Bizfilings Review
Making mistakes in legal and compliance processes can have severe consequences. Fortunately, there are services like Bizfilings so you won’t have to put your business at legal risk.
Is it for you? I’ve tested and evaluated Bizfilings so you know exactly what to expect when you hire them. Continue reading for my full review.
Bizfilings Packages & Features
Operating since 1996 and acquired by the legal services giant CT, Bizfilings is now one of the biggest names known for efficiency in the LLC formation and legal services industry.
Here are Bizfilings’ packages and features that customers love.
Packages
Features & Services
Pricing
Bizfilings offers versatility in price points to suit your business needs. It offers 3 business formation packages which are the Basic Package, Standard, and Complete Package.
All 3 LLC packages from Bizfilings include the basic filing and 6 months of registered agent service, excluding state fees. The pricing of the packages also include full access to BizComply that provides an online checklist for company compliance.
Here is an individual breakdown of the LLC packages and pricing on the website.
Basic: $99 + State Fee
Suitable for small businesses, the price of the Basic package includes LLC formation and 6 months of free registered agent services.
Access to BizComply and a document library with all the forms and templates you need are also included in the basic package. However, a competitor, Incorporate.com, offers its basic package at the same price but with more added features.
Standard: $229 + State Fee
The Standard package includes everything that you get from the Basic package along with an LLC kit and seal. Expedited processing fees and customized forms are also available as secondary benefits in the Standard Package.
Complete: $359 + State Fee
Aside from the value provided by the two previous package plans, the Complete package offers a compliance DVD to help you understand the compliance process. It also has full support from LLC formation up to obtaining a new Federal Tax ID (EIN).
EIN stands for Employer Identification Number. This EIN is what companies use to pay business taxes, open new bank accounts, and other specific processes.
This Bizfilings formation package also includes overnight shipping and a copy of the documents filed with the state. All services included in the Standard package are in the Complete package too. However, the pricing of the LLC packages differs from state to state.
We also recommend that you choose your own LLC formation package and add additional features at certain price points. This lets you get the value you actually need and helps you save on cost. There are no hidden fees that you have to pay in any service package or offer.
Features & Services
Business Formation Services
Bizfilings provides formation solutions as a primary service. This includes the formation of LLC’s, LP, LLP, Non-Profits, S Corporation, and C Corporations. These company services are offered in all 50 states of the United States of America.
Meanwhile, they also offer registration of B Corporation or benefit corporation in 27 states.
If you want to register as a DBA or a sole proprietorship [1], Bizfilings can handle and review your needs for you.
Registered Agent Service
Registered Agent Service is offered by all legal service and formation companies. Bizfilings offers them for free for six months if you choose to do your incorporation or foreign qualification through them.
The annual fee after six months or if you don’t want to use their incorporation and foreign qualification services is $174 per year. We recommend getting a registered agent as they are responsible for receiving any legal correspondence from the state, plus any legal advice you need.
Bizfiling registered agents provide all the essential LLC services including franchise and annual report filing alerts and access to the BizComply online monitoring tool.
Incorporation Wizard
When registering your new business, you have multiple business structure options to choose from on the website. It might be confusing to decide on the best business structure.
To remedy this, Bizfilings has an Incorporation Wizard to help you start. You will have to supply essential information along with funding, income, taxes, future plans, and industry questions to obtain the best LLC form for you.
License Wizard
The Bizfilings License Wizard shows you all the kinds of licenses and permits your new business needs during formation. It also provides you with the applications for state licenses. The wizard service is available at a fee of $99.
Trademark Explorer
The Trademark Explorer by Bizfilings scans through the official database of the state to determine whether a trademark already exists. This includes logos, terms, and names used by other organizations. Feel free to use this because it helps you secure a name for your LLC business while preventing any future trademark issues.
BizComply
BizComply is one of Bizfilings’ most popular tools. This service is in all of the packages offered by Bizfilings or as a separate tool for $75 a year.
BizComply includes a variety of benefits. It stores all information about your LLC business in a secure location for quick access. You also receive unlimited access to a library of customizable forms. Additionally, it keeps a calendar marking compliance events and sends you email notifications as a reminder.
Online Resources
Since Bizfilings has operated for a long time in the industry, it has accumulated decades of experience and documented it in the form of online resources, which is the best asset of the legal service giant.
These legal advice resources are available to users and clients in the form of guides and tools, including guides on incorporation, how to start an LLC, comparison of different business types, and much more. Such is the same with long-time business service providers in the industry, like Harvard Business Services, which I also reviewed.
