All forms below are for Indiana, however, you can inquire for more information from your state's Small Business Development Center.
Articles of Incorporation
Form
To form an S-Corp/C-Corp, “Articles of Incorporation” must be filed with the Secretary of State.
A corporation's Articles of Incorporation generally provide information such as:
- The corporation's name, which has to be unique from any other corporation in that jurisdiction. As part of the corporation's name, certain words such as "incorporated", "limited", "corporation", (or their abbreviations) or some equivalent term in countries whose language is not English, are usually required as part of the name as a "flag" to indicate to persons doing business with the organization that it is a corporation (with limited liability) as opposed to an individual or partnership (with unlimited liability). In some cases, certain types of names are prohibited except by special permission, such as words implying the corporation is a government agency or has powers to act in ways it is not otherwise allowed.
- The name of the person(s) organizing the corporation (usually members of the board of directors).
- Whether the corporation is a stock corporation or a non-stock corporation.
- Whether the corporation's existence is permanent or limited for a specific period of time. Generally the rule is that a corporation existence is forever, or until (1) it stops paying the yearly corporate renewal fees or otherwise fails to do something required to continue its existence such as file certain paperwork each year; or (2) it files a request to "wind up and dissolve."
- In some cases, a corporation must state the purposes for which it is formed. Some jurisdictions permit a general statement such as "any lawful purpose" but some require explicit specifications.
- If a non-stock corporation, whether it is for profit or non-profit. However, some jurisdictions differentiate by "for profit" or "non profit" and some by "stock or non-stock".
- In the United States, if a corporation is to be organized as a non-profit, to be recognized as such by the Internal Revenue Service, such as for eligibility for tax exemption, certain specific wording must be included stating no part of the assets of the corporation are to benefit the members.
- If a stock corporation, the number of shares the corporation is authorized to issue, or the maximum amount in a specific currency of stock that may be issued, e.g. a maximum of $25,000.
- The number and names of the corporation's initial Board of Directors (though this is optional in most cases).
- The initial director(s) of the corporation (in some cases the incorporator or the registered agent must be a director, if not an attorney or another corporation).
- The location of the corporation's "registered office" - the location at which legal papers can be served to the corporation if necessary. Some states further require the designation of a Registered Agent: a person to whom such papers could be delivered.
Most states permit a corporation to be formed by one person; in some cases (such as non-profit corporations) it may require three or five or more.
Articles of Organization
Form
To form an L.L.C., "Articles of Organization" must be filed with the Secretary of State.
The Articles of Organization is a document similar to the articles of incorporation, outlining the primary rules governing a limited liability company. It is a necessary document for setting up an L.L.C. in many US states.
Doing Business As (DBA) or Assumed Business Name
Form
To form a Sole Proprietor/Partnerships, “Doing Business As (DBA)” or “Assumed Business Name” must be filed with your County Recorder.
“Doing Business As"/”Assumed Business Name” means that the name of the business or operation does not include the legal name of its proprietor, the names of all partners, or the official registered name of the limited partnership, or corporation that owns it.
SS-4 IRS Form
Form
This form will set up your business tax account with the IRS.
It is necessary to file this application to receive an EIN (Employer Identification Number) from the IRS. It is like a social security number for you business.
Form 2553 (Only for S-Corporation)
Form
This form is for S-Corp’s and will keep you from paying double taxes because you will be assumed as an C-Corporation by the IRS.
Election by a Small Business Corporation, is used in the United States income tax system by small businesses to elect to be treated (taxed) as a "Subchapter S - Corporation" ("S-Corporation").
BT-1 Form
Form
This form will handle the various state taxes (withholding, income, and if applicable, sales tax collection).
Liability Insurance
Protecting Your Assets With Business Liability Insurance - This link provides information on Business Liability Insurance and how it protects assets your business has. It also provides information on if you need liability insurance for your business.
Some insurance firms which may assist you in getting liability insurance for your business include Travelers Insurance, Nationwide, and Business Insurance Now.
Work For Hire (WFH) Agreement
Example
A work made for hire (sometimes abbreviated as work for hire and WFH) is an exception to the general rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally-recognized author of that work. According to copyright law in the United States and certain other copyright jurisdictions, if a work is "made for hire", the employer—not the employee—is considered the legal author. In some countries, this is known as corporate authorship. The incorporated entity serving as an employer may be a corporation, an organization, or an individual.
States that are party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works recognize separately copyrights and moral rights. Moral rights include the right of the actual creators to publicly identify themselves as such, and to maintain the integrity of their work.
The actual creator may or may not be publicly credited for the work, and this credit does not affect its legal status. For example, Microsoft hired many programmers to develop the Windows operating system, which is credited simply to Microsoft Corporation. By contrast, Adobe Systems lists many of the developers of Photoshop in its credits. In both cases, the software is the property of the employing company. In both cases, the actual creators have moral rights. Similarly, newspapers routinely credit news articles written by their staff, and publishers credit the writers and illustrators who produce comics featuring characters such as Batman or Spider-Man, but the publishers hold copyrights to the work. In the case of articles published in academic journals, it is common for the publisher to require the authors to sign a copyright transfer, a short legal document transferring all author copyrights to the publisher. The authors retain moral rights in their work, and may also be granted by the publisher a license to distribute the article themselves (eg, in the form of reprints and PDFs) or create derivative works from it (eg, to use illustrations from the article in future publications or presentations).