Articles of Incorporation

Articles of incorporation

Legal document establishing a corporation and its structure and purpose.

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Articles of Incorporation

A document outlining the basic functions of a company. Among other things, it states whether it will be an S Corporation or a C Corporation and how many authorized shares there will be. It also states how its corporate governance and operations will work. A company that seeks to incorporate must file articles of incorporation with the appropriate authority. In the United States, that authority is usually the states and sometimes the federal government. It is also called a corporate charter or simply a charter. See also: Charter Amendment Limitations.

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articles of incorporation

The document that a firm files with state authorities when establishing a corporation. This document contains the firm's name and address, the type and amount of stock to be authorized and issued, the type of business activity, a delineation of corporate powers, and other information. Also called charter, corporate charter.