One of the best things about incorporating in Utah is that you are not required to have any corporation seals. Even though you do not have to have, corporation seals to do business in Utah it is still a good idea to have one, especially if you plan to do business in other countries. Corporation seals are also important when you issuing stock certificates because they allow you to emboss or stamp the stock certificate to authenticate them.
If you plan to start a corporation in Utah, the first thing that you will need to do is determine if you want to use online incorporation services or if you want to incorporate the business yourself. Using online incorporation services can get expensive because you will have to pay their fees, plus any filing fees. If you do it, yourself you only have to pay the filing fees. The good thing about using online incorporation services is that it helps save you time and frustration because they do everything for you.
To start corporation paperwork yourself you will need to begin by picking out a name for your corporation. The name that you choose for your corporation cannot be used by any other business, nor can it be similar to any other business that is registered in your state. The name you choose for your corporation must also end in a way that makes it known to your customers and investors that it is a corporation. This can be corporation, incorporated, company, or an abbreviation of those three words.
Once you have chosen your corporation’s name you will want to begin filling out your articles of incorporation. When filling out the articles of incorporation keep in mind that you will need to have a registered agent for your corporation, you can use an individual who lives in the state of Utah, but you can even use online incorporation services as your registered agent. You will not need to include the number of directors that your corporation has, but you must have at least three directors for your corporation, unless you have fewer shareholders. If you have two shareholders you can have two or more directors, if you have one shareholder you can have one or more directors. Officers’ information is not required in the articles of incorporation, but stock information must be included. One thing to know about stock information, in addition to the class of stock that you will be offering, is that there is no extra filing fee based on the par value of the stock or the number of shares you are issuing.
Once you have filled out the articles of incorporation you will need to turn in the articles of incorporation to the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. Once you have turned in the paperwork you will need to pay the filing fee so you can receive your certificate of incorporation. After you have filed your articles of incorporation, you will need to hold a board meeting for your corporation so you can adopt the corporation’s bylaws and formally elect the board of directors.
Each year after you have formed your corporation you will need to file an annual statement with the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. The annual statements must be filed by the end of the second month following the month that the report was mailed from the Division. To file the annual statements you will need to pay a $10 filing fee.
