Form Your Alabama Corporation

The Process

Alabama corporations are formed by first reserving the desired company name, then filing the original and two copies of the Certificate of Formation with the Probate Judge in the county where the newly formed company’s registered office is located. The Probate Judge will collect the Secretary of State filing fee and forward it, along with the filed copy, to the Secretary of State for further recording. The entire filing process takes anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks. To learn more about incorporating in Alabama you can visit Alabama State government website.

Name Identifiers and Abbreviations

The name of the Alabama corporation must end with one of the following words/abbreviations:

• Inc.
• Corp.
• Co.
• Incorporated
• Corporation
• Company

Additional Filings

Depending on the nature of your business some additional filings could be necessary to complete the proper set up of your corporation. Click on the items below to learn about each:

• EIN (tax ID)
• S-Corporation Election
• Sales Tax Registration
• Payroll Registration & Business Licensing

Bylaws and Minutes of Meetings

Bylaws is an important corporate document, serving as the “constitution” of the corporation. It defines various aspects or ownership and management of the corporation, as well as other aspects of corporation’s existence. To properly establish, maintain and manage the affairs of the corporation directors and shareholders must meet periodically, and those meetings should be documented (minutes of meetings). Bylaws, minutes of all meetings, as well as other corporate documents, must be kept with your corporate records and are not filed with the state.

Alabama mandates all corporations to have bylaws, and properly maintain minutes of all meetings taking place. We can provide you with standard bylaws and minutes of initial meetings of directors and shareholders, as well as other important documents such as stock ledger and bills of sale of shares to initial shareholders.