What procedures are required to start a company?

The topic is too grandiose; I basically don’t understand it: lol

Go and consult the local industry and commerce bureau at the location of your future company. Generally, the websites of the industrial and commercial bureaus provide procedures for handling tasks as well as forms that can be downloaded. It also depends on the structure of your company (sole proprietorship, single-owner enterprise, limited liability company, stock company, etc.). Company establishment process (2009-02-03 13:49:25). For the company establishment process, click here to view all news photos. A preliminary feasibility study is necessary; it is recommended that you think carefully about this matter on your own. Next, let’s talk about how to register a company, what procedures are required, and how to go about it. One of the steps in setting up a company is choosing the form of the company: for a regular limited liability company, the minimum registered capital required is 30,000 yuan, and it needs 2 (or more) shareholders. Starting from January 2006, new company laws allow for the establishment of a limited liability company with just one shareholder; this special type of limited liability company is also known as a “one-person limited company” (although the company name will not include the word “one person”, the license will indicate “owned by an individual”). The minimum registered capital for such a company is 100,000 yuan. If you are investing in a business together with friends or family, you can choose a regular limited company, with a minimum registered capital of 30,000 yuan ； If you are the sole shareholder, choose a one-person limited company, with a minimum registered capital of 100,000 yuan. Step 2 of the process for setting up a company: The steps to register a company: 1. Name verification: Go to the industrial and commercial bureau to obtain a “Application Form for Pre-approval of Enterprise (Business Name)”. Fill in the name you intend to use for the company, and the bureau will check on its internal website to see if there are any duplicates. If no duplicates exist, then the name can be used, and a “Notice of Pre-approval of Enterprise (Business Name)” will be issued. The fee for this step is 30 yuan. (30 yuan will allow you to search for 5 names; many names are repeated, so it’s not necessary to try common names in order to avoid wasting money.) 2. Renting an office: You can rent an office in a dedicated office building. It’s also possible to use your own factory or office; however, in some places it’s not allowed to conduct business in residential buildings. After renting a property, it is necessary to sign a lease agreement and ask the landlord for a copy of the property title. After signing the rental contract, it is necessary to go to the tax office to purchase stamp duty, at a rate of 0.1% of the annual rent. For example, if your annual rent is 10,000 yuan, then you will need to pay 10 yuan in stamp duty. This stamp should be attached to the first page of the rental contract, and copies of the contract with the stamp applied to them must be used wherever the rental contract is referenced. 3. Draft the “company articles of association”: Sample versions of the “company articles of association” can be downloaded from the industrial and commercial bureau’s website, and they can be modified as needed. The charter is finally signed by all shareholders. 4. Have an official seal engraved: Go to a place that engraves seals on the street to have an official seal made; tell them that you need a seal for a legal entity (square in shape). The cost is around 20 yuan. 5. Obtain the “Bank Inquiry Letter” from an accounting firm: Contact an accounting firm to get a “Bank Inquiry Letter” (it must be the original version, with the firm’s official stamp on it). If you’re not sure, you can check the classified ads in the newspapers; there are many ads from accounting firms. 6. Go to the bank to open a company capital verification account: All shareholders should bring the amount of money they have invested to the bank, along with the company’s articles of association, the name approval notice issued by the industrial and commercial bureau, the legal representative’s private seal, ID cards, the money intended for capital verification, and blank inquiry form sheets. They need to go to the bank to open a company account, indicating that it is for capital verification purposes. After the company account is opened, each shareholder deposits the corresponding amount of money into the company account according to their contribution. The bank will issue a payment slip to each shareholder and stamp the bank’s seal on the inquiry form. Note: According to company law, when registering a company, investors (shareholders) must contribute the full amount of capital required. This capital can be contributed in monetary form (that is, in RMB), or it can be provided in the form of assets such as vehicles, real estate, intellectual property rights, etc. At the bank, only the monetary contribution is handled; if you use assets such as physical goods or property as contributions, it is necessary to have an accounting firm assess their value first, and then contribute based on that actual value, which is quite complicated. Therefore, it is recommended that you use cash for the contributions. Company law does not care about the source of the funds – whether they are your own or borrowed – as long as the required amount is paid in full. 7. Obtain a capital verification report: Take the shareholder payment receipts issued by the bank, the letter from the bank with its seal, along with the company’s articles of association, the name confirmation notice, the rent contract, and copies of the property ownership certificates, to an accounting firm to have a capital verification report prepared. The general cost is around 500 yuan (for a registered capital of less than 500,000). 8. Registering a company: Obtain from the industrial and commercial bureau the various forms required for company registration, including the application form for registration, a list of shareholders (founders), information regarding directors, managers, and supervisors, a form for registering the legal representative, and a form for designating a representative or authorized agent. After filling it out, submit it to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau along with the name verification notice, company articles of association, rent contract, copy of the property ownership certificate, and capital verification report. The license can be collected in about 3 working days. The cost is around 300 yuan. 9. With a business license: Go to a seal engraving shop designated by the public security bureau to have official seals and financial seals engraved. In the subsequent steps, a company seal or financial seal will be required. 10. Obtaining the enterprise organization code certificate: Go to the Technical Supervision Bureau with the business license to get the organization code certificate; the fee is 80 yuan. It takes half a month to obtain this certificate. The Technical Supervision Bureau will first issue a document confirming pre-acceptance, and with this document, it is possible to go ahead with obtaining the tax registration certificate and opening a basic bank account. 