What company offers the best incorporation service? You've done the hard work, put in the hours, and chased the dream of starting your own business. Now you're ready to make it official and incorporate. Where do you start? How do you know what type of corporation to create?
Best Option
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If you're wanting to incorporate and looking for a service to do the work for you, MyCompanyWorks is a top choice. Extra value provided at each package level, a year of registered agent service, and lifetime support are great features included in two of their packages. If that's not enough, they offer a 90-day guarantee that you'll love their service, helping them to secure our top recommendation for incorporation services.
Great
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Providing a speedy way to file your incorporation papers without paying too much extra, Filenow delivers a smooth process for all package levels. With a year of registered agent service on their higher-priced package, they are comparable with our top recommendation and come with an error-free guarantee. The hundreds of 5-star reviews and stellar "A+" rating from the BBB put Filenow solidly near the top of our list.
Very Good
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Providing an excellent option for company incorporation services, Bizee has three package levels, including a free option. Each one includes a free year of registered agent service, which could potentially save you hundreds of dollars. While over a hundred thousand customers rave about their service, Bizee's "F" rating by the BBB keeps us from giving them our very highest score.
Very Good
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With humor and experience, Northwest Registered Agent wants to help you incorporate your business. They provide both a free option and a paid option, offering one of the lowest costs for a year of their registered agent service with it. With a thousand 5-star reviews, Northwest Registered Agent is an incorporation service worthy of consideration.
Very Good
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CorpNet offers a highly-reviewed incorporation service with an educational website and solid reputation. A satisfaction guarantee makes trying their service an option if they have the features you're looking for. However, added fees bring up the overall cost and bring down their ranking on our list.
Good
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Providing a free package for company incorporation, as well as other paid ones, Swyft Filings has a potentially great service to offer. They even include a personal customer service agent for your business. However, their high hidden fees and not-rated status at the BBB bring them to just above average for us.
Average
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With a free option as well as upgraded paid packages, BusinessRocket wants to help incorporate your business by offering the lowest guaranteed prices. They offer a lot of value for their free package and have one of the lower registered agent fees around, but concerns about subscription fees, a discrepancy about state fees, and no rating from the BBB keeps BusinessRocket's incorporation service as just average for us.
Average
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Providing free incorporation services for their members with subscription, Rocket Lawyer may offer an excellent option for those business owners who want legal services. However, their costs are difficult to find and registered agent service is an added on fee. With a lack of reviews about this part of their service, Rocket Lawyer is a mid-tier option for incorporating your business.
Fair
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Claiming to help start over half a million businesses, BizFilings will get your company's incorporation going in just 10 minutes. Their packages include only three months of registered agent service, which may surprise customers with an auto-renewal at a higher fee than many of the choices on our list. This service lacks the reviews to support their claims and is just below average for us.
Fair
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Legal Zoom has established itself as an incorporation service with a great reputation plus legal benefits for companies. However, their costs don't include registered agent service and start to add up when compared to some of the other choices on our list. Unless you're wanting the additional legal benefits Legal Zoom provides, we suggest considering other incorporation services for your business.
Subpar
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Though they claim to be the most trusted of the incorporation services available, MyCorporation inflates state fees without explanation. The company offers four levels of packages but only provides registered agent services with the higher-priced options. With subscriptions offered as a benefit of the packages and other added fees, MyCorporation comes in well below average for us.
Weak
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With so many other ways to incorporate your business, FindLegalForms offers a DIY option. Just pay for their forms and use them as often as you wish. If you know what you're doing, FindLegalForms is an option that might interest you. However, for the rest of us, we recommend checking out the more helpful incorporation services in our evaluation.
Continued from above...
You've done the hard work, put in the hours, and chased the dream of starting your own business. Now you're ready to make it official and incorporate. Where do you start? How do you know what type of corporation to create?
