Stripe Atlas got you incorporated. Now what?
Stripe Atlas is excellent at one job: incorporating a Delaware C-corp for international founders, in days, with all the standard documents. After day 30, though, your corporation needs ongoing records, minute book, share register, certificates, cap table, annual franchise tax. Atlas isn't built for that. This page is for the founders who already incorporated through Atlas and are figuring out the next layer.
Days to incorporate, all founder docs handled, EIN, bank account, Stripe integration. The best-in-class incorporation service.
After incorporation, you need a minute book, share register, certificates, cap table, and annual franchise tax. Atlas doesn't do these.
Free tier for one corporation. Imports your Atlas documents. Handles the ongoing record from day 31.
Atlas and Octelligence aren't competitors. They're sequential.
This isn't really a vs. page. Stripe Atlas is an excellent incorporation service, arguably the best in market for international founders forming a Delaware C-corp. We recommend it. Many of our customers used it. The question isn't whether to use Atlas; it's what happens on day 31, after the Atlas package is complete.
Atlas hands you a corporation, a set of founder documents (charter, bylaws, founder agreement, stock issuance documents), an EIN, and a banking relationship. From day 31 onward, you operate the corporation: hold board meetings, issue option grants, transfer shares, file annual franchise tax with Delaware, file BOI reports with FinCEN, and maintain the corporate record that ongoing diligence will scrutinize.
Atlas isn't designed for that. It's an incorporation product, not a records product. The gap is real and most founders fill it with Dropbox, Google Drive, and a cap table spreadsheet, until the round-of-fundraising-or-audit-or-acquisition moment when the gap surfaces.
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Ongoing minute book maintenance
Atlas gives you initial docs. After incorporation, you need to keep adding board consents, share issuances, transfers, option grants, that's not what Atlas does.
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Share register / stock ledger
Atlas issues founder stock and hands you the founder agreements. The ongoing stock ledger under DGCL § 219 is your responsibility from there.
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Cap table evolution
The day-zero cap table is in your Atlas docs. As you issue options, raise SAFEs, and bring on advisors, the cap table evolves. Atlas isn't where you maintain it.
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Annual franchise tax
Delaware franchise tax is due March 1 every year. Atlas doesn't track it; you (or your registered agent) do.
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QR-verified share certificates
If you issue stock to employees, advisors, or investors after incorporation, the certificates need to be generated, tracked, and verifiable. Atlas doesn't do this.
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BOI filings to FinCEN
The Corporate Transparency Act requires BOI reports identifying beneficial owners. Atlas may have helped with initial filing; updates are ongoing.
What ongoing records actually require
If Atlas gave you a Delaware C-corp, here's what you need to maintain after day 30.
- Stock ledger under DGCL § 219. The corporation must maintain a stock ledger. Atlas's founder docs include the initial issuance; ongoing updates are on you.
- Board and stockholder consents. Every option grant, every share issuance, every officer change requires a board (or stockholder) consent. These must be retained in the corporate records book.
- Annual franchise tax. Due March 1 to Delaware Division of Corporations. Atlas's onboarding typically covers the first year; you handle subsequent years.
- Stock certificates (or notices). Delaware permits certificated or uncertificated stock. If certificated, certificates need to be generated, signed, and verifiable. If uncertificated, written notices of issuance to holders are required.
- 83(b) elections. If you issue restricted stock to employees, the 30-day 83(b) filing deadline is unforgiving. Track each grant carefully.
- BOI updates to FinCEN. Beneficial ownership changes trigger update obligations under the Corporate Transparency Act.
Atlas gives you the corporation. Octelligence gives you the record.
The Atlas package is comprehensive for incorporation: certificate of incorporation filed in Delaware, bylaws adopted, founder stock issued with 83(b) elections handled, EIN obtained, registered agent retained, bank account opened, Stripe Atlas integration ready. For an international founder forming a Delaware C-corp, this is the smoothest path available.
What Atlas doesn't give you is a system for what happens next. The corporation will issue more shares (to employees, advisors, investors). It will hold board meetings and pass resolutions. It will transfer shares when employees leave or advisors are bought out. It will file annual returns and pay franchise tax. It will face diligence one day. The records of all that need to live somewhere structured.
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Atlas's responsibility
Initial incorporation: charter, bylaws, founder stock, EIN, banking, Stripe integration. Best in class at this.
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Founder's responsibility (Atlas hands off)
Ongoing board consents, share transfers, option grants, annual franchise tax, BOI updates.
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Octelligence's role
Structured system for the ongoing records, minute book, share register, certificates, cap table, from day 31 forward.
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Most founders' default
Dropbox + Google Sheets + a folder structure. Works until it doesn't.
From Atlas to Octelligence is one afternoon.
The migration from Atlas to Octelligence is small because the records are clean and recent. Atlas hands you a digital package of founder documents; we import those into a structured framework that holds them in the right categories (articles, bylaws, founder stock issuance, 83(b) elections). The setup is typically done in an afternoon.
From there, every new corporate action (board consent, option grant, share transfer) flows through Octelligence as structured records. The minute book stays current. The stock ledger reconciles to the issued certificates. The cap table is generated from the ledger. Annual franchise tax appears in the filings calendar. The records grow naturally rather than being assembled retrospectively years later.
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Day 0-30: Atlas
Incorporate, sign founder agreements, issue founder stock, file 83(b), obtain EIN, open bank account.
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Day 31: Import to Octelligence
Upload Atlas documents. Configure share classes. Set up registered agent reminder for annual franchise tax. Start the minute book.
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Ongoing: structured records
Every new resolution, grant, transfer creates structured entries. The minute book never falls behind.
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Series A diligence (year 2-3)
Export the complete corporate record in one click. No reconstruction. No 'we'll get back to you.'
Atlas and Octelligence side-by-side
They do different jobs. Here's the scope of each.
If you incorporated through Atlas, here's what to do next
The decision isn't whether to leave Atlas. It's what handles the next 5 years.
The cheapest moment to start a structured corporate record is right after incorporation, before things get messy. Free tier handles the first corporation.
Once you start issuing employee equity, the cap table starts getting complex. Have the structure in place first.
SAFE math is where spreadsheet cap tables go wrong. If you're raising a pre-seed via SAFEs, have a real cap table before the first investment.
VC diligence will expect a clean record. Reconstructing it during a financing is expensive and slow.
If you incorporate additional entities (acquisitions, subs), Atlas remains the right tool for the initial filing. Octelligence picks up from there.
Atlas connects you with US counsel during incorporation. Ask them: 'how do we maintain the corporate record going forward?' Most will recommend a structured tool over a shared drive.
Common questions
Free tier for one corporation. Imports from Atlas in an afternoon. No vendor lock-in.