Filings Made Easy™

What is a Registered Agent (Resident Agent)?

A Registered Agent, or Resident Agent or Statutory Agent, is an agent that is designated by a company to receive legal documents, such as service of process, when the company becomes a party to, or is otherwise involved in, a lawsuit or other legal matter.

The Registered Agent for a business may be an individual or a third party, such as the company’s lawyer or a service company (such as Filings Made Easy, through its owner, Corporate Filing Solutions, LLC). 

The purpose of a Registered Agent is to provide a physical legal address within that state where individuals are available during normal business hours to receive legal documents.  The Registered Agent receives these documents on behalf of the company and then is required to promptly provide them to the company.  In addition to documents relating to litigation, the Registered Agent also receives documents relating to tax and annual franchise or other annual corporate filings. 

Do you need a Registered Agent for your company?

Yes.  Every legal entity is required to have a Registered Agent in the state of its incorporation or formation and in each other state in which the company operates. 

Should your company utilize a commercial Registered Agent?

Filings Made Easy thinks so.  Here is why:

- Confidentiality.  A commercial Registered Agent will handle litigation filings in a confidential and professional manner.  If legal documents are delivered to a company’s normal place of business, employees may learn of this before even the CEO, which could lead to rumors and other unintended consequences.

- Expertise.  Employees of a company may not understand the importance of certain legal documents.  A commercial Registered Agent provides important legal documents directly to the company’s CEO or other senior officer who has been designated to receive correspondence from the Registered Agent.  This ensures that important documents are immediately attended to, and not misplaced or misunderstood.

- Flexibility.  A commercial Registered Agent provides a company with the flexibility to change its address without the burden of notifying the Secretary or State.  This avoids the unfortunate consequences that could arise if a business owner forgets to change its address with the Secretary of State, such as a default judgment in a law suit involving the company.

- Availability.  A commercial Registered Agent is always available during normal business hours.  This availability provides the business owner with the ability to travel and to staff his offices as needed, without worrying about having someone available at all times in those offices.  This avoids the unfortunate consequences that could arise if legal documents are served when the offices are unattended.

- Monitoring.  A commercial Registered Agent keeps track of filing requirements of their clients’ businesses.  This service allows these clients to focus on their businesses, rather than the hassle of monitoring filing requirements and deadlines.  This can also potentially save businesses thousands of dollars in penalties for late filings.

- Responsiveness.  Some commercial Registered Agents (such as Filings Made Easy, through its affiliate Corporate Filing Solutions) provide real-time notice of litigation, and forward all official documents directly to the companies they represent (often by email, fax and/or nationally recognized overnight courier service).

- Value.  The cost per year of a commercial Registered Agent is nominal, relative to the risks that a company may face if a default judgment is entered against a company.

Filings Made Easy/Corporate Filing Solutions, LLC qualifies as a “commercial registered agent” in those states that recognize such status, and also qualifies as a Commercial Registered Office Provider (often called a CROP) in Pennsylvania.

Filings Made Easy will also assist any company with the necessary documents if it wishes to change registered agents to Filings Made Easy.  Please contact Filings Made Easy at customerservice@FilingsMadeEasy.com or 888-237-3410 if you wish to discuss changing your registered agent or otherwise naming Filings Made Easy (or an affiliated entity) as your registered agent in any state or states.

When starting a new business, the business owner has many questions and issues to address.  One of these questions should be whether to incorporate your business, to form a limited liability company (an LLC), to form another type of business entity or to remain a sole proprietorship.

Why do business owners choose to incorporate their companies?  The typical reasons include:

- Limitation of liability/Protection of personal assets. The most important legal reason for incorporating a business is to protect the owners from the liabilities of the business. In other words, the creditors of the business are not able to successfully make a claim against the personal assets of the business owner.

- Transferable ownership. Ownership in a corporation is in the form of stock. Stockholders own shares of stock. Unless there is agreement of the stockholders not to transfer their stock, a stockholder is able to transfer some or all of his or her shares of stock to another party without the consent of other parties.

- Common Understanding and Acceptance of Corporations. Corporations are well known in the United States and internationally. Entering into business negotiations, contracts or transactions with another business or with individual customers may be more successful if you are operating a corporation, as a corporate entity adds legitimacy to your business.

- Employee Benefits. Employee benefits and qualified retirements plans, such as health insurance and 401(K) retirement plans are easily established when operating a corporation, and often times the rates or premiums for insurance is less when utilizing a corporation.

- Taxation. In the United States, corporations are often taxed at rates that are lower than that of the individual stockholders. Corporations may also carryforward losses from one tax year to a future tax year to offset such losses against the future gains (which will result in lower future taxes). Stockholders of corporations formed in the United States may also be permitted to elect to make an “S Corporation” election.

- Raising funds through sale of stock. Capital from investors can be raised for corporations easily through the sale of stock.

- Perpetual Existence. A corporation typically can survive perpetually. Its existence does not end upon the death of stockholders, directors, or officers of the corporation.

Filings Made Easy (through its owner, Corporate Filing Solutions, LLC) serves as registered agent (often referred to in certain states as a “resident agent” or “statutory agent”) for many corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships and other business types throughout the United States.  Since January 2009, hundreds of companies have changed their registered agent to Filings Made Easy/Corporate Filing Solutions, LLC from national companies that provide registered agent services.  In addition, many newly formed corporations and LLCs have named Filings Made Easy as their registered agent at the time of formation.

The reasons are simple:

- Filings Made Easy provides nationwide registered agent services;

- Filings Made Easy’s annual fee is substantially less than the fees of larger registered agents, and will match others’ rates;

- Filings Made Easy makes billing easy.  While some registered agents flood customers with mail each year, Filings Made Easy sends simple invoices to its customers, and if a customer has multiple entities or qualifications in multiple states, Filings Made Easy ensures that its invoices are consolidated so that the customer is not overwhelmed with multiple invoices.

