I have had good luck using an online Incorporation service in the past. I have personally used BizFilings for my business with good luck. It is pretty straightforward and their support staff is helpful if you run into any issues. edit

I appreciate the feedback. They appear to be one of the more popular and reputable sites for this type of service. edit

Online incorporation services are great at handling incorporation filings, but you may want to file the papers yourself. I did exactly that. You can contact your state's Corporation Bureau via telephone or visit their website and obtain information about the forms you will need to file and the cost of filing. I would also suggest that you perform a name check for your business prior to filing incorporation papers. A name check can be performed by merely accessing an online database for your state's Corporation Bureau and performing a search to determine if another company has already registered the name you plan to assign to your company with the Corporation Bureau of your state. Doing this will prevent your application from being rejected by your state's Corporation Bureau. By the way, I am not suggesting that you do something that I have not done myself. This is always my FIRST step before filing incorporation papers. If your state does not have an accessible/free online data base, you can call your state's Corporation Bureau and ask for a name check and supply the Customer Service Representative in your state's Corporation Bureau with the name that you plan to register your business under. If you are told that the name is available, that means that you can file incorporation papers for your company under the name you have decided to give it. If you are told that the name is not available, you will have to select another name.

I hope this helps.

Here's to your success!

Best regards. edit

Patrick,
If all you are doing is filing incopration (or LLC papers) you can probably do that yourself. If you are looking for the online service to give you useful by-laws or operating agreements, there is a goodchance you will be wasting your money on something that does not fit your specific needs. Go to a couple of local lawyers and find out what they provide and get a fixed cost to compare.
Don edit

There is allot more to forming a corporation or LLC than just filing out paperwork with the state. Using a service like BizFilings or www.MyLLC.com ensures that ALL of the appropriate paperwork gets filled out and submitted. MyLLC also has a compliance calendar that ensures your company stays active and in good stating through out the year. It’s always wise to consult with a CPA or Lawyer to see if the corporation or LLC is right for you. edit

I am a fan of online filing services. There is no doubt that the LLC filing process is the kind of thing that can easily be automated for volume processing with good customer support to help walk people though the process and requirements (if only the state governments actually cared enough to do this themselves). An attorney (or legal staff) don't add much value to the actual filing process. As far as what form to take and how to setup disbursements and tax elections, I generally regard that as a tax question best handled by a CPA.

The best value add from an attorney is to understand who is involved, what they are contributing, and what the intended ownership and management roles are--and then to help draft or customize operating agreements, asset transfers, and the like. This involves investigation, counseling, and agreement drafting to make sure the legal documents reflect both the intentions of the members and a legally permissible and defensible arrangement.

Finally, I wouldn't recommend doing this stuff on your own. It seems unlikely that figuring out state filing requirements is a good use of a business owner's time and attention. edit

Took less than an hour for me to do it by myself. Filed for LLC,FEIN,Duns# all online through State Website. Only costed 105 bucks for the LLC, rest was free. Received my TaxID through the mail 2 weeks later. edit

State web site? Chris, which state are you talking about? Any state in U.S.? Or where? edit

Gerald - Congratulations on starting your own business.

Have you ever heard of or reviewed a company called GoSmallBiz.com.

GoSmallBiz.com provides business consulting services and legal services for a monthly fee based on # of employees. We have over 30,000 small business customers across the U.S. and Canada that utilize our services.

If you are interested in learning more feel free to call me at 513.444.3885.

Good Luck

James Locker
Associate
Small Business Certified
GoSmallBiz.com edit

I use The Company Corporation to file in states other than my own. They will set up the company, provide you with a corporate binder with your documents, provide you with share certificates, a three-ring binder with labeled tabs for certain required documentation and I even received three books from Nolo press on taxes for small business, operating the company in accordance with state law and a third that I cannot recall. They are very professional. For an additional fee, they submit paperwork for your EIN with the federal government, which is required. www.incorporate.com edit

A lot depends on the state you are in. If you incorporate in another state you must have a registered agent in that state. OneStopCorporationShop.com is a smaller firm, so you get personal service. We incorporate you in Kansas. When you factor in the costs for the annual filing fees, our costs are lower than others. You don't even have to be listed on the annual filings, if you desire. We can also obtain your FEIN. Kansas also does not have an expensive state business license, as many other states do. Kansas also does not require a Doing/Business/As filing. Kansas corp. law is similar to Delaware's, but less expensive. There's no requirement you do any business activity in Kansas. edit

Check your State tax policy before registering as out of State... some States tax Foreign/Franchise in addition to Corp. tax and may require registration/license also. edit

Out of state corporations are called "Foreign" corporations. There are fees involved, but may less than than some states incorporations. As for franchise fees, all corps, will have to pay You have to compute the state fees with other states for overall cost. edit

Before I did anything, I consulted ehow.com. After reading that article, I decided I would do it myself. It was really easy and dispite it costing exactly the same as was quoted on www.rocketlawyer.com, I was able to learn a little more about LLCs from the article and the form instructions. Things like Resident Agents that I wouldn't have known simply using www.rocketlawyer.com. Legalzoom.com wanted to charge from $100 - $350 for filing an LLC. edit

You can also use my company Vcorp Services - we are much, much more affordable than Legalzoom. Rocketlawyer is a great site as well to use and very affordable. I attended their networking event at the ABA in San Francisco a few weeks ago and met their staff. Great people and very reputable as well.

Check out our pricing here and good luck!

http://www.vcorpservices.com/entrepreneur/incorporation-pricing.php edit

Hi James - I work at Rocket Lawyer, and our incorporation service costs the same as filing directly with your state government. The best part is that we'll do the paperwork for you and we'll give you personalized help from one of our in-house incorporation experts for no extra cost.

Here's another tip for you - it's smart to pick an incorporation service that can help you throughout the life of your company too. Many people don't realize that a new business entity, once established, has many other legal, government and tax requirements to fulfill in order to remain legally compliant. Rocket Lawyer helps by providing an easy way to manage those day-to-day business legal needs, plus you can call us anytime for personalized help. Rocket Lawyer also has a network of attorneys across the country to give you expert legal advice when you need it, and many of our network attorneys offer discounts to Rocket Lawyer members.

If you have more questions about incorporating (whether or not you choose to incorporate with Rocket Lawyer) you can get get a free consultation with one of our incorporation experts at http://inc.rocketlawyer.com/

Wishing you a happy and successful new business! edit

Legal Zoom should be good to. edit

If all you are doing is filing incopration (or LLC papers) you can probably do that yourself. If you are looking for the online service to give you useful by-laws or operating agreements, there is a goodchance you will be wasting your money on something that does not fit your specific needs. Go to a couple of local lawyers and find out what they provide and get a fixed cost to compare.
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