# The entity and its numbers

> The EIN is free and issued online in one sitting. The state brings a registered agent, an annual report and registrations wherever the company does business.

Source: https://lopifi.com/learn/ein-and-state-registrations
Part of: Lopifi — US GAAP books on autopilot, checked by a CPA (https://lopifi.com)

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**How do I get an EIN, and what registrations does a new startup need?** The EIN is free and issued online in one sitting. The state brings a registered agent, an annual report and registrations wherever the company does business.

Incorporating creates a legal person, and the state that charters it knows it by name. Everyone else needs a number. The IRS issues one, the Employer Identification Number (EIN), and from then on it's on every return, every payroll deposit, every W-9 the company gives a customer and every bank account it opens.

— [Wikipedia, “Employer Identification Number”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employer_Identification_Number), Employer Identification Number

## The EIN

You apply online at IRS.gov, and if the application is approved the number is issued at the end of the session. It costs nothing. Sites that charge for an EIN are charging for typing in a form you can fill in yourself. The applicant is the company's **responsible party**, a person who controls it, giving their own SSN or ITIN. The IRS allows one EIN per responsible party per day.

> “You never have to pay a fee for an EIN. … You can apply for only 1 EIN per responsible party per day.”

— [IRS, Get an employer identification number](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/get-an-employer-identification-number), Apply for an EIN online, free, from the IRS

The online application asks the questions on Form SS-4. Paper and fax applications use the form itself. Here is how Northwind answers the lines that matter:

| Line | Asks | Northwind's answer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Legal name of entity | Northwind Traders, Inc., exactly as on the certificate of incorporation |
| 7a / 7b | Responsible party and their SSN, ITIN or EIN | One of the two founders |
| 9a | Type of entity | Corporation, filing Form 1120 |
| 9b | State where incorporated | Delaware |
| 10 | Reason for applying | Started new business |
| 11 | Date business started | September 1, 2026 |
| 12 | Closing month of accounting year | December. A calendar [fiscal year](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/fiscal-year), so the first year is short: September 1, 2026 to December 31 |
| 13 | Highest number of employees expected in the next 12 months | The hiring plan's number |

Form SS-4, as Northwind fills it in. The line numbers are the form's (Rev. December 2025).

— [Form SS-4 (Rev. December 2025)](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss4.pdf) (PDF), Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number

> **One company, one number.** Pub. 15 is blunt about it: don't use an SSN in place of an EIN, and you should have only one EIN. A founder who applies twice "to be safe" creates two tax accounts that will each expect returns.

1. **Have the papers ready.** The certificate of incorporation, the company's exact legal name and address, and the responsible party's SSN or ITIN.
2. **Apply on IRS.gov.** Use the IRS's own online application, during its hours. Not a site that charges for it.
3. **Answer the SS-4 questions.** Entity type, state of incorporation, start date, closing month of the fiscal year, expected employees.
4. **Save the notice.** If approved, the number is issued at the end of the session. Save the confirmation with the certificate of incorporation.

Getting the EIN online, in one sitting.

## Which entity

The EIN application asks what kind of entity the company is, and the answer decides how it's taxed and which returns it files. Northwind is a [C corporation](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/c-corporation), filing [Form 1120](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/form-1120). Why a startup chooses a C corporation, an LLC or an S corporation is [choosing an entity in practice](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/which-entity-should-i-choose); why venture-backed companies are usually Delaware C corporations is [its own lesson](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/why-startups-are-delaware-c-corps); and founders applying from outside the US start with [the EIN and ITIN from abroad](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/us-company-for-foreign-founders/ein-and-itin). The founders' shares are [the Cap tables & raising track's](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/founder-stock-and-vesting) first lesson.

## The state

Northwind is a Delaware corporation, so it keeps a [registered agent](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/registered-agent) in Delaware and files a [state annual report](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/state-annual-report) with the [Delaware franchise tax](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/delaware-franchise-tax) by March 1, 2027. Doing business in another state means [foreign qualification](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/foreign-qualification) there; hiring brings state withholding and [SUTA](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/suta) accounts and [new-hire reporting](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/new-hire-reporting); selling can bring a sales tax permit once the company has [nexus](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/sales-tax-nexus). [Keeping a Delaware corporation in good standing](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/keeping-a-delaware-corporation-in-good-standing) walks each of these on Northwind, and [the franchise tax lesson](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/delaware-franchise-tax-calculation) works the tax both ways.

