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8th Jul 2019

Goodbye Paperless! The Ease of Downloadable Stock Certificates

You have some corporate stock certificates you want to issue for your company. But until now that has always involved a complicated and detailed process.

You didn't want to have to go through all the complications to get the company stock certificates you need.

What if we were to share with you a way you can download pre-formatted and even customized PDF stock certificates based on your needs?

We can help you with that and more. We want to help you get the stock certificates you need.

We are the trusted source for pdf fillable stock certificates every business needs as they grow and develop.

Each pdf you order can be personalized based on your company’s stock certificate needs. Companies need to have stock certificates for various reasons.

We will go over some of these reasons so you can best decide the next best step for your company.

Corporate Stock Certificates

Corporate stock certificates for companies have been around almost as long as companies. In fact, the first stock certificate for a company was unearthed by a Dutch history student in 1606. The Dutch East India Company issued the stock certificate.

Since that time, stock certificates have been issued for almost all companies. These stock certificates are issued regardless of what type of corporate charter a company has.

It doesn't matter if your company is an LLC or Inc. or anything in-between, corporate stock certificates are vital.

Corporate stock certificates are important because they represent the financial value of a corporation. Not only that, but the corporate stock certificate represents the number of shares owned in your company.

What is on a Stock Certificate?

Stock certificates represent the shares of your company. But each stock certificate needs to have certain information recorded on it.

The information on each share is:

  • The date of the stock certificate.
  • The identification number of the stock certificate.
  • The corporate seal is on the stock certificate.
  • The signature on the stock certificate.

Corporate stock certificates come with detailed and intricate designs and swirls. This helps to minimize fraudulent duplication risk.

As the company owner you can by yourself or with other shareholders in your company issue a certain amount of shares.

Shares are sold at market rate or sometimes a predetermined amount to others you want to bring in as company shareholders.

Corporate stock certificates offer proof of that transaction. It allows shareholders purchases to be legally recognized.

There is no substitute for a corporate stock certificate for you, your company, or your shareholders.

Stock Certificates Template

We are unique in that we offer stock certificates and stock certificate templates that can be printed with minimum fuss or cost to you.

No one should ever be held back from getting funding for their business because of legal consultation costs. We know how expensive it can be to have detailed legal help when issuing the issue of stock certificates you need.

We provide an answer to that unique issue. We encourage our customers to seek legal counsel at some point because we are not lawyers nor do we offer any legal guidance or advice.

But if you already know what you want to do, we can help you. If you know how you want to do it and it involves stock certificates, we are a brilliant answer.

Stock Certificate Template Instructions

Our paper stock certificate templates offer you easy to fill in line items. All you have to do is find the template online by searching for the certificate type you need.

We have tried to make things easier for you, we have various types and categories already listed. Most of our certificates have the first line item as the company's name and address.

If your company name and address isn't already printed from your order, you can fill it in now.

We have allocated a corresponding line item that allows you to record the buyer's address and the number of stock shares they are purchasing.

You need to have at least two corporate officers to sign the stock certificate for verification and validity purposes.

Once you have completed all the above, you can emboss the area with your corporate seal.

Your last step is putting down the CUSIP (Committee on Uniform Security Identification Procedures) and/or the CINS (Cargo Incident Notification System) number.

This allows for the SC number, names, shares, and prices per transaction. This is done for tracking all transactions that involve stock sales.

Electronic Stocks

There is a lot of debate going on right now as to whether or not printed paper stock certificates are worth extra time, money, and effort. Many companies are transferring their stock certificates to electronic versions.

But there are some problems with electronic stock and we want to share what we have learned with you. These problems include, but are not limited to auditing issues.

Auditing Issues

Auditing issues can be a real concern for companies when they buy and sell a stock.

The auditing issues happen because stock certificates in electronic form can be exposed to viruses, technology malfunctions, and lost electronic records. These types of issues happen all the time.

There are also security risks when dealing with any online financial transaction. With paper issued stock certificates, you have a centralized storage area in a lockbox or firebox that stays safe and secure until needed. For auditing purposes, it is perfect.

Tendering Shares

Tendering shares is another big issue when dealing with electronic stock. Anytime a shareholder wants to exchange or return for cash consideration their stock it is important to know if the stock certificate is legit.

Uncertified shares are always a custody concern with share tendering. Uncertified shares in an electronic format can be forged, manipulated, or stolen.

It is much more difficult to forge a paper stock certificate with all the correct numbers, seal, signatures and dates.

It's like trying to counterfeit currency. This is very difficult and easily caught mostly when it is attempted. However, electronic theft is difficult to find, hard to prove and sometimes never caught.

The Problem with Uncertified Electronic Shares

As we mentioned above, electronic shares have some real issues with uncertified share transfers, values, and theft.

