Officer

A officer is a high-level management official in a company, hired by the Board of Directors of a corporation or the members of an LLC, to run the day-to-day operations of the company. Corporations must have a president and secretary as officers, and typically also have treasurer, as well as any other positions, as defined by the Board, and as explained in detail in the corporation’s bylaws. Other common positions include a vice president, chief financial officer (CFO) and chief executive officer (CEO). LLCs do not typically have officers, but some LLCs choose to appoint officers anyway. Those officers can have any titles, and the powers and responsibilities of the officers of an LLC are typically set forth in the members’ operating agreement. Officers have actual or apparent authority to contract or otherwise act on behalf of a company. Officers typically receive a salary for their services on behalf of the company. Only when the company is a startup and cannot yet afford to pay its officers their salaries are salaries not paid. The payment of salaries to officers is in contrast with directors, who often receive little to no compensation for their work on behalf of the corporation, in their capacity as directors.