- Filings Made Easy reacts immediately when it receives important correspondence for a customer.  This includes immediately sending documents to customers by email, Federal Express, fax and/or personal delivery.  Filings Made Easy also will call customers if an important document is received, such as a complaint in a new lawsuit, ensuring that the customer immediately focuses on this matter.

- Filings Made Easy is proactive about notifying customers when an annual report or franchise tax is due to be filed and/or paid, and will assist the customer, if the customer wants Filings Made Easy to help.

- Filings Made Easy helps customers comply with state filing and other requirements, to ensure that customers remain in good standing in the state of incorporation or formation and any other state where the company is qualified to do business.

Filings Made Easy/Corporate Filing Solutions, LLC qualifies as a “commercial registered agent” in those states that recognize such classifications, and also qualifies as a Commercial Registered Office Provider (often called a CROP) in Pennsylvania.

Filings Made Easy will also assist any company with the necessary documents if it wishes to change registered agents to Filings Made Easy.  Please contact Filings Made Easy at customerservice@FilingsMadeEasy.com or 888-237-3410 if you wish to discuss changing your registered agent or otherwise naming Filings Made Easy (or an affiliated entity) as your registered agent in any state or states.

FilingsMadeEasy.com Announces Online Business Incorporation for Only $39 (click below to read press release — January 18, 2010)

http://www.prweb.com/releases/online-business/incorporation/prweb3457834.htm

-          choose accountant, and determine if company will operate on accrual or cash basis

-          purchase accounting software (such as QuickBooks)

-          engage lawyer for company

-          create offer letters for employees

-          determine and arrange for employee benefits, such as health insurance

-          create confidentiality, assignment of inventions and non-competition agreements with employees

-          choose a payroll service (such as ADP or Paychex)

-          create policies (such as vacation accrual and use policy, anti-discrimination policy) and employee handbook

-          open bank account

-          obtain credit card (consider AMEX for special cards for small businesses)

-          obtain general liability insurance

-          obtain Workers Compensation insurance

-          create logo

-          create website, and ensure that designed for search engine optimization (consider www.superwebomatic.com)

-          establish Federal Express and UPS accounts

-          establish courier accounts and relationships for local deliveries

-          choose office space and sign lease agreement

-          purchase or lease office furniture

-          purchase or lease office equipment (PCs, servers, copy machines, scanners)

-          obtain virtual phone system services, vanity 800 numbers, unlimited extensions and call forwarding (such as www.Grasshopper.com)

-          create and purchase business cards

-          create, host, manage and maintain servers and email accounts (and other IT needs)

-          consider protecting any intellectual property (including trademarks, patents and trade secrets)

-          consider public relations and marketing (such as press release, registering with local chamber of commerce and registering with online search engines) and creating brochures and other marketing collateral

-          join trade organizations

-          create a business plan, including an operating budget

-          obtain any necessary funding to launch the business and operate it until the company is able to support itself through sales

-          choose a name for the new business (perform search to make other parties do not have rights to this name and not confusingly similar to other names)

-          ensure that the name is available for use in your state (Secretary of State office)

-          obtain a URL (domain name) for your business for your email and website

-          choose a form of legal entity (LLC, corporation or other) – consider tax implications and attractiveness of entity to future investors, if any

-          make necessary filings with Secretary of State to form company

-          choose registered agent for entity (required in every state where business will operate)

-          draft formation documents, including bylaws and shareholders agreement for corporation, or operating agreement for LLC

-          appoint board of directors for corporation or managers for LLC

-          hold initial board/manager meeting to appoint officers and address other initial matters (such as authorizing the company to open bank accounts)

-          obtain federal tax identification number from IRS

-          obtain any required business licenses

-          create a board of advisors

- A -
Agent for Service of Process
Annual Report
Apostille
Articles of Organization
Assumed Name
Authorized Stock

- B -
Board of Directors
Business Entity
Bylaws

- C -
Capital Stock
Common Stock
Corporate Kit
Corporation

- D -
Directors
Dissolution
Dividend
Doing Business As (DBA)
Domestic Corporation

- F -
Federal Tax Identification Number (FEIN)
Fictitious Name
Fiscal Year
Foreign Qualification

- H –
Holding Company

- I –
Incorporation
Incorporator
IRS Form 2553
IRS Form SS-4

- L -
Limited Liability Company (LLC)

- M –
Manager
Member

- O -
Officers
Operating Agreement

- P –
Parent Corporation
Preferred Stock

- R -
Registered Agent
Registered Office
Reinstatement
Resident Agent

- S –
S Corporation
Share
Shareholder
Statutory Agent
Stock
Stock Certificate
Stockholder
Subsidiary

- T -
Treasury Stock

Definition of Treasury Stock:

Shares of stock of a corporation which were issued and later re-acquired by the corporation.  This can occur several ways, including by repurchase by the company or if the shares were subject to vesting (i.e. risk of forfeiture) and the vesting conditions were not satisfied, which results in a forfeiture of the shares back to the company.  Treasury stock is considered “issued, but not outstanding.”

Definition of Subsidiary:

A corporation or LLC that is either wholly owned or majority owned by another corporation or business entity.

Definition of Stockholder:

A “stockholder” is an owner of shares of stock of a corporation.

Definition of Stock Certificate:

A certificate which evidences ownership of shares of stock of a corporation.

Definition of Stock:

An equity or ownership interest in a corporation.

Definition of Statutory Agent:

See “Registered Agent”.