They are sometimes security risks that have no real answers which help. Here is why there are problems with uncertified electronic shares:

  • Uncertified Shares can be a Legal Nightmare. There are many legal opinions about the enforceability of restrictions on uncertificated shares.
    • Also, the enforceability of uncertified shares for transfers via electronic stock certificates can be difficult.
    • The laws are ambiguous regarding electronic uncertified share transfers. This can mean it takes a lot of time, money, and effort to make a case for uncertified electronic stock transfers.
    • Because the transfers are difficult to do sometimes due to the uncertified stock status, they require the help of expensive legal counsel in most cases.

Corporate Stock

Now that we have discussed electronic vs. paper stock certificates, we need to dive a little deeper into corporation divisions.

For example, what is the difference between corporate stock and stock for a business formed as an LLC?

Come to find out there are a lot of differences and we are here to go over them with you.

Corporations issue shares to their shareholders. These shares allow for a corporation to have outside investors or go public.

That's when a company offers everyone a chance to purchase public stock in their company.

For tax purposes, corporations are taxed one of two ways. They can be taxed as a C corporation.

C corporations will pay federal income tax on any corporate profit. Their shareholders will pay any dividends tax on any dividends they receive.

Now if a corporation has less than 100 shareholders, they can be an S corporation. Corporations that are S corporations don't have to pay corporate income tax at all.

But, the corporation's profits which go to their shareholders come attached to taxes which need to be paid on whatever their individual profit was.

Forming a Corporation Using Corporate Stock

There are steps you need to take to form a corporation using corporate stock. The steps are the same in most states, but there may be small differences or statutes your state uses.

Some of these small differences or statutes are not listed below. So please make sure you double-check with your Secretary of State.

The Vital Steps to Forming a Corporation

  1. Give your company a name which ends in Corp., Inc. or Incorporated.
  2. The name cannot already exist and be registered in your state.
    • There is a database of company names already taken in each of the 50 states.
    • If the name you want is not taken, you need to register it with your state's corporate name registration web portal.
  3. Appoint your registered agent.
    • This can be yourself, someone you want to run the corporation or even an attorney.
    • This person will be in charge of accepting all legal papers on your company's behalf.
  4. Put your board of directors together.
    • You need a list of people who will serve as your initial board of directors.
    • Since this is your company, you must appoint at least one person for their first stockholder meeting.
    • Some states allow the incorporator/owner to be the same as the appointed director.
  5. Prepare and submit your articles of incorporation to the Secretary of State Agency for your state.

You are now ready to create and use your corporation stock certificates when you sell shares in your company.

LLC Stock

For those out there who are forming or running an LLC they know the owners are called members. Instead of selling shares to shareholders as a C or S corporation does, they sell designated percentages of their company.

The designated percentages give their members interest in the company, which is like shares a shareholder receives.

However, memberships are more difficult to sell or transfer. The LLC operating agreement lets you know if membership interests can be sold or transferred. The good news about LLC's is its versatile tax structure.

Even if the company has members with membership shares, they can pay taxes as if they were a partnership.

If you are the only one in your LLC as a member, you can pay taxes like a sole proprietorship business. Also, an LLC can still be taxed as a C or S corporation.

Stock Certificates

Now you know corporation stock certificates can be electronic or secured with certifiable paper stock certificates.

As we presented, many people have varying opinions on which is better and why. But stock certificates, which are a solid piece of intricately designed paper.

They can be stored securely and are difficult to forge or steal. They are a more secure method of forming your corporation with the stock certificates you need.

Filling out your stock certificates is something we presented in an easy-to-use step-by-step guide.

There is no downside to creating and using stock certificates for your corporation’s needs.

It doesn't matter if you a corporation S, C, or LLC. Stock certificates that can be printed and have fillable line items for your use are timesaving and very affordable. The customization you can do per company or design is worth a lot.

It is difficult for someone to take an intricate design and fraudulently use it without getting caught. Something that cannot be said about the electronic formats of stock certificates.

I Want to Get my Company Stock Certificates

If you want to get your company's stock certificates, you need to look no further than our website. You can reach out to us and call or just click over to our website link.

We have many styles and designs for company stock certificates. There are so many to choose from one will fit your company's unique needs.

Some of what we offer ranges from:

  • Corporate Stock Certificates.
  • Printable LLC Share Certificates.
  • Stock Certificate Template.
  • Custom Printed Corporate Stock Certificates.
  • LLC Stock Certificates.
  • Capital Stock Certificates.
  • Corporate Seal, and more.

Don't wait to make your dream a reality in owning your own business. We have the stock certificates you need to take the next step.

We can help provide the information you need with the forms that are required. To begin doesn't require a long ordeal, which will take a long time and cost you a lot of money.

It will only take a phone call or a web click to begin the rest of your life with the business you have always wanted.