File your Nevada Corporation online with us!!! These words, or words similar to these, appear online hundreds, if not thousands, of times. The owners of those sites make it sound so easy. All you have to do is spend 5 to 10 minutes of your time and they’ll do the rest. It sounds good. You’re thinking: I just opened my business and I need a business structure in which to conduct my business. It won’t take much time, it doesn’t cost very much and then I’ll have my asset protection. So you decide to take the plunge and you file online through one of the many incorporating services available. A couple of weeks later you receive your filed documents in the mail together with your letter of congratulations. You are now incorporated. Now what??
You are now experiencing the biggest problem arising from filing online. The articles have been filed. What do you do next? You didn’t realize when you used the services of the online incorporating company that you were buying from an a la carte menu and all you received were the barebones filing package. The corporation is not yet ready to operate. There are several steps you must still complete. How helpful will the online incorporating company be? It depends upon the incorporating company you use. With some companies, they will take you through all the other steps necessary to complete the filing and structuring of your entity. Other incorporating companies will not offer that level of service. Here are some of the following steps you will have to take to complete the filing:
- Obtain an Employer’s Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. Some of the online incorporators will obtain this number for you. You may have to pay an additional fee for them to obtain it for you. But, if you don’t know how to obtain such a number, you will have to pay additional for that service.
- Complete the meetings necessary to organize the corporation. You will have to hold a Board of Directors meeting in order to organize the corporation. At this meeting, officers, directors and stockholders will be identified. A set of By-laws will have to be prepared and adopted. Minutes and resolutions for the meeting must be prepared and adopted by the Board of Directors. These documents are not a part of the original filing package that the incorporating companies provide. Some of the companies will have available for sale preprinted meetings, by-laws, resolutions. Etc. for your use. The cost will vary depending upon the company and the quality of the corporate record book.
- Additional documents may have to be filed with your state, county or city in order to begin conducting business. For example, Nevada requires the filing of both a Business Registration Application [together with the payment of the applicable fees] and an Initial List of officers and Directors [again, with additional fees required]. Most of the time your online recording company will not prepare and file those documents for you. You will have to do it yourself.
- Open bank accounts. You will have to go to your bank and open a corporate account. You will have to take various documents to the bank in order to accomplish this. Again, most online incorporating companies will not assist you in opening the bank account without the payment of additional fees.
- Obtain trademarks and/or trade names for your business. Most incorporating companies will not obtain the trademarks or trade names for your business. You probably will have to retain the services of an attorney familiar with these procedures to assist.
- On going consultation. Most clients will have questions to ask after their corporation is filed. Many online incorporating companies provide absolutely no consultation. Their job was to prepare and file the Articles of Incorporation for the client. Once that service is competed, their work is done and no additional services are provided. Other companies will sell you books, admissions to seminars, etc. so that you can educate yourself on the operation of your corporation. A very few online incorporating companies will provide ongoing consultation for your entities.
- After filing communication. Many online incorporating companies conduct all, or the vast majority of, their business online. They do not work with clients over the telephone. But, if the only way you can communicate is through the use of email, you have left yourself totally at the mercy of the company you are trying to reach. If they do not want to communicate with you or answer your questions, you cannot reach them, for they do not respond.
The bottom line is that you must make certain that you are obtaining all the services you desire. If you have a background in business, an online company that merely files the articles for you will be sufficient. Most people do not fall into that category. They will need assistance after their entity is filed so that, first of all, the entity is properly formed and organized and, second, the client is aware of the benefits, and pitfalls, of using a business entity. Make certain you are getting what you want from this service. If there is no phone number to call, but rather just an email address, you may want to use an incorporating company with a better communication system.
You always get what you pay for. If you use an online incorporating company that charges very little, you will get very little. Normally, this will include the filing of the articles of incorporation and the appointment of a resident agent. And that is all. If you need assistance with your entity after filing, make certain the company you are working with is able to provide that assistance, even if it costs a little more.
