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Steps to Forming a North Dakota Corporation

Information We Need From You to Start Your Corporation

1: Select a Name: Your company name must include the word Company, Corporation, Incorporated, Limited or an abbreviation of one of these words. It cannot include the words Bank, Banker, Banking, Trust or Trust Company.

2: Authorize Shares: Corporations are owned by their shareholders, who own shares of stock in the company. North Dakota requires you to designate an initial number of shares you intend to authorize. In most cases, you would simply authorize a small number of shares, say 100. At your initial shareholders meeting, you can then issue 51% of those shares to yourself to give you control of the corporation. The remaining shares can be held for future business partners.

You can also designate a class of shares and a par value. Most corporations issue only common stock. Par value is not the actual value of the stock, but rather the lowest price for which they can be sold.

3: Choose Management: Corporations are run by their Directors. The Directors are responsible for setting company policy, establishing salaries and bonuses, issuing additional stock, and appointing the corporate officers (President, Secretary, Treasurer). Generally, you would appoint yourself as the sole Director and take on the roles of all the corporate officers.

4: Remaining Info Needed to File:

  • Principal executive office: the physical street address of the business office where your corporate books and financial records are kept. 

  • Registered Agent: a legal North Dakota registered agent must maintain a physical street address within the state to accept service of process. This is called a registered office (cannot be a PO box). All of our Speedy filings come with one free year of North Dakota registered agent service by Northwest Registered Agent. This service will keep your personal home and office addresses out of the public record and fulfill your registered agent, principal office and mailing address requirements.

  • Effective date: if you want the date of your corporation’s official formation to be later than the filing date, you can elect a later date (no longer than 90 days after filing).

  • Purpose: the lawful business you intend to conduct (if different from General Business).

Form Your Corporation Here Online

Steps to Forming a North Dakota LLC

Information We Need From You to Start Your LLC

1: Select a Name: Your company name must include the words Limited Liability Company, or contain the abbreviation L.L.C. or LLC. If you want to know if your company’s name is currently available, you can conduct a North Dakota business name search.

2: Membership: An LLC’s owners are known as members. They do not receive shares of stock, as the would in a corporation. Instead, they are assigned an ownership percentage which is usually, though not always, based upon the amount a member has contributed to the LLC.

3: Choose Management: Generally speaking, the members of the LLC will manage the company. Members will set the company policy, make financial decisions and oversee the day to day business activities. However, an LLC may also elect to hire a manager to run the company. Managers may be members, or they can be outside parties.

4: Remaining Info Needed to File:

  • Principal executive office: the physical street address of the business office where your company records and financial books are kept.

  • Registered Agent: registered agents must maintain a physical street address within the state of North Dakota. This is called a registered office (no PO boxes). All of our Speedy filings come with one free year of North Dakota registered agent service. This free service keeps your private home and office addresses off the public record and fulfills your registered agent, mailing and principal office requirements.

  • Effective date: should you want your LLC’s official formation date to be later than your filing date, you can specify a specific date in the future (cannot be more than 90 days after filing).

  • Existence: if you want to dissolve your LLC at a specific later date, you can indicate the date for dissolution, otherwise the existence is considered perpetual.

  • Purpose: the lawful business your LLC will pursue (if different from General Business).

Form Your LLC Here Online

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