Every corporation or LLC must have a registered agent in its state of formation and in each state where it is registered to do business as a foreign corporation or LLC.
A registered agent receives service of process (SOP), official state government correspondence, and judicial documents on behalf of your corporation or LLC, and forwards those documents to your company quickly and efficiently. The larger the scale of your business, the more likely you are to receive a high volume of these documents. These documents usually need to be handled in a short time frame before they start costing you time and money.
As businesses grow, many will appoint different registered agents as they expand into new states. You may use an attorney in your home state, appoint an employee in a satellite office across state lines, and then appoint a professional registered agent company in another state where your business has no physical presence. Relatively few professional registered agents operate in all 50 states, so you may even appoint different professional registered agents in different states.
This practice causes more issues in the long run. Here are eight reasons why it makes sense to use the same professional registered agent for the multi-state needs of your business.
1. Single point of contact
Using the same registered agent provides a single point of contact who knows your business and can provide you with correct, consistent information about your compliance responsibilities in each state. Of course, for this to work in your favor, you have to select a registered agent that has extensive compliance experience and makes its knowledge available to its customers. For instance, CT Corporation has a team of subject matter experts that monitors upcoming state legislation and lets you know about changes to the law or administrative policies that can affect your company.
2. Consistency in process
Having one registered agent ensures consistency in the handling of legal documents and communications, reducing the risk of misunderstandings or errors that may arise when dealing with multiple agents.
3. Simplified billing
Your single point of contact should be able to simplify your billing, for instance, by creating a single renewal date for all services. This cuts down on your internal costs: fewer purchase orders you have to fill out, checks you have to cut, and reimbursements you have to submit. Some registered agents, like CT Corporation, can simplify your life even further by offering bundled services that let you consolidate your annual reports and corporate document filings onto a single annual flat fee.
