Forming a Corporation
Before forming a corporation, the following steps should be completed:
a) Choose a place to form the corporation. You can incorporate in any of the 50 states.
b)Choosing a name. In general, the name of a corporation must end with "incorporated," "corporation," or an abbreviation of one of these.
c) The Board of Directors. Each corporation must have at least one director.
d)Officers are appointed by the board of directors to run the day-to-day operations of the corporation. A corporation must have at least three officers: (1) a president, (2) a treasurer or chief financial officer and (3) a secretary.
e)Registered Agent. Each corporation must have a registered agent, the person designated to receive official state correspondence and notice if the corporation is "served" with a lawsuit.
Forming a LLC
Creating a Limited Liability Company is governed by State law. A Limited Liability Company is formed by individuals who file the required documents with the appropriate state authority, which is usually the secretary of state. In most states, the filing of articles of organization is required. Articles of organization are considered public documents and are similar to articles of incorporation, which establish a corporation as a legal entity. The Limited Liability Company usually comes into existence on the same day the articles of organization are filed and the secretary of state is paid a filing fee.
The minimum information which is required for the articles of organization will vary from state to state. Usually, it includes the name of the Limited Liability Company, the name of the person who is organizing the Limited Liability Company, the duration of the Limited Liability Company, and the name Limited Liability Company's registered agent. In some states, additional information is required, such as the business purpose of the Limited Liability Company and details about its membership and management structure. In all states a Limited Liability Company's name is required to include words or phrases identifying it as a limited liability company. These may be the specific words such as Limited Liability Company or various abbreviations of those words, such as LLC, or Ltd. Liability Co.