All aspects of the business including launches, management, taxation, compliance, and marketing and HR are also covered in the Bizfilings online resources. The LLC resources are written state guides, podcasts, webinars, checklists, and interactive tools on the Bizfilings website. With these sources, the value you get is superb.
Simplified Formation Process
Bizfilings has consolidated the process for basic LLC formation and incorporation into 5 simple steps, making it one of the best incorporation services. This includes a standard quality check, name check, filing and delivery of documents, and post-incorporation support. The steps are easy to follow and Bizfilings has reasonable timelines that make sure you’re in the loop at all times. Such efficiency competes well with more popular services such as Legal Zoom, for instance.
Business Dissolution
Bizfilings offers some of the best business dissolution services. This would include prepping and filings for LLC dissolution as well as shipping these relevant documents to you. These services are available for $179 excluding the state fees. Expedited delivery at an additional $200 is also an option you can choose.
Preparation and Filing Services
While we’ve discussed the main filing services offered in this Bizfilings review, there are many additional LLC services that can give additional value. The following are the preparation and filing services that you can avail of should you purchase Bizfilings.
- Foreign Qualification
- Dissolution Services
- Name Amendment
- Share Amendment
- Federal Tax ID (EIN) Obtainment
- Conversion
- Reinstatement
- Annual Report Service
Customer Support
Bizfilings features customer support in each package. This can help you with every step of the process. It also provides customer service after LLC formation or at service completion to ensure you’re getting the outcome you need. However, in my experience, the support isn’t available for the entire 24 hours unlike other competitors, like Northwest Registered Agent reviewed here.
You can reach the Bizfilings via webchat, email, or phone. The Bizfilings customer support team is operating from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM CST from Monday through Friday.
Refund Policy
Bizfilings refund policy allows cancellation with a full refund for a $50 processing fee if the preliminary name check is not complete.
After the name check, a $75 processing fee is charged for a full refund with order cancellation. This is provided that the LLC documents have not been filed. If the documents are filed with the state, the money you did pay for the Bizfilings order becomes non-refundable.
Bizfilings Customer Reviews
While there aren’t many Bizfilings reviews you’ll see in the online community, industry experts have done their own review and rating on the business as well as its function and features. The website has racked up many positive reviews among its clients, as compared to younger services like Incfile, which I reviewed here.
Here is a list of ratings available for Bizfilings.
- Better Business Bureau: A+ Rating
- BirdEye: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Bizfilings vs LegalZoom: A Comparative Study
To give you a much more holistic understanding of how Bizfilings performs against its competition in the LLC business services industry, our experts compared the basic features of Bizfilings with LegalZoom. If you want to see other specific options, this review of Legalzoom vs Rocket Lawyer can give you more details of the two business services.
Otherwise, continue reading for the list of some of comparisons between LegalZoom and Bizfilings.
- Pricing
When it comes to pricing for LLC formation, you’ll see that Bizfilings has a more expensive price with its basic package starting at $99. In contrast, LegalZoom provides essential services that start at a price of $79. There are much cheaper options in the industry too, like ZenBusiness plans that start at $49.
- Registered Agent Service
Bizfilings has a big advantage in this area. This is because Bizfilings does offer a provision for free registered agents for a period of 6 months. Additionally, the annual fee after 6 months is set at only $164 per year as opposed to LegalZoom’s fees of $299 per year.
- Turnaround Times
Both business services offer fast turnaround times as opposed to their competitors. Bizfillings and LegalZoom use speed method and expedited processing depending on the service you choose as opposed to the state filing time.
Bizfillings has Basic, Standard, and Complete packages with 4–6 weeks or 7–10 business days of turnaround time. LegalZoom provides Economy, Standard, and Express Gold with 30, 15, and 7–10 business days, respectively. If you want to know how these turnaround times compare to another known service, check out my review of Incfile vs LegalZoom.
- Order Tracking
LegalZoom uses a standard notification system for order tracking. You can simply track order status through the email notification they provide or the website.
Bizfilings does take a better, more detailed approach. You can make use of Bizfilings login to review the order status details divided into 7 steps.
Bizfilings Review Conclusion
Bizfilings is a fast and efficient provider for all your LLC needs. In my Bizfilings review, I found that the company provides some of the best resources and articles, customizable forms, top-notch tools, and LLC formation services that cover all your needs for incorporation and registered agent services.
Bizfilings’ LLC formation services and six months of registered agent service, accompanied by state guides and tools like BizComply, are unparalleled in the industry. Overall, I recommend this because the cost of your purchase matches the value you’re given.
If you’re looking for a much cheaper service, I have reviewed Nolo.com as well, which offers their starting package at only $49 (plus state fees).
