Do It Yourself Incorporations

It has been said that a third party is needed to incorporate your business. Actually, this is a task you can do yourself. You just need to know where to get the information to incorporate. The internet is saturated with companies that charge anywhere from $100 an up to incorporate for you. No lash to these companies. I mean, it’s an easy way to make money from people who’d rather just pay to have someone else do the work or from people who simply ‘don’t know’. A few questions you may want to ask yourself before shedding out loads of cash are; what am I really paying for? What is the filing fee for my state? Without knowing the answers to these questions, you end up paying much more than what’s necessary.

Incorporating in Michigan is fairly simple. The most difficult task of incorporating is determining which form of incorporation to file, whether corporation, limited partnership, limited liability, etc. If you are unsure of what is available to you find definitions in the Business Services section on the Michigan.gov Website. Click here for the link. Before filing any papers, you need to choose a business name. Find out if the name is available. This information can be found in the Business Entity Search . This will tell you whether or not the business name that you’ve chosen to incorporate in the state of Michigan is available. Fill out the incorporation form and drop it in the mail, along with your check for the incorporation (fees are about $50 and up) and the filing fee (starts at $10). Find all fees for each type of incorporation on the form that you are filling out to incorporate. The fee for that corporate entity is located on the last page of the form. If you want to rush the filing, there is an additional fee for this service. Really, it’s a one, two punch deal.

If you are absolutely unsure of what entity to apply for, find a CPA or attorney who can answer any questions you may have or give you more insight on tax regulations for each corporation.

Now that you’re ready for business, treat yourself to a leather business card case to store all your info. Stay prepared!