By Tom Billy
A registered agent is your company’s official contact person, required for every business in the state, from the same state. They receive important mail like service of process from the state, correspondence from the Secretary of State, and other official government notifications, like tax forms, for your corporation or LLC. Good registered agents aren’t just there to collect documents for you – they should do various things like tax filings, reporting, and ensuring your business meets regulatory requirements. These are some things you, or one of your friends, if elected as a registered agent, may not do. Here we’ve listed some pros and cons of getting a service.
No extra paperwork
You might find when you hire a registered agent that the cost for a yearly service is well worth the fee of not having to track official notices and annual report due dates. Hiring a good registered agent service means they will have a system that tracks your reports and tells you when they are due, so you don’t have to worry at all. This means you can spend less time fretting on things like deadlines and keeping important documents filed away, and invest this time into your business instead, making you more money.
Flexibility
Registered agents have specific legal requirements they need to fill: having a physical location, and being available at that location at all times during regular business hours, in order to accept service of process. If you choose to be your own registered agent, this is fine if you generally stay in the office and have one to be in.
But, having a registered agent means you can travel regularly if you need to, and work flexible business hours instead of having to do the regular 9-5 job.
Privacy
If you work from home and you are your own registered agent, you’ll be listing your home address on public record. This means anyone who wants to officially contact your business can find your home address. This can be concerning for some people, while others don’t care. If this is you, having a registered agent means their address will be listed instead. In the age of ‘Big Data’ you could find your address being spread anywhere, and state records are permanent. So this is worth considering.
No physical address
If you’re a small business working based on the web you might not have a physical location, and not want to list your home. So, hiring a registered agent service solves this problem as they can get all mail for you.
You also might not have a physical address because you’re originally from a different state, and are looking to expand your business. In each state that your business operates in, you have to register with the state, and for this reason a lot of owners choose to hire a registered agent service to comply with state regulations. Simply having a P.O. box in a state is not permissible – it needs to be a physical location. This is also great because all your important notices for that state are handled by someone else, so there is no need to worry.
Cost
This is the only real big con to hiring a registered agent service. Registered agent costs vary from state to state, but the average price tends to be from $50 to $300, plus state taxes. This is definitely more expensive than being your own registered agent, which is completely free.
Hiring a registered agent service definitely has more pros than cons. But ultimately, whether you’re going to hire one or not really depends on you. For instance, if you are always in office at normal business hours and don’t travel often, it might be more convenient for you to be your own registered agent. Though, if any of these reasons – like getting more time to do work as a result of less paperwork, or privacy, strike a chord with you, it’s a great idea to get a registered agent.
TRUiC gives more of an insight into whether you should hire a registered agent service or not. Visit their site for more.
