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Wondering how you can register your business as an LLC without the hassle, and for free? Incfile may be the solution for you! With Incfile, you even get a registered agent provided for you for one year for FREE! All you have to pay is your state’s filing fee — that it!
How to use Incfile
First, visit the Incfile website by clicking here. Next, click on “Start My Business,” and select “LLC” and the state you are forming your business in.
Regardless of which package you choose, you will have to pay the state filing fee to the Secretary of State in order to register an LLC. If you want Incfile to handle your paperwork for free, select the “Silver Package” option. Incfile will charge you $0 on their end, but will collect the state filing fee.
By using Incfile, the preparing and filing of your Articles of Organization will be done for you. You will also receive free registered agent services for a year. For those of you that want to pay for an upgrade, you can upgrade to the “Gold Package,” which includes other essentials that are needed in order to have an LLC.
Once you have selected a package, enter in your contact information and your mailing address.
From there, select the state filing time — do you want to have it completed in eight weeks or in 18 business days for an additional charge?
Next, enter in the name that you would like for your LLC. Your LLC must have a “Limited Liability Company” designator at the end of the name.
For example, if you want to be “Small Business Help, LLC, you will type in “Small Business” and then select LLC as the designator. Then enter in the number of members or owners and type in your business purpose.
Next, enter in what industry your business is in — this is also known as an NAICS code. If you are not able to locate your industry type, head over to the NAICS website to search all possible codes.
Now you’re going to be asked how your LLC will be managed. There are two different options that you can choose here.
- Member Managed — this means that the members are the owners of the LLC, and will participate in the decision-making process of the LLC. This is the most likely and most common answer for the majority of new business owners.
2. Manager Managed — this means that a manager, a person who is chosen by the members, will manage the day to day operations of the LLC.
Next, enter in your company address information. This is NOT your mailing address, but rather the actual address of the business. This must be a brick and mortar site — you cannot use a PO box. Wondering what address to use? You have two options:
- Provide your own address — this could be an office address, a brick and mortar store address, or it could be your home address. However, if you are operating a home based business and you want to protect the privacy of your home address, then you want to sign up for a virtual office service.
- Use a virtual office — Incfile offers a virtual office service where you can register your business address to be an address that they provide.
Once that is complete, Incfile will offer you an upgrade. They will show you a variety of different services that they can add on if you want to upgrade your package.
Money saving tip:
If you pay Incfile to obtain an EIN for you, you are essentially throwing away your money.
Obtaining an EIN number is fast, easy and free and you can do so on the IRS website. Click here to watch a complete walkthrough on how to obtain an EIN.
The next document that they offer is an operating agreement. An LLC is required to create and keep operating agreement on file. If you choose to do this yourself, you can easily write it yourself based on templates available for free online, or you can have Incfile do this for you if you.
Next, you’ll be offered free registered agent services for one year — this is a really great value, and in my personal opinion, this is the reason to file with Incfile.
A registered agent is someone that represents your business. They will receive your mail and important notices for your business. Your registered agent can either be yourself, a representative from your business, or it can be a third party service.
There’s a few different reasons why you might want to employ a third party service as your registered agent.
- You value personal privacy — this will help maintain the privacy of you and your household, and will aid in keeping your information off the internet.
- You are not at your place of business often — if you are someone who travels frequently or is not often available, you might want the security of knowing that there is always someone available to accept important notices on your behalf.
Then you’re going to select your preferred method of delivery and click “next.”
Then choose to opt in or opt out of their tax consultation.
The final page will give you a reminder that you are required to be responsible for filing and registering any business licenses, permits, or other requirements that are required in your city, state, and county.
Want to learn more about how to file your LLC with Incfile? Watch the video here!