Business Documents: What are the essential documents related to your business?

[joannav]

Hi Seller Community 👋!

We've been researching about business documentation and would love to know your insights on the topic.

Think about your specific business, if someone said: "What are the essential documents related to your business?", what document examples come to your mind?

• Which of the documents you mentioned are easiest for you to find?
• Which of these would you be willing to share with a third-party who's requesting you to confirm you are the business owner?

Looking forward to reading all your replies!

[JK_Fiber_Art]

Hi joannav,

Don't know if you're planning to start a business or you are already established.  Below is kind of reference as to what's needed - of course it all depends on the type of business and location.

* Business Plan - if planning for a bank loan.
* Articles of Incorporation/Articles of Organization - needed for forming a Corp or LLC
* Operating Agreement/Bylaws - needed for forming a Corp or LLC
* Tax Identification Number (TIN) and/or Employer Identification Number (EIN)
* Business Licenses and Permits - needed by both State and/or Local
* Contracts and Agreements - relevant to your business activities.
* Financial Statements - for loans and/or tax purposes
* Insurance Policies - general liability insurance, property insurance, etc.
* Intellectual Property Documents - trademarks, copyrights, patents, etc.
* Employee Records - W-4 or equivalent records

As for which of the documents are easiest for you to find?   You should have any and all that apply available.

And which of these would you be willing to share with a third-party who's requesting you to confirm you are the business owner?

Business Licenses and Permits is a good place to start as most are required to be displayed for others to see.

jk

[joannav]

Thank you for such a thorough response @JK_Fiber_Art  That's a long list! If you don't mind sharing, I am curious how do you store these documents?

[JK_Fiber_Art]

Both electronically (digital scans) on my computer (and backed up of course on two portable drives, just in case.) and hard copy (actual paper documents) in fire proof storage boxes.  Yep, it's a bit more detailed but, either way, if you need a document, you have it.   We have learned the hard way - will not make those mistakes again ....

jk

[Minion]

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@JK_Fiber_Art wrote:

Both electronically (digital scans) on my computer (and backed up of course on two portable drives, just in case.) and hard copy (actual paper documents) in fire proof storage boxes.  Yep, it's a bit more detailed but, either way, if you need a document, you have it.   We have learned the hard way - will not make those mistakes again ....

jk

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I Do the exact same. @JK_Fiber_Art   I have a hard copy, a copy on an external hard drive, and a copy in my Google Drive as well.  I've needed my Articles before  at the bank, so I just pulled them off my google drive from my phone, and emailed them to the banker right then and there. 

[JUYBoutique20]

Business License, TIN and/or EIN, LLC or whatever you are structured as paperwork & Sales tax permit are the basics if you're just starting and have no employees.  When I was required to prove myself as a legit business this is the paperwork I was asked to submit.  

[joannav]

Thank you, @JUYBoutique20 for the quick response. I am curious how do you store these documents? 

[JUYBoutique20]

I have a business file cabinet that I put all my paperwork in.  

[DinaLRosenberg]

For us the most important document is our certificate of authority to collect sales tax- that has our EIN number on it. We use that the most.. also the NY State ST120 is what we would send to vendors so as not to pay tax

[rtfulk]

We work state fairs and usually our first customer is the tax people. We have sales tax numbers for many states. We also have to carry proof of insurance normally 2 million dollars, some require 5 million. We also keep our EIN and LLC number just in case. I store all of this in the cloud, so if they need a copy I can just shoot them an email.

[joannav]

Thank you for responding!

[MudFire_Dex]

Business License and Sales Tax info have been our biggest ones over the past 10 years - we've also needed occasionally our lease and our articles of incorporation or state registration info. @joannav sorry for clarification - we sometimes are asked for our sales and use number and sometimes a W9 form.

[joannav]

Thank you for responding! Can you please tell me a bit more about what you mean by "sales tax info," @MudFire_Dex ?

[joannav]

Thank you so much! This is very helpful. 💙

[homeprogreen]

I keep scanned digital copies of State Reseller Permit, City Business License, State License and have to supply those to vendors all the time

[joannav]

Thank you, very helpful!

[Stacelyn24]

Our salon license, individual beauty license for everyone in the salon, our LLC paperwork...along with our EIN.  Always need a current print out from Square of my last year and/or previous year 1099K 🙂

Oh...and sales reports (summary, trends, categories, and team)...all of these are a must have on a weekly basis!

[joannav]

Thank you so much! 💙