Corporate services orbusiness services are activities which combine or consolidate certainenterprise-wide needed support services, provided based on specialized knowledge,best practices, and technology to serve internal (and sometimes external) customers and business partners. The termcorporate services providers (CSPs) is also used.
Corporate Service Providers may work in a diverse set of fields such asfinance,consulting,IT service management,advisory services,auditing and so forth. Typically the emphasis of the service agreement is on providing clients with an improved functional and experiential quality over time.[1]
In the United Kingdom, the public audit agencies produced a report in May 2007 called "Value for Money in public sector corporate services".[2] This provides performance indicators in five categories: Finance, Human Resources, Information & Communication Technology, Procurement, and Estates Management.
ABusiness Advisory Service counselsclients re the current and future state of theirCompany, with the aim of advancing the prospects of the enterprise in question. This service, used across various industries, involves (i) examining the relevant legal, tax, financial, market, and/orrisk factors, and then (ii) advising re start-up (includingcompany formation), or more common, re ongoingstrategic andoperational improvements to the business.
Company incorporation is the process of forming a companycorporation officially in the country of residence. It is also possible non-residents to set up a company: seeoffshore company. However, laws vary in all countries. International corporate serviceconsultants specialise in dealing with incorporation in the country in question. Once application is successful, the company will receive acertificate of incorporation. Which provides valid existence of the company under the registered name given.[3]
Aregisteredagent, also known as aresident agent[4] orstatutory agent,[5] is a business or individual designated to receiveservice of process (SOP) when abusiness entity is a party in alegal action such as a lawsuit or summons.[6] Some examples of related services include:
Corporate services such as finance and banking were first introduced to remove pressure from the client's organisation when dealing with complex banking and finance issues. Specialist information and tips are provided by the consultancy to manage finances appropriately, and some can set up a corporate bank account for clients.[citation needed] Some examples of tailored services include:
Accounting andtax services are useful for companies wanting tooutsource their basic work. The services involve preparing and submitting obligatory documents required by authorities associated with business practice. Some basic services include:
Market research for investment along with risk evaluation is another corporate service designed to help clients make financial decisions.Intellectual property protection is seen as an investment, this is a service some consultancies may also advise on. Similarly,stock exchange services can bring about specialist reports on past, current and forecastedstock exchange trends, with a personalised analysis.
Where local Corporate Service Providers (CSPs) offer bundled basic services to supporttax residency tests such as "central management and control" type tests (typical in UK law) of abrass plate company,shell company or otherspecial-purpose vehicle that has been set up in the jurisdiction. Usually located in eitheroffshore financial centres or inonshore financial centres. Typical services include:
In ordinary circumstances, corporate service providers may not, or alternatively will not, act as atrustee for the clients which they provide services to. This is to maintain the integrity of the client organization and its ability torepresent itself inlegal processes. It also avoids excessive risk on behalf of the purveyor of corporate services.
This practice seeks to ensure that thecorporate personhood of the client is secured. Exceptions to this may be inlitigations or corporatebankruptcy filings where the enterprise entity of the client is considered legally incapacitated and is therefor incapable of representing itself in a court process. In these rare cases the corporate service provider may decide to act as a trustee for the client.
