A corporation is a functioning body formulated to operate a business. A corporation can comprise of a group of people or simply an entity to function a specific business. To form an organisation or a business entity, it is significant to have a corporation. Forming a corporation is the second step in building a business entity.
Corporation vs Incorporation
The main difference between the Corporation and Incorporation is that the corporation is the body to run the business itself. In contrast, incorporation is the legal procedure of establishing a business entity.
A corporation has the full right and says in the matters of Administrative importance of an organisation, e.g. salary, staff, decisions related to provident funds, etc. It is the second step as the initial step is the incorporation of the business.
The procedure which is followed in a legal manner to establish a company is known as Incorporation. The short form of Incorporation is ‘Inc.’ Incorporation denotes the legal status of a company or business organisation. Incorporation comprises of its own initial functions.
A business can use Inc./Corp. abbreviation after its name as per its choice. Although, after getting registered the business must ensure to use only that extension for all the work related to the legal domain.
Comparison Table Between Corporation and Incorporation
| Parameter of Comparison | Corporation | Incorporation |
| Definition | A corporation is a body or an authority which runs a business. | An Incorporation is an initial procedure which has to be followed lawfully in order to get a company registered as a Corporation. |
| Stage | It is the second stage of a business. | It is the primary and foremost stage, the procedure is conducted while registering the corporation. |
| Abbreviation | The short form of corporation is Corp. | The short form for incorporation is Inc. |
| Flow of Process | A corporation is the outcome of the Incorporation procedure. | Incorporation of a business entity is an opening process which needs to be completed lawfully. |
| Significance | It is certainly not compulsory for a business entity to get enrolled as a Corporation. It entirely depends on the choice of the owner of the business | While performing any business activity, it is unavoidable to encounter some Incorporations accompanied with it. |
What is Corporation?
A corporation could be of any sector private or public; it could be established for any purpose such as educational, business, or any institution. Abbreviation of the corporation is ‘Corp’. After getting registered as a Corporation, a company must use the abbreviation Corp. along with its name in every legal document it signs. A corporation has its own tax liabilities structure.
A corporation begins the moment it is registered, and all the legal formalities are fulfilled. If a business entity decides to become a Corporation, it will bring several benefits along with it, such as it can get other organisations to become shareholders of the entity. Although it involves a long and lengthy procedure to become a corporation, so it is not recommended for small business entities.
What is Incorporation?
Incorporation is the initial procedure which has to be followed lawfully to get the business registered as a corporation. By getting your business entity incorporated a lot of benefits are attained, such as limited liability against one’s assets. Concept of limited liability safeguards the personal belongings of the partners from the risk of legal problems such as taxes, creditors, etc.
Incorporations have their independent tax policies of their products. Rules and regulations of Incorporation process are different in each country. All in all, it can be said that in order to get a business entity registered as a corporation, it is necessary to have the legal documents which are received after the Incorporation procedure. These documents are known as the Charter of the company, and it has to be filled along with the other legal formalities, e.g. name of the company, business type, etc. during the creation of Corporation.
Main Differences Between Corporation and Incorporation
- A functioning body which is established to run the operations of the business entity is known as a Corporation. On the other hand, an Incorporation is a legal procedure which has to be followed in order to build a Corporation.
- Both Incorporation and Corporation are of different meanings, but that does not mean that one is dominant over the other.
- The abbreviation of Corporation is Corp. whereas the abbreviation of Incorporation is Inc.
- The procedure to be followed for the Incorporation of the company is different in every country established according to the domestic laws of that country.
- On the other hand Corporations in any of the countries usually have similar functions, objectives and characteristics.
- A corporation carries on till the time it is managing to pay all its expenses and debts and is continuing to grow by using its assets. On the other hand process of Incorporation begins with the Incorporation certification being issued till the moment the corporation is eventually composed.
- A corporation is primarily accountable for the daily operations of the business entity. On the other hand, Incorporation oversees the legal procedure which concentrates at protecting the private assets of the shareholders and owners of the business along with their concerns and benefits.
Conclusion
Corporation and Incorporation are two concepts which cannot be fully separated from one another. Both the concepts are somewhere linked to each other. While Corporation is the entity or organisation created from the process of Incorporation and Incorporation is the procedure itself which creates the corporation.
In common terms, a corporation is an entity which is built for the objective of running a business which could be of any anything. In contrast, the incorporation is a legal procedure which has to be followed by any business entity in order to get the status of a Corporation. At the same time, Corporation is all about the functioning of a business entity. On the other hand, Incorporation is about legal formalities which have to be fulfilled by a business to safeguard its interests.
References
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2190/NS3.3.c
- https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Zbq8AQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=+what+is+corporation&ots=AKSfwr5v-l&sig=Tofaxjl1xAESPCbmqpw1nRHnkl0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20corporation&f=false