Corporate Record Book Documents: Articles of Incorporation

Over the new few weeks, our blog is going to focus on documents that need to be a part of the corporate record book for your business. A well-kept corporate record book is often required by state statutes for any businesses that are doing business within the respective state. Failure to keep a corporate record book could result in the court piercing a corporate veil in the event of a lawsuit and leave the officers as personally liable.

The first document that should be located within a corporate record book is the company’s articles of organization. Note that sometimes this document is referred to as a certificate of organization, certificate of formation, or another similar name. The document establishes a company name and address, registered agent name and address, the initial directors/officers of the company, and the incorporator(s).

With respect to LLC’s, some states will also allow the person filing the document to elect any special statuses. Specifically, some articles of organization for a domestic LLC will allow the company to serve as a series LLC. While most states still have forms that are filed out and mailed in, most Secretary of State business divisions now either encourage or require online filing systems. As a result, most of these forms are now filled out automatically by using a question and answer process online.

The professionals at The Center for Financial, Legal and Tax Planning are more than well-equipped to answer your questions with regards to corporate record books or any other business formation questions. Please contact us at (618) 997-3436 to setup a free consultation.