# Company

URL: /systems/legal-and-corporate/capabilities · Id: `page:systems/legal-and-corporate/capabilities`

> The capabilities that act on a Startup’s Company in the real world, from formation and banking to tax, insurance and payroll.

These [Capabilities](/business/nouns/capability) act on a [Startup](/business/nouns/startup)’s [Company](/business/nouns/company), each ending in a record a state, bank, carrier or registrar keeps. A [Studio](/business/nouns/studio) Startup runs inside the Studio-held entity until Graduation; a self-serve Startup uses its own Company.

| Wakes at | Capabilities |
| --- | --- |
| At creation | [Mailing address](/systems/legal-and-corporate/business-address), [Phone numbers](/systems/communications/phone-numbers), [Domain registration](/products/platform/domain-registration), [Notarization](/systems/legal-and-corporate/notarization) |
| [Building](/business/lifecycle/states/building) | [Merchant account](/systems/finance/merchant-account), [Outside accounts](/systems/finance/outside-accounts), [Corporate cards](/systems/finance/cards), [Company coverage](/systems/legal-and-corporate/insurance), [Licenses and permits](/systems/legal-and-corporate/licenses-and-permits), [Trademark filings](/systems/legal-and-corporate/trademarks) |
| [Live](/business/lifecycle/states/live) | [Tax IDs](/systems/finance/tax-ids), [Tax filings](/systems/finance/tax-filings), [Annual compliance](/systems/legal-and-corporate/annual-compliance), [Foreign qualification](/systems/legal-and-corporate/foreign-qualification), [Privacy registrations](/systems/legal-and-corporate/privacy-registrations), [Contractor payments](/systems/finance/contractor-payments), [Background checks](/systems/people/background-checks) |
| [Repeatable](/business/lifecycle/states/repeatable) | [Payroll](/systems/people/payroll), [Employment eligibility](/systems/people/employment-eligibility), [Common stock valuation](/systems/legal-and-corporate/valuation-409a), [Patent filings](/systems/legal-and-corporate/patents) |
| [Scale](/business/lifecycle/states/scale) | [Benefits](/systems/people/benefits) |
| [Graduate](/business/lifecycle/states/graduate) | [Company formation](/systems/legal-and-corporate/entity-formation), [Founding documents](/systems/legal-and-corporate/founding-documents), [Registered agent](/systems/legal-and-corporate/registered-agent), [Bank accounts](/systems/finance/bank-accounts), Securities filings, Accreditation verification, Startup transfer |
| [Sell](/business/lifecycle/states/sell) | Startup transfer, [Company dissolution](/systems/legal-and-corporate/entity-dissolution) |

| Term | Kind | Definition |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Annual compliance](/systems/legal-and-corporate/annual-compliance) | Capability | Annual compliance files each annual report, franchise tax report and ownership report on its clock and keeps the Company in good standing. |
| [Background checks](/systems/people/background-checks) | Capability | Background checks order lawful identity, criminal, credential and employment checks on candidates and Suppliers, with consent and required notices. |
| [Bank accounts](/systems/finance/bank-accounts) | Capability | Bank accounts open the Company’s operating and reserve accounts, verify its owners, and feed every Transaction to the ledger. |
| [Benefits](/systems/people/benefits) | Capability | Benefits set up and run employee health, retirement and other plans, with enrollment, payroll deductions and required plan filings. |
| [Common stock valuation](/systems/legal-and-corporate/valuation-409a) | Capability | Common stock valuation gets an independent appraisal of common stock before options are granted, refreshed yearly or after a financing. |
| [Company coverage](/systems/legal-and-corporate/insurance) | Capability | Company coverage obtains and renews the Company’s insurance policies, from general liability to cyber and directors and officers, sized to its risk. |
| [Company dissolution](/systems/legal-and-corporate/entity-dissolution) | Capability | Company dissolution winds up a Company that no longer holds a business, filing final returns and its certificate while every record stays. |
| [Company formation](/systems/legal-and-corporate/entity-formation) | Capability | Company formation creates a Startup’s own Company: it records the entity-type Decision, files the certificate and appoints directors. |
| [Contractor payments](/systems/finance/contractor-payments) | Capability | Contractor payments onboard contractors and human supply, collect their tax forms, pay accepted work and file year-end information returns. |
| [Corporate cards](/systems/finance/cards) | Capability | Corporate cards issue virtual and physical cards to Workers and agents, each bound to a Mandate, merchant rules and Limits. |
| [Domain registration](/products/platform/domain-registration) | Capability | Domain registration registers and renews each Startup’s Domains in a registrar account of its own, with its owner of record as registrant. |
| [Employment eligibility](/systems/people/employment-eligibility) | Capability | Employment eligibility verifies each new employee’s right to work, records the employer’s attestation and keeps it for its retention period. |
| [Foreign qualification](/systems/legal-and-corporate/foreign-qualification) | Capability | Foreign qualification registers the Company in each other state where it has employees or presence, and keeps each registration in good standing. |
| [Founding documents](/systems/legal-and-corporate/founding-documents) | Capability | Founding documents give a new Company its bylaws, initial consents, founder stock, vesting, invention assignments and tax elections. |
| [Licenses and permits](/systems/legal-and-corporate/licenses-and-permits) | Capability | Licenses and permits obtain and renew the business licenses and regulated authorities the Company needs where it operates. |
| [Mailing address](/systems/legal-and-corporate/business-address) | Capability | Mailing address gives a Startup a postal address that receives its mail, scans each piece, and forwards it or deposits checks. |
| [Merchant account](/systems/finance/merchant-account) | Capability | Merchant account gives a Startup its own connected payments account at its first sale, so it sells and settles as seller of record. |
| [Notarization](/systems/legal-and-corporate/notarization) | Capability | Notarization has a commissioned notary notarize a signer’s Document online and returns the certificate and journal entry as records. |
| [Outside accounts](/systems/finance/outside-accounts) | Capability | Outside accounts register the Company on platforms that verify businesses: app stores, ad networks, marketplaces and directories. |
| [Patent filings](/systems/legal-and-corporate/patents) | Capability | Patent filings file provisional and full applications for the Company’s inventions, naming human inventors, and keep each one maintained. |
| [Payroll](/systems/people/payroll) | Capability | Payroll pays employees on schedule, withholds and remits taxes, and files employer returns in every state where they work. |
| [Phone numbers](/systems/communications/phone-numbers) | Capability | Phone numbers give a Startup local, toll-free and mobile numbers, port existing ones, and register business messaging with carriers. |
| [Privacy registrations](/systems/legal-and-corporate/privacy-registrations) | Capability | Privacy registrations file the data-protection registrations and appoint the representatives the Company needs in each market it serves. |
| [Registered agent](/systems/legal-and-corporate/registered-agent) | Capability | Registered agent accepts legal process and state mail for the Company wherever it registers, and routes each item within the hour. |
| [Tax filings](/systems/finance/tax-filings) | Capability | Tax filings prepare, sign, file and pay the Company’s income, franchise, sales and information returns on time in every jurisdiction. |
| [Tax IDs](/systems/finance/tax-ids) | Capability | Tax IDs obtain the Company’s employer number, state tax accounts and sales tax registrations wherever it must collect or withhold. |
| [Trademark filings](/systems/legal-and-corporate/trademarks) | Capability | Trademark filings clear, file, prosecute and renew the Company’s marks, and watch for conflicting filings. |