Texas much like almost every other state requires that a formal business entity maintains a registered agent. This is the individual who receives important documentation on behalf of the business and functions as a bridge between the state and the business. According to the Texas Secretary of State this includes, “any process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the entity”. The registered agent can be an individual or a business entity as long as they have an address which is not a PO Box within the state of Texas. Additionally the registered agent must always be available during business hours to receive this documentation. The following are five things which a registered agent service can provide for any business in the state of Texas.
1. Compliance
Maintaining compliance is a necessary aspect of operating a business in any industry. A registered agent service can help a business to do this as they maintain a compliance calendar which will remind a business when they need to file their annual reports or other important documentation. A registered agent service can also assist a business to file these reports. This will greatly assist a business in remaining compliant with regulations as well as avoiding penalties such as fines. A business may also be liable for fines if they do not respond in a timely manner to service of process notices. As the registered agent will receive these notices they will notify the business and help them keep on track to respond to these notices.
2. Privacy
The address of a registered agent is a matter of public record. For business owners or individuals who work from home or another location which they would prefer to keep private this can be an overly invasive requirement. As a result a registered agent service will use their address on the public record which will keep a business owner’s address safe from public knowledge. This can also be useful because public addresses can be subject to spam and other unwanted forms of mail. A registered agent service will handle this on behalf of a company so that a business owner does not have to.
3. Discretion
Service of process notices are often delivered by local law enforcement. This can result in the police arriving at a business’s office which is not an ideal situation especially if the business is interacting with customers at the time of delivery. As a result a registered agent service provides a great degree of discretion as the police will instead deliver the notice to the registered agent’s address and allow the business to deal with the service of process in their own time. This will also keep the police out of the hair of a business.
4. Flexibility
A registered agent must be available during business hours every working day of the year. This can be an overly demanding task for a business owner especially if travel is part of the business. Additionally, if a business owner takes leave they will still need to be available to receive documentation if they have elected to be their own registered agent. A registered agent service takes care of this inconvenience for a business as they have staff working for them throughout the year so that a business owner does not need to be constantly available to receive documentation.
5. Online Storage
The best registered agent services will scan the documents which they receive and make digital copies of all of these documents. They will also provide an online portal on which a business can access their documentation at any time. As many LLC formation services also offer registered agent services these online documents will also include the formation documents of an LLC. These documents can be necessary for a number of normal business functions such as opening a business bank account and applying for business credit cards.
The Really Useful Information Company (TRUiC) has a large amount of resources available on registered agent services which can also be helpful for business owners.
Copyright: TRUiC
Final Thoughts
A registered agent service can be enormously helpful to any business owner for a number of reasons. These services will help a business stay compliant and avoid unnecessary fines for late or incomplete documentation. Privacy will be ensured as the address of the registered agent will be on the public record and not the address of the business owner. Discretion can be maintained as the police will not need to arrive at a business address to service notice. A business owner will be granted flexibility as they will not need to present constantly to receive documentation. Additionally, a registered agent service will maintain a digital collection of documentation for the convenience of the business owner.