Free legal forms & DIY Guides
Pros
- LLC filing includes 1 Year Registered Agent Service
- Strong customer support team comprised of in-house experts
- Support available for non-US residents
Cons
- No support offered for partnerships or sole proprietorships
- Lack reviews from consumer reporting sites (e.g. Trustpilot)
Overview – Northwest Registered Agent
Northwest Registered Agent was first launched in 1998. Although the company is not as big as its competitors, it has earned a reputation as a no-nonsense company for LLC formation and legal services.
Northwest Registered Agent services are available to corporations and LLCs in all states across the country. As you can see from the name itself, their main service is to act as a registered agent for businesses. If you start an LLC or a company using Northwest Registered Agent, they immediately become assigned as your registered agent. All in all, Northwest Registered Agent is a complete package that offers business formation, mail forwarding, and annual report filing.
Northwest is beneficial for both new and existing businesses in the United States and residents and non-US residents. For businesses that are just starting, Northwest can provide all you need to start your company.
Services Offered by Northwest Registered Agent
The main service offered by Northwest Registered Agent is of course their Registered Agent service. Aside from this, the company also provides other essential services for new and existing companies. For instance, Northwest is experienced in business formation and annual report filing. Customers who sign up with Northwest will receive a suite of services and features and an assigned expert who will help in setting up the business in the desired jurisdiction.
New business owners who are just starting out are in luck because Northwest essentially has all the core services that a business owner will need. The Registered Agent Service is provided for free during their first year.
Registered Agent Service
LLCs, corporations, and other business entities are required by law to have a registered agent upon formation and to have one local registered agent for each state where they conduct business. The requirement to appoint a registered agent is related to the aspect of due process where all parties must be notified before any legal action can proceed in court. In essence, a registered agent ensures that the business receives all correspondence which becomes important especially when involved in a lawsuit. A registered agent provides their address on public documents to help keep your address private.
If you have locations in different states, do not have a physical office address, or have plans to change your address as your business expands, then having a registered agent would be extremely beneficial. It’s also advantageous for business owners who do not report to the office during regular hours and who need reminders for due dates of state compliance requirements.
Business Formation
Northwest Registered Agent offers services to form an LLC, a Corporation, or a Nonprofit. When you visit their website, they have guides on how to start a business according to the different requirements by state. Northwest also provides a lot of resources to help you navigate the process of business formation. If you’re not sure about what type of LLC or Corporation to use, they have resources to help you understand which would be the best for your business.
Free Legal Forms
Northwest provides resources such as legal forms for LLC, Corporation, Nonprofit, and Lawsuits. For LLCs, they have templates for meeting minutes, articles of organization, and operating agreements. For Corporations, they have templates for articles and bylaws, shareholder meeting minutes, and initial corporate resolution.
Services for maintaining a business
Mail Forwarding, Phone Service, Virtual Office
The premium unlimited mail forwarding service is offered at $40 per month. Northwest will provide you with an address and suite number that you can use on your website, bills, and company letterhead.
The phone service allows you to call, text, and check your voicemail using any device. You will get a local phone number, unlimited calls and texts, voicemail transcription, and more for $9 a month. Business owners who are interested in the service can try it out free for 60 days.
The virtual office service also provides you with a unique address along with same-day mail scanning, weekly mail forwarding, and phone service. The service is available at $49 per month.
Currently, these services are available in Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
Annual Reports and Renewals
Regularly filing annual reports are one of the requirements for state-registered businesses. These reports confirm or update business information that the state has on file. Information typically includes business name, business purpose, principal address, mailing address, and registered agent and address. There are some states that require companies to file a report every two years such as Alaska and New York. For Pennsylvania, the state only requires reports once every ten years. States could also refer to these reports with different names such as annual registration, annual renewal, biennial report, and business entity reports.
Do Business in another State
Doing business is sometimes difficult to define since there are no uniform standards for each state on what they would consider doing business would be. In general, companies with a physical presence in a state or that participate in interstate commerce are expected to qualify.
EIN, Seals, Corporate Books
An Employer ID Number, EIN, or federal tax ID is a unique number assigned by the IRS to registered businesses. The IRS will use this number to identify a company when it comes to federal filings. Corporations and other businesses are required to have an EIN for income tax and other filings such as withholding, Medicare, and social security. Northwest has one-day processing where they will process the EIN order on the same day that you send your order.
Law on Call
Northwest’s Law on Call service is the first non-lawyer-owned law firm in the United States. The service is only available in Utah for now. Clients can hire lawyers starting at $99 an hour. They will let you know upfront how many hours a specific service would take as well as limit the number of hours the attorney could work. With Law on Call, you can have lawyers review or draft the documents needed to run your business.
What are the available pricing and plans?
Service | Price | Inclusions |
Registered Agent Service | $125 a year | legal documents scanning and real-time updates |
Business formation | $225 + state filing fees | same-day filing, operating agreement or bylaws, registered agent, stock certificates, and resolutions |
Annual report filing | $100 + state fees | on-time filing guarantee |
Mail forwarding and scanning | $40 per month | same day digital scanning, unique suite number, physical mail forwarding |
Customer Service
Northwest Registered Agent is a family-owned business that promises to be more responsive to customer inquiries compared to its industry competitors. Their Corporate Guides, people who support customers through phone or email, answer questions directly. Corporate Guides are business experts with several years of experience working within the state bureaucracy. You can be sure that they are knowledgeable about the ins and outs of US jurisdictions. When you call their number, the people who answer your call can help you without the need to transfer to another line. Northwest agents are available via phone every Monday to Friday from 6 AM to 5 PM PT.
Northwest Registered Agent will never send you a no-reply email and promises to return calls within two hours if you ever get sent to voicemail. All operations and support are based in the United States. Northwest Registered Agent wants to make the process of starting a business smoother for business owners. No one wants to deal with additional frustration from customer support that never seems to respond.
Conclusion
Northwest Registered Agent provides a suite of comprehensive services that new and existing business owners would require for the legal aspects of running a business. What stands out with Northwest is that they include the Registered Agent Service in their business formation package. Although it does not immediately sound like a huge deal, the smallest things will count when you start the process of creating a new business.
Their website also has abundant resources that can help both old and new business owners run and maintain their businesses.