If you're incorporating a business, read these 10 tips for incorporating a business with an online incorporation service.
10 Tips To Incorporating a Business with an Online Incorporation Service
1. Budget Properly
When budgeting, note that the State/Province filing fees are in addition to the stated incorporation service cost. Each State/Province has prescribed fees that may cost as much or even more than the incorporation service.
Moreover, understand the full scope of your needs and then price those requirements among the services. Maybe you need a trademark register and/or are closing an existing business. These are add-on services that you might be able to arrange favorable pricing in a bundle.
2. Assess the Customer Support
We all like communicating in different ways. Maybe you prefer e-mail. Other people prefer phone.
Be sure the incorporation service you choose offers a support mode that suits you. For significant purchases such as incorporating a business, I assess customer support before a purchase by the level of assistance I get with the sales department.
Of course, the sales assistance isn't 100% indicative of the actual support you'll receive, but it's a good start in your decision-making process.
Some online incorporation services offer access to an attorney. If you require legal advice to determine the structure and other details of your incorporation, then the service with access to legal advice may be the service for you.
3. Understand Your Needs
There are many options when incorporating a business. The more common structures include:
Regular C-Corporation
S-Corporation
Professional Corporation
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Non-Profit Corporation
Professional Limited Liability Company.
Moreover, determine whether you have any unique Articles of Incorporation needs to incorporate into your Articles of Incorporation.
If you have complex requirements, you may be better off hiring your own business attorney to do the incorporation for you.
If you're intent on an online service, then look at the packages each sells. Most incorporation services offer packages that result in savings. Choose the package that suits your needs best.
4. Choose a Service that Reviews Your Information?
When you use an online incorporation service, you provide information to series of questions. Choose a service that will review your answers and will then seek clarification if unclear or there's something not right.
In other words, look for a service that's actively involved in your incorporation - and not merely relying on software to spit out documents without any human review.
5. Consider Future Needs of your Company's Paperwork
Your incorporation will require ongoing paperwork - annual filings and perhaps additional documentation and/or changes. Ensure the service you choose offers all the follow-up services you may require in the future. The above-listed services are full-service online incorporation services that offer the ongoing services you may require.
Some future/additional services you might need include:
trademark and/or copyright registration,
filing a foreign qualification,
obtaining a business name (DBA),
obtaining an employer identification number,
closing a business, and/or
obtaining a business license.
6. Check out Testimonials, Media Coverage & Accolades
One easy way to find out if an incorporation service delivers, is to read what other people have to say. Read the testimonials on the services' websites. See what kind and scope of media coverage the service received.
Do positive testimonials mean your business incorporation will proceed flawlessly? Absolutely not. However, it's an indicator of what you might expect.
7. Can You Make Changes?
This is a very important service feature to look into. You might change your mind once you submit your incorporation order to a particular service. Find out whether the service will work with any changes / revisions you need after you submit your order.
8. Independent Legal Advice?
In an abundance of caution, you might have an attorney look over drafted documents before your incorporation documents are submitted for filing. Maybe you're thinking this would defeat the purpose of using an online service. Not necessarily. You'll still save the time of the attorney preparing the documents.
This attorney review is simply getting independent legal advice... which can't hurt.
9. Are You In a Hurry?
Sometimes you need your business incorporated immediately. Then you may opt for a service that can expedite the service very quickly. Note that some States have a set processing time which ties the hands of any incorporation service to expedite the service to your desired speed.
10. Auto-Annual Document Processing
Some services offer auto-annual filing. This is a great service so your incorporation documents are processed on time. However, you'll also be auto-billed for this as well.
So, if you switch services, be sure you cancel any auto-billing/service with your previous incorporation service otherwise you'll pay double.
Which incorporation services meet these criteria?
Check out this online incorporation services comparison chart to discover several prominent online incorporation services.
Or, read an in-depth review of this full-scale online incorporation services giant to see read about a quality service provider.
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