With fall just around the corner, it is time to think about
your business documentation and make sure you don't let
your business fall through the cracks. Ensuring solid
legal documentation for your business and your business
decisions doesn't have to be the chore you think it is.
Keep your focus this fall on these three areas, and your
business will be safely and accurately documented:
1. Review your Company Documentation. You should have each
of the following:
a. Operating Agreement or Partnership Agreement
b. Articles of Incorporation for INC; Articles of
Organization for LLC; Certificate of Limited Partnership
for Partnership (filed with the Corporation Commission or
Secretary of State, depending on your state requirements
c. A Copy of the Publication of your Company
d. Initial Minutes
e. Company Minute Book
f. Stock Certificates (which have been properly issued)
g. Company Seal
2. Review your Minute Books. Check for each of the
following:
a. You should have a set of Annual Minutes for each year
you have been in business. If you are missing a year, get
those minutes done.
b. Check your schedules of percentage interests or stock
holdings. It is common for companies to re-allocate
membership interests, but many fail to capture that change
in the Schedules or on the Stock Certificates and Ledger.
This is crucial. Your books should reflect the most current
changes. This includes transfers of membership interests to
a Living Trust. (This is one of the most frequently
overlooked changes in a Company Minutes Book for small
business owners.)
c. If your state requires it, Annual Reports must be filed
for each year your company was in business. If you failed
to do this, you may be charged a penalty fee. To find out
if you need to file, check with your state's Secretary of
State or Corporation Commission. They can provide all the
information you need.
3. Review Your Monthly Documentation. Do you have Monthly
Resolutions for each month of the year? You need to get
into the habit of keeping track of all business actions
each month. You can keep a running list of items to
include in the Annual Meeting at the end of the year (or
when due for your company). If you are signed up for a
Monthly Resolutions and Annual Minutes service, you will
just need to send a list to the provider. Keeping monthly
resolutions or some kind of running list of actions can
save hours when preparing for your Annual Meeting. It can
also ensure that you don't forget or miss any important
actions or decisions in your Annual Meeting.
A regular review of these three areas each fall will help
you keep your business documentation on track and current.
It will save you hours of research and document preparation
for your Annual Meeting, and you can relax in the
confidence that your business is properly documented and
protected.
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For over ten years, Kari VanNoy and Juli Walsh, both
paralegals, have been building their mission to educate and
protect small business owners. They created Just A Minute,
LLC to assist busy small business owners with their
corporate and company minutes and resolutions to keep their
company assets safe, secure and protected. To learn more
about how they help busy executives stop playing catch-up
and start getting ahead with their company paperwork, visit
http://www.justaminutellc.com .
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