The Chief Financial Officer, also sometimes known as the treasurer, handles the financial aspects of the corporation or LLC. In larger businesses, the CFO becomes an advisor to the CEO, conferring on best approaches for increasing business or investment. In a very small business, the CEO and CFO are frequently the same person, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Corporate secretaries are the unsung heroes in the officer world. They are responsible for the grunt work of the corporation or LLC, making sure i’s are dotted, t’s crossed, taking corporate minutes, and frequently interacting with the business’s lawyer to make sure paperwork and corporate housekeeping are all in order. In a very small business, the corporate secretary is frequently the same person as the CFO and the CEO. In larger businesses, you’ll want to try to make the CEO and corporate secretary two different people, since there may be occasion when refinancing or issuing shares to a corporate investor will require that the secretary attest to the identity of the CEO, which gets awkward when it’s the same person. The position of Secretary is required under California law.
The position of Chief Operating Officer is not required under state law, but businesses that are growing, or intend to grow, will almost always have one. The COO is responsible for the day-to-day of the business, and usually reports to the CEO. And so I know I said that that’s the CEO’s job; in larger businesses, those responsibilities are handed over to the COO, so that the CEO has more time to develop new strategies to grow the business.
It depends. A vice president in your corporation (or LLC) is tasked with acting on behalf of the CEO or President of the entity. This could come in handy if you, presumably being the CEO, aren’t available to sign a particular emergent contract. In your absence, the VP would act on your behalf with all [...]
Strictly speaking, every California corporation is required to have a CEO. So the real question is whether your corporation should also have a President. The President of a corporation is typically tasked with general supervision, direction and control of the business and officers of the corporation. Practically, though, where there’s already a CEO, the President might be [...]
Corporations under most state laws, including California, require that the shareholders and the board of directors of a corporation hold an annual meeting. Some LLC statutes require it as well, though not in California. Those meetings are opportunities to vote on annual issues, like elections of officers and review of last year’s financials. In very small businesses, these meetings may be memorialized by consents . . . you don’t have to hold an actual meeting with yourself (unless that’s your thing and you’re looking for a “legit” reason to deduct a trip to Hawaii for a shareholder’s meeting – that won’t really work, by the way).
Typically an LLC enters into its contracts by and through its authorized representatives. For an LLC, that’s going to be its Manager, or one of its Managers if it has more than one. However, if the LLC has chosen to walk and talk like a corporation, it’s going to be the LLC’s CEO, President, Vice [...]
Nope. There are some pretty strict rules on what you get to name your corporation. Most of those rules can be found in a document regularly updated by the Secretary of State (in California) -- click here to take a look. For example, a corporation need not have "Inc." at the end of its name, but an LLC needs to have "LLC", or "limited liability company", after its name. And here's a new one, even on me: The word "Holding" or "Holdings" is considered to be a "dropped" word in a corporate name, i.e., it's ignored for purposes of figuring out if your name matches one already taken. For example, Herzog Wonderful Legal, Inc. is the same as Herzog Wonderful Legal Holding, Inc.
Depending on what state your company is located in, this could be as simple as filing a single form with that state’s governing agency. In some states, this may be more complicated, but there’s always a way. Keep in mind, by converting the entity, you will likely have to get it a new Tax ID Number, since it’s now a different entity. If there’s a partnership agreement, or certain rights with respect to voting or capital return, be careful about property transferring all of that over. Consult with tax and legal counsel.
California, and many other states, require an annual or biannual report filing detailing the names and addresses of the directors and officers (or managers in the case of an LLC). It’s part of the social contract entities have with the public – liability protection in return for transparency. Not filing can lead eventually to suspension of the corporate or LLC charter, thereby exposing the entity’s owners to personal liability. In California, the first one is due within 90 days of filing the Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization.
Recent Comments