Incorporation can be defined as the process of legally creating a corporate entity. Once established, a corporation has its own rights and responsibilities from its owners, providing a range of benefits including tax advantages, liability protection, and increased credibility in the eyes of the consumer. To decide which kind of company works best for your needs, consider the basic differences between them. C-Corporations are subject to corporate income tax while S-Corporations instead have the income and losses passed through to shareholders for reporting on personal income taxes. A tax professional can help you decide which option works better for your personal situation.
Each state has its own legal requirements for what needs to be filed when and how much it will cost. Typically, you will file in your home state, but sometimes companies choose to incorporate in a different state to take advantage of tax benefits. Wherever you file, you will probably need to file articles of incorporation, appoint a board of directors, hold annual meetings, and maintain corporate records.
If that sounds like a lot to you, perhaps you want to get help with this process. Good news. There are many services which will do the work for you - usually for a fee of some sort. They can also walk you through processes you didn't consider. Some offer legal advice while others are clear that they are not legally permitted to do so.
How do you know where to go for reputable help? Incorporating your company can be complex, but there are ways to make it easier by using one of these services. Remember, it's essential to get it right the first time and avoid costly mistakes. Here are the top factors we recommend for comparing incorporation services:
At Top Consumer Reviews, we are excited to help as you take this big leap into incorporating your business. As such, we have looked into today's most popular services, then reviewed and ranked them so you can more easily choose the right company to help you through this process. Best of success to you in your business endeavors!
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Why Should You Incorporate Your Business?
Perhaps you've been in business for a while and feel you want to formalize your status, legally and otherwise. Perhaps your business has been local to date, but you are looking toward operating in more than one state. Maybe you are competing with larger companies in the same niche and feel a change in legal status will bump up your credibility. Or maybe you just like the sound of the syllable "Inc." after your business name.
There are myriad answers to the question, "Why should you incorporate your business." Following are just a few:
Protect Your Assets
If you've owned a sole proprietorship, you know all too well that not only does the buck stop with you relative to operations, you're also on the hot seat when it comes to financial and legal complications that may arise. If a sole proprietorship stumbles under the weight of excessive debt or is taken to court, it's the proprietor's personal as well as business assets that
are at
risk. A corporation is a legal entity all its own. If your company faces legal issues or cannot meets its obligations, your personal assets do not come into play.
Gain Tax Advantages
When you incorporate your business, the IRS allows you to get a tax ID number for your business, establishing its status as a separate entity relative to tax liability. In fact, a corporation files its own tax return -- paying taxes on its profits -- at a complete remove from your individual return.
Separate tax identity alone can be enough justification for some to incorporate their businesses. Keep in mind, though, that when you incorporate, you and any other owners also become shareholders. If your company distributes dividends, you must pay taxes on that dividend income when you file your personal return.
Formalize Status
When you incorporate, you must make your business known to state, and sometimes local, authorities. Regulation specifics vary by state, but nearly universally, you must file articles of incorporation with your state's Secretary of State's office. In addition, you will have to create and record by-laws. Moreover, you'll have to set up a calendar of regular shareholder meetings;
the
minutes from those meetings must be recorded and kept on file at your company. The shareholders are required to elect a board of directors who must also meet regularly to make important decisions about the firm. Not surprisingly, establishing a corporate structure typically requires engaging the services of a lawyer or law firm.
Make a Name (or Two) for Yourself: State and Local Recognition
One key step toward incorporation is filing a business name with state and/or local authorities. If you want to do business under more than one name, you'll also need to file one or more fictitious business name statements. For example, if your company is called Snow Corporation, and you want to sell skis under the name "Speed
Plus
Company," you have to submit the appropriate paperwork to the relevant authorities.
Raising Capital
Finally, incorporating your business makes it possible to raise capital by selling shares to stockholders. Relying solely on bank or personal loans or company profits for financing will be a thing of the past.
The decision to incorporate should be a deliberate one. The administrative costs alone should be enough to deter you from entering into this new status lightly. Should you decide to take the plunge, incorporating could be a crucial step in your company's journey.
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