Association Abbreviations

We define associations as the union of people who organize themselves for non-economic purposes (art. 53). And the Federal Constitution guarantees the right to free association, but prohibits the exercise of certain activities described by law, such as activities of a paramilitary nature.

In this way, associations constitute a grouping of people, with a common purpose that pursue the defense of certain interests, without having profit as an objective. Therefore, they are non-profit legal entities governed by private law, formed by bringing together people for a common objective, with no interest in dividing financial results between them. All income from its activities must be used to fulfill its statutory objectives.

Its purpose can be altruistic – as a charitable association that serves a community without qualified restrictions – or non-altruistic, in the sense that it is restricted to a select and homogeneous group of members.

It is important to point out that, although the purposes of the associations are not of an economic nature, they are not prohibited from carrying out revenue-generating activities, since there is no legal prohibition on the performance of such activities, provided that they are characterized as means of meeting your ends. Therefore, they do not lose the category of association even if they carry out business to maintain or increase their assets, as long as it does not provide profit to associates, directors or founders.

To this end, the economic activities carried out must be expressly provided for in its statutes, as well as the intention to fully revert the revenue generated for the achievement of its social objectives.

How to form an association
The constitution of an association takes place through its Bylaws , a set of contractual clauses that relate the entity to its founders, directors and associates, attributing rights and obligations to each other.

The Civil Code, in its art. 46, points out the information that must be included in the statute. It is also important to verify the requirements that must be contained in this document, if the association intends to enter into partnerships or obtain titles from the public authorities.

In order for the association to acquire formal existence before the law (which we call legal personality), it is necessary to register its bylaws, and its minutes of constitution and election of the first board, at the Registry of Deeds and Documents of Legal Entities. Upon registration, the entity has full legal capacity and, therefore, the legal condition to hire, employ, enter into partnerships, etc., becoming a social actor that will be subject to rights and obligations.

These documents are necessary for the simple existence of the association, however, for the exercise of its activities, it will need several other documents such as the municipal registration, and the National Register of Legal Entities – the CNPJ, which corresponds to the person’s CPF. physics. Also, other municipal, state and federal registrations may be required for the entity to be able to provide services in specific areas, such as education, health and social assistance.

Subsequently, the association can apply to obtain titles, certificates and qualifications that will provide advantages in raising funds to be used in its maintenance and sustainability.

Associations are generally managed by a General Assembly, responsible for defining how the entity operates, an Administrative Council or Board of Directors (executive body) and a Fiscal Council (which monitors the accounts).

Finally, we emphasize once again that associations are legal entities with rights and duties. And one of these duties is to keep your accounting up to date, periodically submitting the mandatory declarations to the control and inspection bodies.

List of Acronyms Related to Association