Steps to Forming a Maine Corporation
Information We Need From You to Start Your Corporation
1: Select a Name: Your company name must contain the word Corporation, Incorporated, Limited, Company or an abbreviation of one of those words.
2: Authorize Shares: Corporations are owned by their shareholders, who own shares of stock in the company. Maine requires you to state the number of shares you intend to authorize. Typically, you would authorize a small number of shares (100, for example) and at your first shareholders meeting you would issue 51% of those shares to yourself. The remaining 49% can be reserved for future business partners.
3: Choose Management: Corporations are overseen by their Directors. Directors set major policy, determine salaries and bonuses, issue stock and appoint the corporate officers (President, Treasurer, Secretary). In most cases, you would appoint yourself the sole Director and take on all the duties of the corporate officers.
4: Remaining Info Needed to File:
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Clerk: a legal Maine commercial clerk (also known as a registered agent) must maintain a physical street address within the state. This is known as a registered office (cannot be a PO box). Speedy filings come with one free year of Maine commercial clerk service by Northwest Registered Agent. This service keeps your private home and office addresses off the public record and fulfills the clerk, mailing and principal office address requirements.
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Directors: Maine allows you to appoint a Board of Directors or have your corporation managed by your shareholders. You must choose one or the other, but if you choose to have Directors you must designate a range for the number of Directors (not fewer than and no more than).
Form Your Corporation Here Online
Steps to Forming a Maine LLC
Information We Need From You to Start Your LLC
1: Select a Name: Your company name must contain the words Limited Liability Company, Limited Company or one of the following abbreviations: L.L.C., LLC, L.C., LC (or for a low-profit limited liability company: L3C). If you want to see if your company name is currently available, you can do a Maine business name search.
2: Membership: LLCs are owned by their members. Members are assigned a percentage of ownership instead of shares of stock (like a corporation). Ownership percentages are generally—though not always—based upon the investment a member has made into the company.
3: Choose Management: Typically, an LLC will be managed by its members. Members set policy and oversee the day to day operations of the company. However, in some cases, members may choose to appoint a manager to run the business. Managers can be members or they can be third parties.
4: Remaining Info Needed to File:
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Registered Agent: legal registered agents must have a physical street address in the state of Maine. This is known as a registered office. It cannot be a PO box. All our Speedy filings come with one free year of Maine registered agent service. This free service keeps your personal home and office addresses out of the public record and fulfills your registered agent, mailing and principal address requirements.
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Low-profit: if you are forming a low-profit LLC, Maine requires that you acknowledge that your company fulfills all the qualifications.
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Professional services: if you are forming an LLC to provide professional services (law, accounting, etc.) you must state the service you intend to offer.
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Testimonials
“I am so glad I found your website. You incorporated by business really fast and it was super easy. Thanks so much. ” – Kristen D., Freeport, Maine
“Truly stellar service. Your staff treated everything with the utmost professionalism and I would recommend your service when asked how to form a business. ” – Ed K., Oxford, Maine
“Before I popped open the champagne to celebrate my first day as a business owner, I wanted to send you a note to say thanks for the great service. ” – Maria M., Lincoln, Maine
