One of the most important things you can do to protect your business is to observe corporate formalities. This should include, at a minimum, an annual review meeting by your company’s owners to ensure you’re legally compliant.
Working with an experienced business attorney, you’ll walk through what’s happened in the past year and your future plans so that you can put the right legal paperwork in place for both.
For the past, it’s like patching potholes in the road. For the future, it’s your plans to expand that road as you grow.
This meeting will likely include corporate records, minutes, resolutions, and related contracts designed to protect you and your business.
Does the meeting have to be in person?
Typically, that’s not necessary. For example, it’s common to hold the meeting online by video conferencing, by telephone, or a combination of the two.
When should you hold your annual meeting? Ideally, you’ll want to do that before the end of the current fiscal year. For most businesses, that’s also the calendar year (e.g., December 31st).
What if you don’t want a meeting?
In some cases, it’s possible to do everything by either unanimous or majority written consent of the owners without actually meeting. The corporate documents can be prepared by your business lawyer and then you can electronically sign them.
Like organizing your desk, once you’ve had your first annual business review meeting, it gets easier to keep things clean going forward. Because it’s more routine maintenance after that initial meeting.
If you need help with this, it’s probably time to set up a phone consultation with Business Lawyer Mike Young.
