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Corporate Service - USA

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Corporate Seal in U.S. Q&A

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Q:
What is the Corporate Seal?
A:
A corporate seal is used to authenticate your company documents. Since a corporation is considered a separate entity, the corporate seal acted as the signature of the corporation. Any legal or official document that emanated from the corporation required a corporate seal.

Individuals were not allowed to authorize certain corporate acts and so a corporate seal was necessary to prove corporate authority. However, as business became more fluid and as technology ushered in the digital age, the corporate seal became obsolete and to a certain extent, a hindrance. Today, a corporate seal may be used for deeds and for bank accounts, but even these uses of the corporate seal are becoming more and more rare. Rather than a corporate seal, state laws recognize the signature of an individual(s) with actual authority (i.e. CEO, director) as binding upon the corporation.

Q:
What is the use of a Corporate Seal?
A:
Some common uses are outlined below:

  • Stamping ownership certificates
  • Signing stock certificates
  • Authorizing invoices
  • Signing off architecture blueprints
  • Finalizing a contract
  • Certifying financial transactions
  • Signing certificates of authentication
  • Signing a lease or agreeing to a sale
  • Affirming company commitments

A company seal functions as a signature of a corporation, wherever a seal is utilized, it conveys your businesses’ mark of authenticity.

Corporate seals are also sometimes included as part of a corporate kit, which is a customized binder that holds all-important internal company records, such as stock certificates, transfer ledgers, meeting minutes, and other important company documents in an easily organized way.

With the advent of technology, corporate seals may be not required for every document and agreement. However, the corporate seal can make your business stand apart.


Q:
What information should be included in a Corporate Seal?
A:
A corporate seal is a tool used to stamp a company signature on an official document. Such a seal conveys a company’s agreement to the contents of a document. Typically, the corporate seals should include the name of the corporation, the date incorporated, and the state in which the corporation was registered. Below is a sample of Corporate Seal.

Q:
Where can I get a Corporate Seal?
A:
Although corporate seals were once made of wax, today they are a type of metal stamp. A corporate seal is not a mandatory part of registering a corporation, so you are not provided with a corporate seal by the Secretary of State. Instead, you can order a corporate seal from office suppliers. You can design your corporate seal. However, most corporate seals do include the name of the corporation, the date incorporated, and the state that the corporation is registered in. Others will also include a corporate symbol. The corporate seal is then set into an embossing device. You can also choose a handheld or desktop embosser device.

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