How to Form Your Own California Corporation

Reviewed this at library and then bought for reference. Worked great and will help me as time goes on. Great base documents on the CD.

I bought this book because I wanted to incorporate my single-person consulting company. It took me a few hours to read this book (some sections didn't apply, but I still wanted to review them), and I felt very confident I could incorporate without a lawyer. I followed the instructions for forming a C Corp in California and used the forms provided in the CD-Rom. I delivered my forms in person to the LA regional office. Within 2 weeks, I received confirmation that my articles had been filed with the SoS of CA -- all for under $250 including the cost of the book. This compares to almost $1500 that most lawyers quoted me. I recommend this book highly but recognize that the process may be more challenging if you have many shareholders.

Good information, good overview. Would be good to be more detail.

I purchased this book as a research tool before incorporating my business as a California C corp without any outside assistance last year. This was all I needed and used. I read the book cover-to-cover, which did not take more than about 6 hours, and I felt very comfortable with the entire process. Like most Nolo books, this has a very readable style, with plenty of important information organized in a sensible manner. Even though the topic may not be entertainment reading, Mancuso makes the process very reasonable and I can't imagine another book doing it meaningfully better than this. This book hits its target audience very well - someone who wants to know about the practical and procedural issues related to incorporation. As part of the responsibility of operating a business, any incorporator needs to know most of what is covered in this book. Even if you get someone to do the filing, any incorporator needs to know this stuff. Don't worry - it's not rocket science. For a broader understanding of business issues, I found Nolo's other titles to be similarly excellent (their guide to california business and their guide to business deductions). Both cover related but different and important areas for new business owners. Read all 3 and you'll be set for general business issues.

Good examples. Fairly comprehensive. Good discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of forming a California corporation. The Corporate Tax section has some good pointers. Good writing style! It flows. But the diskette has only a fraction of the business and corporation related forms compared to "Small Busines Kit for Dummies". Overall, I recommend this book for a new commer. Well worth the money.