How to Form a Company in Kansas

Introduction

Before you can begin doing business in Kansas, you must form a legal entity. There are several options to choose from when deciding how your company will be structured.

Establish the type of entity you wish to form.

• Establish the type of entity you wish to form.
• Choose a business entity that will allow you to be profitable.
• Choose a business entity that will enable you to raise funds.
• Choose a business entity that will enable you to make tax deductions.

Reserve a business name.

You can reserve a business name for up to 180 days by filing an application with the Secretary of State. The cost is $10 plus $3 per year, with no minimum fee, and you may be able to use any word or words in your state’s language, including abbreviations.

You can reserve a business name at the same time as you submit articles of incorporation or register with the secretary of state’s office.

File articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State.

File articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State.

Kansas requires you to file articles of incorporation as part of the process to form a company in Kansas. You need these documents to create your legal business entity, and they can be filed electronically using a special online filing system or by mail. When you file, you will be asked for some basic information about your company, such as its name and address, who’s serving as its agent and where it plans to do business. You will also pay $50 for this service (the fee is waived if you register using an electronic means).

Draft your company’s bylaws.

Once you’ve registered as a corporation, there are very specific rules that must be followed when writing the bylaws of your company. Your board of directors will make important decisions about how your business operates, including establishing financial goals and setting out the specific duties of each officer.

Before going into detail on how to create and file bylaws in Kansas, it’s important to understand what they are. A corporation’s bylaws are a set of rules that govern how an organization is run—they’re essentially its constitution. They outline how officers’ responsibilities should be carried out and spell out policies for hiring new employees or making major changes within an organization (like merging with another company).

If you don’t have written corporate guidelines in place when starting up your business, then there could be confusion later on when making decisions about where profits should go or which projects deserve funding first. As such, having clearly defined procedures outlined in black-and-white can help avoid legal disputes among shareholders down the line

Hold an initial board of directors meeting.

The board of directors is a group of people who are elected by the shareholders to oversee the overall direction of your company. In some states, there’s only one person on this board; in others, there can be as many as seven.

The initial meeting for electing officers and directors is generally held at the charter signing or within 60 days following incorporation. The minutes should be kept in their official capacity as corporate records and filed with your Secretary of State’s office upon completion.

Address tax and regulatory compliance requirements.

• Corporate income tax: $100.00
• Franchise tax: 0.015% of net worth for corporations and financial institutions, 0.025% for other businesses
• Sales tax: 4.9%, with a few exceptions in certain counties that charge slightly less or more than this figure (see the Kansas Department of Revenue website for details)
• Withholding tax: 1% to 3% on employee wages paid by employers (this is also known as an income tax)
• Property taxes: Varies depending on your county and property type; property transfer taxes are also assessed when you buy or sell real estate in Kansas

Takeaway:

There are several vital steps to take when forming a company in Kansas, and you need to make sure that you cover them all.

Make sure that you have a business plan. This is the backbone of any startup and helps ensure that everything is going according to plan. A good business plan will also help secure financing for your startup, as it makes the case for why investors should put their money into your project.

If you want some inspiration for writing your own business plan, check out this helpful resource from Small Business Administration (SBA): https://www.sba.gov/start-business/starting-business/writing-business-plan

Conclusion

Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a brand new, legally registered business. Whether you’re a sole proprietor or an LLC, there are many benefits to starting your own company. A corporate structure allows you more flexibility in hiring employees, managing finances and investments and paying taxes on profits than if you were operating as a sole proprietor or partnership would have allowed. We hope that this guide has helped demystify the process for forming a company in Kansas for first-time entrepreneurs who are just getting started with their dream business idea!