Articles of Incorporation—sometimes called a Certificate of Incorporation—are the state filing that creates a corporation. They typically contain the corporation's name and other information required by the formation state.

Swyft Filings offers corporation formation services and prepares and submits the state incorporation paperwork. Corporate formation generally creates the legal corporation first; tax classification and internal governance are separate concepts. For example, S corporation status is a federal tax election for an eligible entity rather than a different state-law corporation in every jurisdiction.

Corporations commonly use Articles or a Certificate of Incorporation, bylaws, initial organizational actions, officer and director records, and stock or shareholder records. The state filing establishes the entity, while these internal records help document how the corporation is governed and who has authority to act for it.