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All states require that businesses file articles of organization and appoint a registered agent. These agents must be available to receive service of process and official government notices including tax forms.

While it is legal for businesses to act as their own registered agents, utilizing one of the best multi state registered agent services makes more sense and will save time and money in the long run.

Cost

While it’s possible to act as your own registered agent, hiring a nationwide service provider is more convenient and can save you money. It also simplifies business maintenance as all documents and notifications are streamlined and delivered to one central location.

Some providers, such as CorpNet, offer a customer satisfaction guarantee and a large network of agents across the country. They’re familiar with each state’s requirements and work to stay on top of changes. This can make it easier for you to scale as your business grows.

Other services, such as Jumpstart Filings, charge $150 per year for a bare minimum registered agent service with no premium features. Using a service that provides compliance alerts as part of their registered agent fee could reduce your costs significantly.

Availability

A registered agent services can be a necessity for businesses that operate in multiple states. When companies are expanding into new territories, they need to file paperwork and pay a fee with the state’s secretary of state or another government official to allow them to do business there.

Using a multistate registered agent service, like Universal Registered Agents, can save time and money on these state-by-state requirements. They offer a comprehensive package for one flat yearly price that includes a lot of benefits for multistate businesses.

Additionally, a good multistate registered agent service will receive all legal and tax documents for your company and immediately notify you of any correspondence. This will prevent you from missing deadlines and incurring state late filing penalties. It will also protect you from having to receive service of process at your home or place of business, which can be embarrassing and disruptive for employees, customers, and family. Lastly, it will keep your personal and business mail separate.

Convenience

Many online legal services including LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer and IncFile offer registered agent services for a fee. However, a top-grade service provider will go above and beyond the standard customer support and will also provide useful add-ons like mail forwarding and a compliance calendar.

Your registered agent is a reliable way for the public, courts and government to contact your business. Typically, they will accept important documents on your behalf (including service of process delivery), and then will forward them to you as quickly as possible. They will also help you stay in compliance with state law by sending you notifications of upcoming deadlines or actions you need to take.

Successful business owners maximize efficiency and make processes as simple as possible. Using one multistate registered agent will help you do just that. All important state paperwork will come from one place, all billing will be centralized and you will have only one registered agent contact to work with.

Security

Most registered agent providers charge a fee for their service and are registered at the state office in order to receive legal notices on behalf of businesses. However, the level of service and value they offer varies greatly from provider to provider.

Some registered agents simply receive and forward mail on behalf of clients, while others raise the bar by offering online account services with streamlined notifications, annual report reminders and more. Many also have offices in multiple states, which makes keeping business compliance across jurisdictions easy and cost-effective.

LegalZoom, for example, offers a basic package for $99 per year and includes identity theft insurance. This is a great deal, but they don’t provide the same level of customer support as other providers that are cheaper than them. In addition, they don’t provide a compliance calendar like Northwest does, which is an added benefit. However, they do have a high customer satisfaction rating. They also have a good track record for meeting state requirements.