

Ask YC: What do you use for your business address? - donw

My business partner and I are finally sitting down and getting all of our corporate paperwork in order with the state, and as part of this we need to list the official address of the company.<p>We're bootstrapping and don't yet have an office, and if possible, want to avoid getting one.  We're both very productive working out of our respective apartments, and can't see a lot of sense in adding another expense on to the pile.<p>So, what do other HNers do for their business address?<p>We're going to be based in/around San Jose, if that helps.
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mahmud
Your lawyer's office address. I have an arrangement with my guy since I am not
even in the U.S. anymore. He also comes handy for other things; right now he
is in the process of transferring my car title to my sister (I don't need to
be there physically.)

You might be able to get a similar service from a certified accountant or a
public notary. Ask around.

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cperciva
This depends if you're worried about obeying the letter of the law. In most
jurisdictions, a corporation is required to have a "records office" where
various corporate paperwork can be consulted during normal business hours
(rules vary about who is allowed to consult what, but often a member of the
general public can walk in and ask to see your articles of incorporation and
list of directors).

If you want to be strictly legal, you should pay your lawyer to do this;
google reveals lots of lawyers who provide this service for a modest (e.g.,
$100/year) fee. Some people are less concerned with such details, and just
list one of the founders' home addresses as the records office; at which point
they're _technically_ breaking the law if they leave home during normal
business hours (because at that point the records office isn't open) -- but
for a small company, the odds of anyone ever turning up and asking to inspect
documents is usually minimal.

Of course, I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, and jurisdictions vary
-- but I think it's safe to say that if you're paying a lawyer to help with
incorporating your company, he can help with this.

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jacquesm
In the US when Camarades Inc. was still alive (Michigan) we used the address
of our lawyer as well.

This was handy in several ways, the most important one that he could handle
any envelopes from the various government institutions regarding taxes,
reporting and so on directly.

