Do I need articles of incorporation to open a business P.O. Box?

Hm... What do PO boxes have to do with legal entities? There's no reason getting a PO box would have anything to do with the LLC process.

You can just get it in your name and then when the other information comes transfer it or add the name of the company. What's the big deal?

George - Simply fill in the P.O. Box form for yourself and under "other people receiving mail at this address" list your company. But consider:

1. There was a time when having a POB seemed more businesslike than an apartment address. Simply change "Apt" to "Suite" - you'll still get your mail.
2. Consider that now people are more suspicious not less of companies that only list a POB. 3, Consider the time it will take to check that P.O. Box on a regular basis.
3. At least in Sonoma, CA the postal employees smash and cram my box with as much mail as they can before making the (slight) effort to bag my overflow for pickup. Result? Tattered magazines, mutilated "1st class" mail and even broken CDs.

As other stated you do not have to wait till you complete the formation process. @Bob: great idea about Apt>Suite sound way more busines like. Also, depending on your business type you might want to reconsider using PO Box for the stated above resons: 1. You will not check it all the time 2. Your important mail may be damaged.

Another thing to consider is doing something other than a USPS PO Box. UPS and others provide mail boxes that you can put down as a Suite number. I just did this for an LLC and they did not require any documents that said the name of the LLC on it.

You can also get a mail box from places like UPS store, etc.

Some advantages:

1. Didn't ask me for any corporate paperwork.
2. Send email when a package is received.
3. Most companies will ship to UPS store, because it has a regular address (I put "suite #xxx" on the address. Many companies won't ship to a PO box for some reason.