How to Amend an Idaho Articles of Incorporation

There are many reasons that you might need to make changes to your business during its lifetime. Sometimes, these circumstances might trigger the need to change the information included in the original Articles of Incorporation filed with the state. Let’s take a look at why you might need to file an amendment, when, and how we can help.

Need to form your business first? Head over to our Idaho incorporation page for more information.

What are Idaho Articles of Incorporation?

Idaho requires corporations to file Articles of Incorporation (AOI) to create and register the business within the state. The Idaho AOI requires the following information to be included:

• Name of the corporation
• Mailing address for your business’s principal office
• The name and address of your registered agent
• Number of authorized shares issued by the corporation
• Name and address of incorporator

Corporations can name their directors in the Articles of Incorporation, but it’s not required. 

Idaho corporations can submit their Articles of Incorporation online, by mail, or in person. 

Step 1: Determine whether you need to change your Idaho Articles of Incorporation

The Articles of Incorporation contains the basic information about your business and relays that information to the Secretary of State. When a change occurs that affects any of that information, Idaho businesses have to notify the Secretary of State of that change.

Failing to keep your business entity information up to date may result in the corporation losing its good standing status with the state. 

Failure to update your Articles of Incorporation can result in the inability to obtain an Idaho Certificate of Good Standing for the company. Idaho sometimes refers to a Certificate of Good Standing as a Certificate of Existence. A Certificate of Existence notifies other parties that your corporation is compliant with Idaho’s legal requirements. You might need a Certificate of Existence when:

• Opening a bank account for your corporation
• Contracting with another party
• Applying for a loan

The inability to obtain a Certificate of Existence can limit a corporation’s opportunities for growth and complicate the finances of the corporation.

Step 2: Review the requirements for your Idaho amendment

Some circumstances triggering a need for Articles of Amendment include:

• Changing the corporation’s name
• Issuing more shares of stock
• Canceling shares of stock

The Articles of Amendment can alter any information included in the Idaho Articles of Incorporation. Additionally, the Articles of Amendment can add information to the Idaho Articles of Incorporation, as long as the information could have been included in the original filing. However, Idaho requires certain information to be updated by filing other forms.

Step 3: Gather information for your Idaho amendment

To file Articles of Amendment in Idaho, you need the name of the corporation as it appears in the Secretary of State’s records. Additionally, the Articles of Amendment need to include the date you want the amendment to take effect. 

When amending the corporation’s Articles of Incorporation requires approval by the board of directors or shareholders, you will need to include attachments in the Articles of Amendment reflecting the voting and approval process.

What cannot be changed in the Articles of Amendment?

As stated above, Idaho requires certain information to be updated using specific forms.

To change the principal office address for your Idaho corporation, file a Statement of Change of Business Mailing Address form with the Idaho Secretary of State.

Idaho also provides separate forms to change the Registered Agent of a corporation and to change the registered office location. 

We can ease the stress of the amendment process

Inevitably, changes occur within corporations that spur the need to amend the Articles of Incorporation. We can give you the freedom to focus on running your business while we handle the amendment process for you. 

We offer formation services to form and register your Idaho corporation with the Secretary of State. We also offer Idaho registered agent services to satisfy Idaho’s legal requirement of listing a registered agent on your Articles of Incorporation. A registered agent accepts legal documents and correspondence on behalf of the business. 

Our Worry-Free Compliance service covers the cost of filing your annual report and up to two yearly amendments and sends alerts to business owners reminding them of important compliance and filing deadlines. In the unlikely event your Idaho corporation loses its good standing status, we provide support to regain your good standing.