Forming a corporation or other business entity is a useful step in growing and protecting your business and doing so confers many benefits, including:

• The protection of personal assets
• Tax benefits
• Transferable ownership
• Durability
• Credit
• Retirement funding

However, creating these entities is not easy and it isn’t cheap. You will need to file Articles of Incorporation (also referred to as a Charter, a Certificate of Incorporation or as Letters Patent). Your Articles will describe the purpose of the corporation, its principal place of business and the number and type of shares of stock you will issue. There is also a filing fee that ranges in price from $25 to $1,000 depending on the state. Corporate by-laws are the second item needed for formation and they also have to be filed with the state. These by-laws deal with things like annual meetings, voting rights and shareholder notification. The third item is a proper corporate name.

These names are usually made up of three parts: A distinctive element, a descriptive element and a legal ending. While many corporations decide to forego the descriptive element, all corporations must have the distinctive element and most jurisdictions require the legal ending, which indicates that it is in fact a legal corporation and not just a business registration or partnership. Incorporated, Limited and Corporation, or their respective abbreviations (Inc., Ltd., Corp.) are the possibilities for this legal ending in the U.S.

This can mean a lot of often confusing paperwork and is generally not something a small business owner should face alone. It can also be very expensive to hire an attorney to do the work for you. Now, you don’t have to.

Beginning Wednesday, May 21^st, America’s Best Companies partner, BizFilings, is offering a limited-time discount of up to 45% off the list price for the formation of corporations, limited liability companies, nonprofits, limited partnerships, or limited liability partnerships in two of the most popular states for incorporation, Delaware and Nevada. The discount packages are: 

                                              
                                            
                                    

While the promotional discount cannot be combined with the regular discount that ABC members enjoy, 10% off BizFilings' services (state and county filing fees excluded), in cases where the regular discount is greater, that is the one that will apply. If the promotional discount is greater, it will apply.

For more information, visit ABC’s BizFilings page.