Corporate Officers
members of the board. These officers are tasked to oversee the day-to-day affairs
of a company. As mandated by law in many states in the US, all corporations must
have the following appointed corporate officers:
- President
- Treasurer or Chief Financial Officer
- Secretary
- In some instances a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) may also be hired
Corporate Officers may or may not be shareholders or directors of the
corporation. Depending on the needs of a corporation, there is no limit as to the
number of officers that a particular company should hire/appoint. There is even
no limit to the number of offices that one person can hold within a company, in
some cases one person holds more than one office in a company (some
companies have Presidents who are also the company CEO). In fact, there are
even companies that have one person who hold all corporate offices.
During the first meeting of the Board of Directors, when the initial stocks have
been issued, the members of the board then elects or appoints individuals to take
in the vacant offices available in the corporation. Being appointees, these officers
are considered employees of the company, and they can only be replaced upon
recommendation of the Board of Directors through a vote held during their
annual meeting.
In cases of small corporations these number of offices may look daunting, but in
reality, it is really quite the opposite of what they may perceive. In most states,
some corporations only have one director that can also hold the offices and own
all of the company’s stocks. What this means is that one person can run his own
corporation, serve all the offices of the company, become its sole shareholder,
and also be its director. But as this company grows these positions may be filled
up accordingly as stated on the company by laws.