11. Open a basic bank account: Use the business license and organization code certificate to open a basic account at a bank. It is best to go to the same branch of the bank where the capital verification was initially handled; otherwise, a fee of 100 yuan will be charged for the capital verification account. Opening a basic bank account requires filling out many forms; it’s best to bring all the necessary documents with you, otherwise you’ll have to make multiple trips. These include the original copy of the business license, ID card, organization code certificate, the official seal for financial matters, and the legal representative’s seal. When opening a basic bank account, it is also necessary to purchase a password generator (most banks require this since the second half of 2005), and the price of such a generator is 280 yuan. From now on, whenever your company issues checks or makes transfers, you will need to use a password generator to create passwords. 12. Tax registration: Within 30 days of obtaining the license, go to the local tax authority to apply for a tax registration certificate. Generally, companies need to obtain two types of tax registration certificates, namely national tax and local tax. The cost is 40 yuan each, totaling 80 yuan. When applying for a tax registration certificate, an accountant is required, as one of the documents that the tax authority demands is an accountant’s qualification certificate and ID card. You can first hire a part-time accountant; for small companies, a part-time accountant with a salary of around 200 yuan is usually sufficient at the beginning. 13. Applying for invoice issuance: If your company sells goods, you should apply for invoices at the national tax authority; if it provides services, then you need to apply at the local tax authority. Finally, it started operating. Make sure to file tax returns on time every month; even if you are not carrying out any business activities and therefore owe no taxes, you still need to file a zero-tax return, otherwise you will face fines. There are two points that you might be particularly concerned about: 1. The company must have a sound accounting system; you might worry about not being able to handle this, so what should you do? For a newly established company with limited business activity, the accounting workload is also very small. You can hire a part-time accountant to help keep the accounts for your company on a monthly basis; a couple of days are sufficient for this task. You can pay them around 200–500 as salary. 2. Company’s tax liabilities: Business tax: For companies that sell goods, a value-added tax is levied at 4% of the amount of invoices issued ； Companies that provide services are subject to a business tax of 5% on the amount of invoices issued. Income tax: A corporate income tax of 18-33% is imposed on a company’s net profit. Small companies have low profits, usually around 18%. For corporate income tax, proper bookkeeping is crucial; if your profits appear high in the accounts, the tax rate will be higher. Therefore, invoices should be issued for regular equipment purchases; keep the receipts for meals and transportation as they can be counted as part of your business operating costs. Difference between the two taxes: Business tax is levied on turnover; it doesn’t matter whether you have made a profit or not – as long as a transaction takes place and an invoice is issued, tax is due ； Income tax is a tax imposed on profits, which are the amount remaining after deducting various costs from sales revenue; income tax is levied only when profits are earned. There are many other various types of taxes as well, but the amounts involved are not significant; the main ones are the two mentioned above, with income tax being particularly high. Step 3 of the process for starting a company: Preferential policies for college students starting businesses in terms of loans and taxes. Preferential policies for college students starting businesses when applying for loans: 1. Priority in loan approval, with credit loans granted as appropriate. Increase financial support for college graduates who wish to start their own businesses; financial institutions should give priority to providing credit support to those who can offer effective asset collateral or guarantees from reputable clients. For entrepreneurship loans for college graduates, the college graduate can be the borrower, while the guarantor can provide joint guarantee using the stable income or valid assets of members of their family or immediate relatives. For those with good credit and secure repayment capabilities, credit loans shall be granted appropriately on the basis of controllable risks. 2. Simplify loan procedures. By simplifying loan procedures and determining credit limits appropriately, these funds can be used cyclically within a specified period. 3. Interest rate discount. Certain preferential interest rates are provided for startup loans; depending on the level of loan risk, these rates can be appropriately reduced or increased from the statutory loan interest rate. Reminder: Relevant officials from banks such as Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Minsheng Bank, and CITIC Industrial Bank in Fuzhou stated that these banks do not offer loans for college students to start their own businesses at the moment. This situation arises mainly due to the high risks associated with such loans. A representative from the office of CITIC Industrial Bank’s Fuzhou branch said that while pursuing returns and liquidity on funds, the bank must also consider their safety. Loans for university graduates to start their own businesses carry higher risks compared to other types of loans. College graduates, lacking work experience in the society and having no suitable collateral or guarantees, generally do not receive loans easily from banks. Another industry insider also said that even if college students have suitable projects available, this is only a rare occurrence. As a business, it is not cost-effective for banks to provide such loans, as the costs involved are not proportional to the revenues generated. In fact, the difficulty in obtaining startup loans for college students lies in the inability to provide valid assets as collateral. The reporter learned that several banks in Fuzhou have currently offered personal entrepreneurship loans to natural persons who hold permanent urban residence status or valid residency permits and are at least 18 years old. Such startup loans require individuals to use certificate of deposit pledges, or property mortgages and secured loans. Preferential tax policies for college students starting businesses: Those who have graduated from college and engage in self-employment are exempt from the fee for obtaining a tax registration certificate for one year, starting from the date when their business activities are approved by the industrial and commercial authorities. New urban labor employment service enterprises (**except those in restricted industries**), if they employ more than 60% of their total workforce from among the unemployed individuals in that year (including university graduates who have registered as unemployed; the same applies hereafter), may be exempt from income tax for 3 years upon approval by the competent tax authorities. After the tax exemption period for labor and employment service enterprises expires, if the number of unemployed persons newly employed by such enterprises in that year accounts for more than 30% of the total number of employees the enterprise had previously, it may, with the approval of the competent tax authority, pay income tax at half rate for two years.