California Articles of Incorporation

Filling out the California Articles of Incorporation

Anyone who wishes to form a California corporation needs to file Articles of Incorporation with the California Secretary of State, who oversees the Business Entities Section. ClickandInc.com can also provide you with your Articles of Incorporation. The California Corporations Code sets the guidelines for all business filings in California. California Articles of Incorporation are pursuant to General Corporation Law, California Corporations Code, Title 1, Division 1, Chapter 2, which sets forth the requirements for all stock-issuing entities in the state of California. The file date for your California Articles of Incorporation is generally on or around the date on which they are received by the Secretary of State’s office.

Article 1: Name: In this section of the California Articles of Incorporation you will fill in the name of your company in exactly the manner you want it to appear on the records of the California Secretary of State. In California, your business name cannot be the same as any existing active corporation or any currently reserved corporation’s name. California law does not prohibit a corporation from having the same name as other types of business entities, such as LLCs and general partnerships; ClickandInc.com can help you determine whether your name is available by performing a California corporate name search. Generally, California does not absolutely require a corporate ending such as Incorporated, Corporation, or Company or their abbreviations.

Article 2: Corporate Purpose: In California, you are permitted to form a corporation for any lawful business activity. In this section, a statement provided by the state must be included exactly as provided. The statement is: "The purpose of the corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which a corporation may be organized under the General Corporation Law of California other than the banking business, the trust company business or the practice of a profession permitted to be incorporated by the California Corporations Code."

Article 3: Initial Agent for Process Service: In this section you will provide the name and California address of the person you will be designating as your Registered Agent.   P.O. boxes are not acceptable as an address for a California Registered Agent. The Registered Agent can be either an individual or an incorporate entity; however, a corporation is not permitted to serve as its own Registered Agent.

Article 4: Shares In this section you will indicate the total number of shares your company will be authorized to trade. You will be required to comply with the Corporate Securities Law overseen by the California Department of Corporations before you will be permitted to sell or issue shares in your corporation.

Execution: Every director of your corporation is considered to be an Incorporator. Signatures and acknowledgement of the Articles of Incorporation are required.

Learn how Clickandinc.com can file California Articles of Incorporation for you. 

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