In other words how many "incorporations" are there every year? or how
big is the "incorporation" market?

Im looking for an answer by 10 pm, PST (tonight april 21) thanks.

Cym26 ?

Your question actually comes in two forms:
1.	How many companies?  
2.	How many corporations?

Companies can be limited partnerships or even individual
proprietorships.  But for good answers to either you want the
Statistical Abstract of the United States.  And specifically you want
the Business Enterprise section.  You can find several years of
abstracts here:

U.S. Census Bureau
Statistical Abstract of the United States
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-04.html


Specifically the 2004 Statistical Abstract shows the following
increases in corporations filing tax returns.  It would exclude any
corporations registered and inactive.  The data?s from the Internal
Revenue Service:

1998: 139,000
1999: 87,000
2000: 109,000
2001: 91,000 

Note that 2001 is the most-recent year for which there is data.

2004 Statistical Abstract of the United States
?Corporations: 1990 ? 2001? (chart 725)
http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/04statab/business.pdf

I think that you?ll find the Statistical Abstract helpful too if
you?re looking at other information, such as company sizes, industries
and classifications of non-incorporated businesses.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Request for Answer Clarification by cym26-ga on 21 Apr 2005 21:24 PDT

thank you for your response but im a bit slow.

based on the information can you tell me how many companies
incorporate every year? "incorporating" is a business in itself that
lawyers perform or online legal service web sites do. I want to know
how big that market is. how many "incorporations" are done every year
in the US? was it 91,000 in 2001?

---

Clarification of Answer by omnivorous-ga on 21 Apr 2005 21:44 PDT

Cym26 --

According to IRS numbers in the Statistical Abstract it's at least
91,000 in 2001.  Recognize that the numbers vary year to year (in an
expanding economy we'd expect more).  Also, there may be a certain
number of firms that incorporate but never file income tax returns. 
That can be for a variety of reasons:
*  incorporation but no economic activity, whether because it's late
in the year or because they go no further in the process
*  incorporation is possible in some states with no income tax
returns.  A non-profit corporation in my home state is not required to
file IRS returns.  Just so that it's perfectly clear: incorporation
doesn't always require legal services.

The Statistical Abstract numbers represent a minimum number of
incorporations -- those which filed income tax returns.  You could add
those above to the definition.  But you might still be missing a
number of key businesses, such as individual proprietorships or
limited-liabilty partnerships (LLPs).

Please don't feel that you're slow -- researchers often find that
they're trying to find answers for something that's less than precise
when one looks at legal (or technical) definitions.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA