How to Form a Georgia Corporation — Step-by-Step

Your corporation's name has to be distinguishable from every other business name already on file with the Georgia Secretary of State. That includes corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and reserved names. A name that differs only by punctuation, spacing, or a filler word like "the" or "company" may not clear.

Start at the eCorp business search. Search your proposed name and a few close variants. If something too similar already exists, the Corporations Division may reject your Articles, which costs you time.

Corporate name rules in Georgia

• The name must include a corporate designator: "Corporation," "Incorporated," "Company," or "Limited," or an abbreviation such as "Corp.," "Inc.," "Co.," or "Ltd."
• It must be distinguishable from all active and reserved names in Georgia's records.
• It can't imply a purpose the corporation isn't authorized for, and certain regulated words (like "bank," "insurance," or terms suggesting a government agency) require additional approval.

Optional: reserve the name

If you're not ready to file but want to hold the name, you can reserve it through eCorp for a limited period for a small fee. A reservation doesn't create the corporation — it just locks the name while you get organized.

Before you file, you need a registered agent lined up, because the agent's name and Georgia street address go directly into the Articles of Incorporation. The registered agent is the corporation's official point of contact for lawsuits, subpoenas, and state correspondence.

Georgia requires every corporation to maintain a registered agent with a physical Georgia street address throughout the corporation's life. A P.O. box doesn't qualify.

Who can serve

• Yourself, if you have a Georgia street address and are reliably available during business hours. Your address becomes part of the public eCorp record.
• Another individual — a co-founder, an employee, or a Georgia attorney — with a Georgia street address.
• A commercial registered agent service, which keeps its professional address in the public record instead of yours and ensures someone is always available to receive documents.

Many owners use a commercial service specifically to keep a home address off the public record and to avoid missing a served document because they were out of the office.

The Articles of Incorporation is the filing that legally creates your corporation. You file online through eCorp. The state charges a filing fee for the Articles; consult the current Secretary of State fee schedule for the amount.

What goes into the Articles

• Corporate name, including the required designator.
• Authorized shares — the maximum number of shares the corporation may issue. Many small corporations authorize a round number and issue only a portion at formation.
• Registered agent name and Georgia street address.
• Principal office address of the corporation.
• Incorporator name and address — the person forming the corporation, who need not be a shareholder, director, or officer.

Georgia does not require you to list directors, officers, or shareholders in the Articles. That internal detail belongs in your bylaws and corporate records, not the public filing.

Processing

Standard online filings generally process within about a week to ten business days. Georgia offers expedited options if you need the corporation active sooner. Once processed, the corporation shows up in the public eCorp database and your stamped Articles are available.

This step is unique to Georgia and easy to miss. State law requires a newly formed corporation to publish a notice of intent to incorporate in the official legal organ — usually the designated legal newspaper — of the county where the registered office is located.

You submit the notice, along with the publication fee, directly to the newspaper (not the Secretary of State). The notice typically states the corporation's name and the registered office and agent information. The publication generally must be requested no later than the next business day after filing the Articles.

Because it's a separate, county-specific step with its own fee and its own paperwork, this is one of the most commonly overlooked parts of forming a Georgia corporation. We coordinate the publication with the correct county legal organ as part of formation so it doesn't get missed.

Once the corporation exists on paper, the incorporator or the initial directors hold an organizational meeting to actually stand it up as a functioning company. This is where the internal structure gets built.

What happens at the organizational meeting

• Adopt bylaws — the corporation's internal governing document, covering how shareholders, directors, and officers operate. Bylaws are not filed with the state; they live in your corporate records.
• Appoint the board of directors (if the incorporator is naming the initial board) and elect officers such as president, secretary, and treasurer.
• Authorize and issue stock to the initial shareholders in exchange for their capital contributions, and record those issuances in a stock ledger.
• Approve startup actions like opening a bank account and, if appropriate, making a federal S-corporation election.

Everything decided at this meeting is written up as organizational minutes and kept in the corporate record book. That documentation is part of what preserves the liability protection — a corporation that skips these formalities looks less like a genuine separate entity if challenged.

No Georgia corporation can operate without a federal Employer Identification Number from the IRS. It's the corporation's tax ID — the business equivalent of a Social Security number — and you'll need it to open a bank account, hire employees, and file federal and state returns.

How to apply

The quickest route is the IRS EIN Assistant, found at IRS.gov. The application takes about ten minutes and the EIN is issued immediately, so you can use it the same day. Completing the online application requires a US Social Security number or ITIN for the responsible party. Non-US founders without an ITIN can apply by fax or mail using Form SS-4.

A corporation always needs its own EIN — unlike a single-member LLC, it can never use an owner's Social Security number for its filings.

Separate finances are non-negotiable for a corporation. Paying personal expenses from the corporate account, or depositing corporate income personally, blurs the line between you and the entity and invites a court to disregard the corporate structure.

What banks usually want to open a corporate account

• Stamped Articles of Incorporation
• IRS EIN confirmation
• Corporate bylaws and a corporate resolution authorizing the account
• Government-issued ID for authorized signers

Ongoing compliance

Georgia corporations file an annual registration with the Secretary of State and pay the fee each year, due by April 1, to keep registered agent and address information current. You'll also have federal and Georgia tax filings — a C-corp files Form 1120, an S-corp files Form 1120-S — plus any industry licenses your business needs. Registering for Georgia state taxes with the Department of Revenue may also be required depending on what you sell and whether you have employees.