Application preparation

Organizing entity, ownership, and signing-authority records

Keep three names apart: the legal name on the formation record, the trade name if it differs, and the individual the request asks to sign. IRS instructions for Form SS-4, revised December 2025, say the legal name goes on line 1 exactly as it appears on the charter or other legal document. A sole proprietor puts the individual's name on line 1 and the business name on line 2. Line 2 is the trade name, which those instructions call the doing-business-as name. That is guidance for an EIN application. It is not a provider's document list and not a legal opinion about ownership. Stripe's US account page says Stripe verifies legal entity name, entity type, EIN, SSN or ITIN, and business address for a US Stripe account, and that a PO Box is not accepted for the address where most business activity occurs. That page is not every provider's list, and Prism does not collect those documents through the public form. Describe the work you need. Prism will confirm scope, responsibilities, fees, and terms before work begins.

For: An owner or authorized representative of a business that sells peptides for laboratory research use only and has been asked for business-identity records.

Updated 2026-09-21

Three names are three facts

The legal name is the name on the formation document or, for a sole proprietor, the individual's name, as the record states it. The trade name is the public name only when it is different. The signer is a person the provider's form identifies by a role. Writing the brand in the legal-name field, or the company name in the signer field, mixes records the reviewer will compare.

The public website's about page can be wrong even when the formation document is right. Checking the website's identity is a separate review. This page is the formal record the application asks for. Do not replace the formation name with the name customers see unless they are the same name.

The EIN instructions separate the legal name from the trade name

The IRS instructions for Form SS-4 say to enter the legal name exactly as it appears on the social security card, charter, or other applicable legal document. For corporations, the instructions say to use the corporate name on the charter or other creating document, including a suffix such as Inc., Corp., or PC. For a sole proprietor, line 1 is the individual's name, not the business name, and abbreviations or nicknames are not used there. Line 2 is where a different trade name is entered.

The same instructions say a sole proprietor generally needs one EIN regardless of how many businesses or trade names that proprietorship uses, and that a new EIN is required if the sole proprietorship incorporates or enters a partnership. They also say that if the type of organization changes, the application can say so, for example from sole proprietorship to partnership. Those are tax-identification instructions. They do not decide who owns the company, what percentage anyone holds, or which person a payment provider will accept as a signer.

A provider's list is the list in that provider's request

Stripe's page on requirements for a US Stripe account says unregistered businesses must have an owner or representative physically located in the US, registered businesses must be registered in the US, and every business must give the physical address where most of the business activity is carried out. PO Boxes are not accepted for that address. Stripe says it will verify legal entity name, legal entity type, EIN, SSN or ITIN, and business address, and may ask for official documentation. If the address on the account differs from the articles of incorporation, Stripe describes updating the account address to match when the business is incorporated at a physical US address.

Stripe's separate business-information page describes a broader check: identification, whether Stripe can support what you sell, and risk. It does not repeat the US page's field list. Even inside one company, the published checks are not one universal form. Use the request in front of you. Do not send a US Stripe field to a provider that did not ask for it, and do not treat either Stripe page as acceptance of a research-use-only peptide business or as a list Prism uses.

The signer is a person, and the file has a destination

Copy the role the provider used, such as the representative or the person it asked to sign. Record whether you have the record that request names. This page does not decide that someone is an owner, a beneficial owner, or authorized. If the request does not define the role, ask the provider what it means before you guess.

Identity documents do not go through the public Prism form. That form says to leave out payment-card details, passwords, and customer records. Use the secure destination the provider names. You can organize the index. The provider decides whether the person and the entity qualify. A Prism conversation can help you describe the mismatch between a trade name and a legal name. Scope, fees, and terms are discussed before work, and the conversation is not a legal opinion.

Entity and signer record index

Write names as the records print them. Do not put a government identifier, an account number, or a document image in the last column. Worksheet entries are not submitted by this worksheet or saved by this site. Use only non-sensitive summaries; do not enter credentials, government identifiers, card or bank-account numbers, private receipt links, or customer details.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

Entity and signer record index. The last column is for temporary notes.
Name or role	Record that should carry it	Mix-up to avoid	Your record
Legal name	The formation document, charter, or, for a sole proprietor, the individual's legal name as the SS-4 instructions describe line 1.	Do not enter the store brand here when the formation name is different.	Legal name: Your record
Trade name, if it differs	The doing-business-as name, which the SS-4 instructions place on line 2 when it differs from the legal name.	Do not leave this blank if the website uses a different name. Do not use it to replace the legal name.	Trade name, if it differs: Your record
Entity type	The type on the formation record, using the suffix the charter uses for a corporation.	Do not describe a sole proprietorship as a company, or a company as the founder's personal name, unless that is what the record says.	Entity type: Your record
Identifier type requested and record availability	Record only the identifier type the provider requested and whether the corresponding record is available.	Never enter an EIN, SSN, ITIN, or other identifier value in this worksheet. Use the provider’s verified secure channel only when that provider requests the record.	Identifier type requested and record availability: Your record
Address the request asks for	Record the address type requested and whether the source record matches; compare complete addresses only inside the business’s authorized records.	Do not give a mailing box as the operating address when the request asks where the business operates.	Address the request asks for: Your record
Person asked to sign	Record the requested role and whether an authorized person has been identified; keep that person’s private details in the business’s records.	Do not put the brand or the legal entity in the signer field. Do not decide from this page that the person is an owner.	Person asked to sign: Your record
Where the provider said to send it	The destination written in the request.	The public Prism form is not that destination. If the request names none, ask before sending identity records.	Where the provider said to send it: Your record

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. The consultation form does not include these entries.

Limits

A Prism consultation can help you organize the facts and discuss the website or processing question. The payment provider decides eligibility, pricing, reserves, and whether an account is opened or closed.
IRS Form SS-4 instructions are not a payment provider's document list and are not a determination of ownership or signing authority.
Stripe's US account page applies to US Stripe accounts. It is not a universal list, not Prism's collection process, and not an approval.

Related guides

Sources checked 2026-09-21

IRS Instructions for Form SS-4 (12/2025) — checked 2026-09-21. Line 1 is the legal name exactly as on the charter or other legal document. A sole proprietor enters the individual name on line 1 and the business name on line 2. Line 2 is the trade name, described as the doing-business-as name. A new EIN is required if a sole proprietorship incorporates or enters a partnership.
Stripe US account requirements — checked 2026-09-21. A US Stripe account page says Stripe verifies legal entity name, entity type, EIN, SSN or ITIN, and business address, requires US registration for a registered business, and does not accept a PO Box for the address where most business activity is carried out.
Stripe business information requirements — checked 2026-09-21. A separate Stripe page says Stripe verifies identification, whether it can support what the business sells, and risk, which is not the same field list as the US account page.
Prism contact — checked 2026-09-21. The public form says to leave out payment-card details, passwords, and customer records. A request does not submit a processing application.
Prism solutions — checked 2026-09-21. The provider decides eligibility and account terms. Product-specific legal questions belong with qualified counsel. Scope, fees, and terms are discussed before work.

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