How to Form a Company in New York
Introduction
If you’ve got a great idea for a business, New York is a great place to start. The state has more than 400,000 active businesses and is home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state in the U.S. However, setting up your company isn’t as simple as just registering with the state—you need to follow certain steps in order to make sure that your business is set up correctly from the start. In this article, we’ll walk you through all of them:
Create a business plan.
Your business plan should include a detailed description of the company and its goals, including:
- The type of service or product you plan to sell.
- How you will market and advertise your services or products.
- Financial projections over at least three years, showing how much money you expect to make in sales each month, quarter and year.
It’s also important to consider any challenges that could arise during your first year in operation, such as a shortage of customers or problems with suppliers. In addition, keep track of all expenses related to starting up the business so that you’ll have a realistic idea about how much money is needed for startup costs such as equipment rental fees and office supplies like pens, paper clips and staplers.”
Register your business with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
New York requires the formation of a business to be registered with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Registration is free and easy, but it does take about two weeks. You can register online or by mail using Form REG-1, which you can download from the website (www.tax.ny.gov/registration). If you’d prefer to speak with someone about your registration process, you can call (518) 457-2036 Monday through Friday between 8 AM and 4:30 PM Eastern time for assistance with this form or any other tax issues related to your business throughout New York state.
If you have a certificate of good standing from the state attorney general’s office—a document that certifies that there are no pending lawsuits involving your company—you can register by phone at (518) 474-2428 Monday through Friday between 8 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern time instead of completing an online form or mailing in an envelope full of papers so thick they could be used as insulation against winter winds off Lake Erie
Register your business name with the county clerk’s office.
- Go to your county clerk’s office. This is the place where you’ll need to register your business name, address and phone number.
- Register all of this info with the county clerk, who will give you a certificate of filing that shows all of the information on it (which you’ll use later).
- You can also register your email address and website here—this is important because it gives you an official presence in NY state!
Apply for an employer identification number.
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a nine-digit number that the IRS assigns to businesses in order to uniquely identify them. You’ll need one in order to open a business bank account and apply for tax identification numbers.
File a certificate of organization with the state Department of State.
A certificate of organization is a document that serves as a proof of existence for your business. You must file this with the New York State Department of State, which handles corporate filings.
You can get the form online. It’s called the Certificate of Incorporation and will give you all the information you need to complete it online. Just follow these steps:
- Fill out your personal information at the top of the page, including your name, address, email address and phone number (if you want someone from NYS DFS to call you).
- Enter what type of entity you’re forming under—such as LLC or corporation—and then enter its name in both upper- and lowercase letters below that line. Make sure there’s no space between any letters; if there is more than one word in your proposed name, use quotation marks around each word instead (e.g., “My Awesome Company”). Note that if it looks like an abbreviation (like LLC or Corporation), it probably isn’t acceptable in New York because they have certain rules about how abbreviations can be used when filing documents related to businesses formed here…so think carefully before using something like this!
Create an operating agreement.
The operating agreement is a document that defines the rights and responsibilities of the company’s shareholders. It’s also a contract between the shareholders and the company. This document can be used to define the structure of your new business (e.g., whether it’s a corporation or partnership), how much money each member contributes, what each member owns, who gets paid what amount, etc.
The process of starting a company in New York can be complicated and time-consuming, but following these steps can help.
Starting a company in New York can be complicated and time-consuming, but following these steps can help you get started on the right foot.
The first thing you’ll want to do is form an LLC. To do this, file Articles of Organization with the New York Department of State (DOS). The form will ask for basic information about your business: its name, address and type of entity (limited liability company). You will also need to provide two names for initial directors (one of which must not be your own) along with their addresses and social security numbers — if they are individuals who are not members of the LLC themselves, that is. Make sure you get these details right because they will determine whether or not an employer identification number (EIN) needs to be applied for separately later on, which could delay your application!
After all necessary documents have been submitted successfully at DOS headquarters in Albany — approximately 10 days after filing — it’s time now actually start operating under this newly created entity! This means hiring employees who work directly underneath those initial directors named earlier mentioned above; opening bank accounts; hiring accountants; buying insurance policies etcetera…
Conclusion
We hope that this article has helped you understand how to start a business in New York. Starting a business can be rewarding and satisfying, but it’s also a lot of work! It can be overwhelming at first if you don’t know where to begin, so our goal was to simplify the process for you by providing these steps on how to form an LLC or corporation in New York State. If you have any questions about forming your own company, please reach out—we are happy to help!
