Does anyone know much about forming a company for a small indie studio? I've been working on a project with a friend from Ecuador, and we're unsure about what sort of company to form. We've also been hiring an artist from the UK for contract work. At the moment, I've been paying for the contract work through my own Paypal, but it seems like it would make more sense for us to list expenses such as those under a company entity. I'm hoping some of the folks around here have some experience in the matter and can give us some tips or advice on where to proceed with the legalities. Even something as simple as letting us know what kind of lawyer/attorney/adviser we should meet with to answer our questions would be incredibly handy.
Here's a basic list of questions. We'd appreciate any response we can get.
1. Should we incorporate now so that we can start writing expenses under a business account? Or does it really not matter? I'm guessing that it would be better for tax purposes if the expenses were filed under a business, but I'm not entirely sure.
2. What kind of company should we form?
3. I live in the US, my friend lives in Ecuador, and the contract artist lives in the UK. What do we need to do about that in terms of the legalities?
4. Relating to question 1: if we incorporate, can we then push previous expenses that were billed to our names over to the business?
5. I read that companies need a operating agreement document that details the functions and roles of the company. Can we write this ourselves? If not, where do we find someone to write one for us?
6. What state should we incorporate under? I live in California, so should we file our company here or does it make more sense to find a state with more lenient tax laws?