> “Every corporation shall have and maintain in this State a registered agent, which agent may be any of:”

— [8 Del. C. §132(a)](https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc03/index.html), Every Delaware corporation keeps a registered agent in Delaware

| Registration | Issued by | Northwind needs it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Certificate of incorporation | Delaware | Before anything else. Dated September 1, 2026 |
| Registered agent | A Delaware address, usually a paid service | From the day of incorporation |
| EIN | The IRS | Before the bank account, the first hire or the first W-9 it gives anyone |
| Foreign qualification | Each state it does business in | Before doing business there |
| State withholding and unemployment accounts | Each state an employee works in | Before the first payroll there |
| Sales tax permit | Each state with nexus | Before collecting sales tax there |

The numbers and registrations a new company collects, and when Northwind needs each one.

> **One filing you no longer make.** A [beneficial ownership information report](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/beneficial-ownership-information-report) to FinCEN is no longer required of US companies. [Foreign owners and BOI](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/form-5472-and-boi-reporting) covers who still files.

> “U.S. companies are exempt from the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements”

— [FinCEN, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting](https://www.fincen.gov/boi), US companies do not file BOI reports

> **One company, one EIN, one fiscal year, chosen in the first week and printed on every return after it.**

Where this goes next: [the Entity types track](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/entities) for choosing and changing the entity, including [converting an LLC to a C corporation](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/convert-llc-to-c-corp); [good standing](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/keeping-a-delaware-corporation-in-good-standing) and [the annual compliance calendar](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/startup-annual-compliance-calendar) in Compliance & tax; and [hiring your first employee](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/hiring-your-first-employee) for the state accounts a first hire brings.

## Where this lesson's rules come from

- [Wikipedia, “Employer Identification Number”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employer_Identification_Number) — Employer Identification Number (reference)
- [IRS, Get an employer identification number](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/get-an-employer-identification-number) — Apply for an EIN online, free, from the IRS (irs)
- [Form SS-4 (Rev. December 2025)](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss4.pdf) (PDF) — Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number (form)
- [IRS Publication 15 (2026), Circular E — Introduction](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15) — Withheld payroll taxes are the government's money, held in trust (tax)
- [8 Del. C. §132(a)](https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc03/index.html) — Every Delaware corporation keeps a registered agent in Delaware (state)
- [Delaware Division of Corporations, Annual Report and Tax Information](https://corp.delaware.gov/paytaxes/) — Delaware annual report and franchise tax: due March 1 for the prior year (state)
- [Wikipedia, “Foreign corporation”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_corporation) — Foreign corporation (reference)
- [IRS Pub. 15 (2026), Hiring New Employees — New hire reporting](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15) — Every new employee is reported to the state (irs)
- [FinCEN, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting](https://www.fincen.gov/boi) — US companies do not file BOI reports (agency)

## Read further

- https://lopifi.com/md/startups/registering-in-a-new-state
- https://lopifi.com/md/startups/sales-tax-nexus-for-startups
- https://lopifi.com/md/startups/startup-compliance-calendar
- https://lopifi.com/md/accounting/delaware-franchise-tax
- https://lopifi.com/md/accounting/sales-tax-nexus

- **Track:** [Back office core](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/core)
- **Lesson:** Lesson 2 of 9 — 8 min
- **Terms taught:** [Fiscal year](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/fiscal-year), [C corporation](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/c-corporation), [Registered agent](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/registered-agent), [State annual report](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/state-annual-report), [Foreign qualification](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/foreign-qualification), [New-hire reporting](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/new-hire-reporting), [SUTA](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/suta), [Sales tax nexus](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/sales-tax-nexus), [Beneficial ownership information report](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/beneficial-ownership-information-report)
- **Previous:** [What a back office is, and who does what, Core · Lesson 1](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/what-is-a-startup-back-office)
- **Next:** [Company money, kept apart, Core · Lesson 3](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/separate-business-and-personal-money)
- **The course:** https://lopifi.com/md/learn