Steps to Forming a Wisconsin Corporation

Information We Need From You to Start Your Corporation

1: Select a Name: The name of your company must contain one of the following: Corporation, Incorporated, Company, Limited, Corp., Inc., Co., or Ltd.

2: Authorize Shares: A corporation is owned by its shareholders. A shareholder owns shares of stock in the corporation. Wisconsin requires you to designate a number of initial shares you intend to authorize. Generally, a corporation will only authorize a small number of shares (100, for example). At the first shareholders meeting, you would then issue 51% of those shares to yourself, giving you control of the company. The remaining shares can be held for future business partners.

3: Choose Management: A corporation is managed by its Directors. The Directors are responsible for setting company policy, determining salaries and bonuses, issuing stock, and appointing the corporate officers (President, Treasurer, Secretary). In most cases, you would simply appoint yourself the sole Director and take on the roles of the corporate officers.

4: Remaining Info Needed to File:

  • Registered Agent: a lawful Wisconsin registered agent must have a physical street address within the state, called a registered office. This cannot be a PO box. All of our Speedy filings come with one free year of Wisconsin registered agent service by Northwest Registered Agent. This service keeps your private home and office addresses out of the public record and fulfills your registered agent, mailing and principal office requirements.

  • Second choice of corporate name: you can include a second name option for your corporation, should your first choice be taken.

Form Your Corporation Here Online

Steps to Forming a Wisconsin LLC

Information We Need From You to Start Your LLC

1: Select a Name: the name of your company must contain the following: Limited Liability Company, Limited Liability Co., L.L.C., or LLC. If you want to see if your company name is available, you can do a Wisconsin business name search.

2: Membership: An LLC is owned by its members. Members are not issued shares of stock, as they would be in a corporation. Instead, they are assigned ownership percentages. Each percentage is usually in direct proportion to how much each member has invested in the company.

3: Choose Management: LLCs are typically managed by their members. Members set the company policy and generally take part in the day to day activities. However, an LLC can also opt to appoint a manager to oversee the business. Managers can be members, or they can be outside parties.

4: Remaining Info Needed to File:

  • Registered Agent: a Wisconsin registered agent must have a physical street address within the state. This is called a registered office, and it cannot be a PO box. All of our Speedy filings come with one free year of Wisconsin registered agent service. This free service keeps your private home and office addresses out of the public record and fulfills your registered agent, mailing, and principal office requirements.

  • Management: whether your LLC is managed by its members or by a manager (or managers).

  • Second choice of company name: you can list a second company name option, in case your first choice is not available.

Form Your LLC Here Online

Testimonials

I’m impressed with the clean crisp layout and simple way of ordering something that I was scared of being too complex. I didn’t even bother calling up any other business sites. The price is great, too. ” – Greg S., Green Bay , Wisconsin

Your site is very excellent! Easy to move around in and provided me with all the information I needed to make my decision of which items in my incorpation package. ” – John T., Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I found you while doing some searching on MSN about incorporation and decided to have you file for my LLC. I’m so glad I did. Professional service at bargain prices.” – Barry C., Madison, Wisconsin