Steps to Forming a Virginia Corporation
Information We Need From You to Start Your Corporation
1: Select a Name: Your company name must contain the word Corporation, Incorporated, Company, Limited, or the abbreviation Corp., Inc., Co., or Ltd.
2: Authorize Shares: A corporation is owned by its shareholders, who own shares of stock in the company. Virginia requires you to list the number of shares you are initially authorizing. Generally speaking, most corporations authorize only a small number of easily-divisible shares (say, 100). At your first shareholders meeting, you would then issue 51% of those shares to yourself, giving you control of the company. The remaining shares can be held for future business partners.
3: Choose Management: Corporations are managed by their Directors, who are responsible for setting salaries and bonuses, making major policy and financial decisions, issuing stock, and appointing the corporate officers (President, Treasurer, Secretary). Typically, you would appoint yourself the sole Director and take on the roles of the corporate officers.
4: Remaining Info Needed to File:
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Registered Agent: a legal registered agent in Virginia 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 Virginia registered agent service by Northwest Registered Agent. This 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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Directors: the names and addresses of your initial directors.
Form Your Corporation Here Online
Steps to Forming a Virginia LLC
Information We Need From You to Start Your LLC
1: Select a Name: Your company name must include the words Limited Liability Company, Limited Company, or one of the following abbreviations: L.L.C., LLC, L.C., or LC. If you want to see if your company name is currently available, you can perform a Virginia business name search.
2: Membership: An LLC is owned by its members. Members do not receive shares of stock, like they would in a corporation. Instead, they are assigned an ownership percentage. Each member’s percentage is usually based upon the the amount they have invested into the company.
3: Choose Management: An LLC is most often run by its members. The members are in charge of establishing company policy and handling the day to day activities. However, an LLC can also opt to appoint a manager to oversee the business. In this case, managers can be either members or outside 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, called a registered office. This cannot be a PO box. All of our Speedy filings come with one free year of Virginia registered agent service. This free service keeps your private home and office addresses out of the public record and fulfills your registered agent, mailing and principal office requirements.
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Principal office address: the physical street address of the business office where your company records and financial books are kept.
Form Your LLC Here Online
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