Steps to Forming a Texas Corporation
Information We Need From You to Start Your Corporation
1: Select a Name: The name of your corporation must include the word Corporation, Company, Incorporated, Limited or an abbreviation of one of those words.
2: Authorize Shares: A corporation is owned by shareholders, who own shares of stock in the company. Texas requires you to designate the number of shares you intend to authorize, as well as their par value. A corporation will typically authorize only a small number of easily-divisible shares, say 100. At the first shareholders meeting, you can then issue 51% of the shares to yourself, giving you control of the company. The par value of the shares is not the actual value, but rather the lowest price at which the stock can be sold (you can choose No Par Value).
3: Choose Management: Corporations are overseen by Directors. Directors set company policy, determine salaries and bonuses, issue additional stock, and appoint the corporate officers (President, Secretary, Treasurer). Typically, you would appoint yourself as Director and take on the various roles of the corporate officers.
4: Remaining Info Needed to File:
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Registered Agent: all lawful registered agents must have a physical street address within the state to accept service of process. This is known as a registered office, and it cannot be a PO box. All of our Speedy filings come with one free year of Texas registered agent service by Northwest Registered Agent. This service keeps your personal home and office addresses out of the public record and fulfills the registered agent, mailing and principal office requirements.
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Directors: the names and addresses of your initial directors.
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Purpose: the lawful business your corporation intends to pursue.
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Effective date: if you want your corporation’s official formation date to be later than your filing date, you can choose a future day no later than 90 days after filing. You may also select a future event after which the corporation will legally be formed.
Form Your Corporation Here Online
Steps to Forming a Texas 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 an abbreviation of one of these. If you want to know if your company’s name is currently available, you can perform a Texas business name search.
2: Membership: LLC owners are known as members. Unlike a corporation, they are not issued shares of stock in the company. Instead, they receive an ownership percentage. Ownership percentages are usually—though not always—in direct proportion to the investment each member has made in the LLC.
3: Choose Management: An LLC is usually managed by its members. Members set company policy and are normally active in the day to day business operations. However, an LLC can also elect to appoint a manager to run the company. Managers may be members, or they may be outside parties.
4: Remaining Info Needed to File:
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Registered Agent: a Texas registered agent must maintain a physical street address within the state. This is known as a registered office (no PO boxes). All of our Speedy filings come with one free year of Texas 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.
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Governing authority: whether your LLC will be managed by members or managers; either way, you must also include the names and addresses of either the managers or the members.
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Purpose: the lawful business your company will be conducting.
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Effective date: if you want the legal formation date of your LLC to be different from your filing date, you may specify a future day (no more than 90 days after filing). You may also elect for your LLCs formation to be dependent upon a future event, which you can specify.
Form Your LLC Here Online
Testimonials
“I am glad that I know I am working with a great company that works very hard to solve problems. I made a mistake on the order and your support team contacted me and was very helpful in fixing the problem.” – Jack N., Houston, Texas
“You are doing a wonderful job. Your customer service is going to make your business a huge success. I was worried about taking this big step and you really helped make it easy.” – Ralph L., Dallas, Texas
“Wow!! We just received our order of the llc filing and are thrilled with being a real company now. Thank you so much for working with us. ” – Laurie T., San Antonio, Texas
