the accounting period the business will use for reporting purposes.
The company's articles will also outline the general activities of the organisation. Your articles will also state the full name of your new corporation.
You can choose whether to use the words "Incorporated", "Limited" or "Corporation", or you can legally use abbreviations such as "Inc", "Ltd" or "Corp".
Finally, the Articles of Incorporation for your company should include any by-laws or state rules that will apply to the officers of the company, and also to it's employees.
If you're looking to incorporate your business, articles of association are one of the mandatory documents that must be filed as part of the incorporation process.
Depending on the complexity of your organisation's structure and activities, you can either hire a lawyer or incorporation specialist to produce your articles, or you can prepare them yourself and file them online using an online incorporation service.
Obviously the latter option is usually more cost effective. If you're not familiar with the format and contents of legal documents, it's probably advisable to hire an expert as it's imperative that you get your Articles of Incorporation correct as they will determine how your newly incorporated company operates.
If you get them wrong, you may delay the incorporation process or incur additional costs correcting the errors.
If however you feel comfortable in the preparation of your own documents, you will find lot's or sample articles of incorporation online, that you can use to create your own.
Your local library should also have example documents for you to use. Whichever sample articles you choose to use, you must ensure that the document is complete and complies with the legal requirements of the state you are to incorporate in.
Each State has different requirements and by-laws that you must comply with. Each separate article included in your document should be clear and concisely worded.
To ensure your document is suitable for filing, you should ideally pay a flat fee to a local attorney to have it checked for accuracy and completeness. This will avoid delays in the incorporation process further down the line.
Once you are sure that your Articles of Incorporation are ready for filing, you will need to obtain the relevant form from the secretary of state for the state you are incorporating in.
These days, the secretary of state's website will usually have forms which you can download.
Once filed, your articles of incorporation document effectively creates your new corporation as a separate legal entity.
The Author, Richard Taylor is the webmaster at Incorporate-My-Business.com. His site provides lots of information on all aspects becoming incorporated, including all the pros and cons, sources of online services and downloadable forms. Visit his site at:
http://www.incorporate-my-business.com
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