Being your own registered agent - is it worth it?
Regardless of where your business is located, you’re required to appoint a registered agent and have a registered office.
However, as a business advisory blog, we are often asked the merits of hiring a third-party to be registered agents, and whether being your business’s own registered agent is worthwhile. So, in today’s piece will delve into the world of registered agents, and take a look at whether or not a hiring an external registered agent is essential.
Firstly, let us examine what a registered is and what role they perform. In short, a registered agent is a person or entity designated by a business to accept service of process and official mail on their behalf. A registered agent must be located in the same state as the business, and must the main point of contact for the business during business hours.
Now we have a definition of a what a registered agent is, we’ll discuss some of the reasons why a business may choose to appoint one.
Paperwork: Running a business will inevitably involve doing a lot of paperwork; therefore, some business owners simply may not want to add to their already cumbersome workload (or pay some specifically to do their paperwork). This is where a registered agent comes in. Not only do they accept and process documentation and mail on a business’s behalf, but they will also typically do the paperwork for the company for a small fee. This can be extremely handy for business owners who don’t have the time or internal human resources to keep on top of all of the paperwork associated with the running of their business. Also, having all of the business’s official documentation in one place is handy when it comes to dealing with taxes, judgements and things of that nature.
Privacy: Having a third-party registered agent means that small business owners will increase their privacy. If a small business was to appoint themselves as the registered agent, it might result in the owner listing their home address as the registered office. This would mean that the owner’s home address would be listed on all public records and any person or company who wants to correspond with the business will be given the owner’s home address. As you’ve probably figured out by now, this is something that most business owners would want to avoid. This is especially relevant in today’s data-driven world, as with so much information being sold or leaked, who knows how far and wide the home address of the business owner may be spread (I’m sure they’d constantly be inundated with spam and the like!). Therefore, having a third-party as a business’s registered agent makes a lot of sense.
Business hours: Not all businesses have regular business hours, i.e. during the day (9 am to 5 pm, for example). As a registered agent has to be available during ‘normal’ business hours to receive mail and correspondence from the state, those businesses with odd hours will need to use a third-party as their registered agent. If a business wants to maintain its irregular working hours, it will need to appoint a registered agent that works to regular working hours.
As you can see, there are several major reasons why a small business should choose a third-part registered agent (and office). Ultimately, the final decision is down to the business owner alone, but if a business wants to separate their home life from their business; wants to keep on top of paperwork, and wants to ensure that they receive all official correspondence, hiring a registered agent is a wise choice.
If you need a registered agent in New Mexico, check out:
https://cindysnewmexicollcs.com/New-Mexico-Registered-Agent
Thanks for reading!