Corporate documents, also known as legal documents, are a set of specific documents that write down all the necessary facts about the company. These documents are called the "face of the company" because they are the source of official information about the company. Whenever a company is founded or changed, documents with information about the company or information about company changes must be submitted to the commercial register. The registry amends the information in the commercial register and attaches the submitted documents to the company files, giving any person the right to get the official facts about the company.

There are different types of corporate documents, each containing different information. The most important documents are the founding documents, such as the charter of incorporation and the articles of incorporation.

Every document has strict requirements and specific form. A signature in some documents must be notarised in order to have a binding effect. These documents are usually drafted by lawyers or by the law offices that specialise in commercial law. It is important to keep in mind that the status and requirements of legal documents vary between jurisdictions. Moreover, the names of the documents can vary in different countries.

Corporate documents required for company incorporation
To form a company, two basic founding documents are necessary:

Memorandum of association
It contains the fundamental conditions upon which the company is allowed to operate. The document consists of information like firm of the company, data on the founders, information about the equity capital of the company, admissible amount of the foundation expenses and their payment order, etc.;
Articles of association
It generally defines the responsibilities of the board, the type of business to be executed, and means by which the owners exert control over the board of directors. Upon consent of the founders the Articles of association may include specific provisions regarding decision making, restrictions of the board, competence of the council, other specific conditions regarding the process of shares transfer.
Other secondary documents may be demanded. These are as follows:

An application of the local commercial registry – every state has its own form that must be submitted for any changes to take place;
Declaration of each board member / Consent of board member; List of shareholders / A division of the register of shareholders (for limited liability company);
Declaration of company address / Announcement of an office address;
Bank notice on the payment of the equity capital;
Receipt for payment of the state fee;