Atlas automatically gets your company an IRS tax ID, called an Employer Identification Number (EIN), after filing your incorporation in Delaware. You can start accepting US card payments on Stripe, open a business bank account with Mercury or Brex, and begin fundraising before the IRS assigns your EIN.
Other third party services may require your EIN before you can start using their products. The IRS typically processes EIN applications in 1-2 business days if you provide a US company address, a US company phone number, and a US social security number. If you don’t submit any of those three datapoints, the IRS could take 6-8 weeks. Atlas will email you when your EIN is available.
Accepting payments before receiving your EIN
You can activate US card payments on Stripe for your Atlas company before receiving your EIN. Stripe offers no-code payment options, including Payment Links and Invoices, and all Atlas companies get one year of free payments processing on Stripe (up to $100k in revenue).
Atlas will email you once your company is incorporated in Delaware (typically 1-2 business days after you submit your application). You can activate Stripe Payments from that email, or from your Atlas Dashboard, and Atlas will automatically pre-fill fields that you already filled out during your Atlas application. You’ll need to submit a US phone number (our partners in the Perks section of the Atlas Dashboard can help if you need one).
You will only be able to use Payouts to transfer your Stripe balance to your bank account after you receive your EIN. You can also access additional payment methods beyond US card payments only once your EIN is available.
Note: this experience is currently available for companies incorporated on or after January 9, 2025. If you incorporated before this date, have not yet received your EIN, and want to activate payments, please contact support and we’ll help you get started.
Opening a bank account before receiving your EIN
Atlas banking partners Mercury and Brex allow Atlas companies to open bank accounts before you receive your EIN. Launch an application from the Atlas Perks page to get started. You can begin transferring your Stripe balance to your bank account after you receive your EIN.
Mercury and Brex may require you to submit your EIN by a certain date after you open your account. Contact support if you’re being asked to provide your EIN and don’t have it available yet. Additional Atlas banking partners, and most other banking providers, require you to submit your EIN before you start banking.
What else you can do before receiving your EIN
You can begin fundraising before receiving your EIN with AngelList, which supports new cap table accounts without an EIN. Many engineering, organization, and product tools don’t require an EIN to get started.
You can confirm the onboarding requirements for additional Atlas partners by clicking on them in the Perks section of the Atlas Dashboard.
What you cannot do before receiving your EIN
You can't use Payouts to transfer your Stripe balance to your bank account or access payment methods other than US card payments until you receive your EIN.
It’s likely that you’ll need to wait for your EIN before hiring new employees and registering for business in states outside Delaware, but you may be able to start setting up your account with payroll and compliance tools while you wait.
You can confirm the onboarding requirements for additional Atlas partners by clicking on them in the Perks section of the Atlas Dashboard.