incorporation edmonton lawyers; Edmonton incorporation lawyers

Start off right with Edmonton incorporation lawyers.

Lawyers To Incorporate Your Edmonton Business

Operating your business through a corporation provides key advantages. When you incorporate you may save on taxes, limit your liability and more. Our Edmonton incorporation lawyers help set up your company correctly the first time. That proper set up saves you time, money and frustration. Kahane Law Office (Edmonton) assists clients across Alberta properly set up their new business venture. Call us in Edmonton at (780) 571-8463 today to protect you, your assets, and your business.

What Is A Corporation?

A corporation is a legal entity, separate from the person or people who own it. A corporation has the ability to own property, carry on business, and it pays income tax. The law in Alberta treats any current legal entity in the same way as it would an individual. A corporation has legal status enter into contracts, sue, and be sued. Most important to note, if you run a business on your own, as a sole proprietor, then you personally pay all the taxes at your tax rate, and personally hold liability for all matters related to the business.

Corporate Structure: Shareholders

Corporations are owned by people (or other corporations) who buy its “shares”. The term for the owners, either individual or corporate is “Shareholders”. While Shareholders own the corporation, they do not necessarily “run” or directly control the business operations. Instead, the Shareholders appoint a board of Directors to oversee the business.

Corporate Structure: Directors

The directors normally work together as a “board of directors”, unless there is only one director. They report to the Shareholders and are responsible for the more “big picture” type of decisions. Directors normally do not get involved in the daily activities of the business, but they meet regularly to provide oversight and make sure that the business is heading the right direction. The Board of Directors appoint the Officers to take care of the daily management of the business. Edmonton incorporation lawyers help corporations passed the initial set up. They keep helping with legal issues and corporate governance going forward to help protect the company.

Corporate Structure: Officers

Officers are “upper management”. You have probably heard of titles such as “Chief Executive Officer” (CEO), “Chief Financial Officer” (CFO), “President”, “Vice President”, “Secretary”, or “Treasurer”. These are all titles that Officers of a corporation could use, depending on their role. Officers make sure the day-to-day operations run according to plan. They implement the Director’s vision and report directly to the Board of Directors.

Edmonton Incorporation Lawyers Helping Small Business

In smaller businesses it is very common for the owners to be the Shareholders, Directors, and Officers of the Corporation. However, it is still helpful to understand the different roles – especially if your goal is to grow the business. Every officer and director should understand their requirements to the company and their role in the company. Failing to do so, often leads to potential personal liability. Our Edmonton incorporation lawyers guide you whenever you need help in running the corporation properly from a legal perspective.

Running A Corporation: Bylaws And Resolutions

Every corporation requires a set of bylaws that provide instructions and rules for how decisions are made and how Directors and Shareholders must document those decisions (in “Resolutions”). This is an important piece in the incorporation process.Often, people leave out key elements to the bylaws resulting in a legal loss of some tax advantages. If you are going to own a corporation you need to know and follow the formal rules for operating it – especially if there are additional Shareholders.

Keeping Your Corporation Up-To-date: Annual Returns

Each year every corporation must pay a fee and file a set of forms with the provincial corporate registry. If you fail to do this the registrar strikes the corporation from the register, which is the same as declaring it “dead”. This means, the company loses the ability to contract, sue or protect its shareholders if it still operates. Here is more information to learn about why it is so important to maintain your minute books.  If this has happened to you it may still be possible to “resurrect” the struck corporation. Call our Edmonton incorporation lawyers if you need assistance if this happens to you. We fix these and other corporate problems.

Numbered Companies

You may know of a corporation with a name similar to “1234567 Alberta Inc.”. People refer to this type of company as a “numbered” company. If the name of your corporation doesn’t matter a numbered company may be right for you. From a legal perspective, it is exactly the same as a “regular” corporation except for the name. The cost to start a numbered company are lower than starting a named corporation. Here is more detailed legal information on the differences between named and numbered companies in Alberta.

Professional Corporations

Some professions, such as lawyers, doctors, dentists, and accountants are allowed to run their practice using a special kind of corporation known as a “Professional Corporation”. What makes these corporations special is that they provide the tax benefits of a regular corporation, but do not provide any protection from liability. Instead these professions are protected from liability by insurance. To learn more about Professional Corporations, read this.

How Long Does It Take Edmonton Incorporation Lawyers To Incorporate?

It does not have to take long to register a corporation. Our Edmonton incorporation lawyers normal turn-around time is around 3-4 business days. We know some people require the company set up faster. If you need it done faster,  we work with you to get it done more quickly. If you need a bank account, this often spurs a necessity for the rush to complete the start up. In many instances, same day registration of the legal entity is possible. For this to happen, we need specific details which we email to you to return to us.

Short Videos About Incorporating

If you have more questions, please watch our Kahane Law Legal Minute video about incorporating here. In addition, we also have a video about the benefits of incorporating that you can watch here.

Help From Edmonton Incorporation Lawyers

Start you business off the right way. Choosing the right structure for your business will protect you from problems in the future. The incorporation lawyers at Kahane Law Office can help you make sure you choose the structure that makes the most sense for your business. You can reach us at [email protected], by phone at (780) 571-8463. Lastly, feel free to book an appointment using our online booking tool by clicking here.