• Home
  • Blog
    • Business Partner Magazine Archive
  • Free Contests and Giveaways
  • Resources
  • About Us
    • Cookie Policy
    • Disclosure Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Website Use
  • Contacts

Business Partner Magazine

Tips and advice for entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs

  • Business Success
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Employees
  • Technology
  • Start-up
  • Productivity
  • Communication

Filing Business Paperwork – Outsource or DIY?

December 1, 2021 by BPM Team

Click here to get this post in PDF

Too long to read? Enter your email to download this post as a PDF. We will also send you our best business tips every 2 weeks in our newsletter. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Enter your NameEnter your Email Address
Woman doing a business paperworks

Whatever your size of company, running your business undoubtedly takes up the bulk of your day. As you juggle all the demands, things can slip through the cracks as a result, leaving you playing catch-up from time to time. Missed emails and phone calls are bad enough, but you can probably recover. 

But real trouble can start if you miss key filing dates for government paperwork, like the annual report for your LLC or corporation. If you feel this is a worry, you can avoid the headache by having a service handle your business document filings.

What is a business filing service?

A business filing service handles all the paperwork needed to launch your company and keep it in good standing with the state government. Entrepreneurs, HOA managers, and many other business owners can all benefit from using a filing service company from day one. Business owners can learn the state requirements, for example, for how to form an LLC in California online through the Secretary of State website, but the costs are quite nominal to use a service to do this for them and avoid missing an important element.

After the startup filings, there will be reporting requirements, typically every year. As a business, you have to make your periodic filings to stay in good standing with the state, as well as perhaps renewing licenses and certainly staying current with taxing authorities at county, state and federal levels. If you hate paperwork or prefer to focus on the business rather than setting continual reminders, or simply want to outsource these chores, it’s a common thing to get a filing service to remember for you and do the filing.

Benefits of using a filing service 

When you hire a professional filing company, the biggest benefits include keeping excellent records, and meeting all the filing deadlines on time. Business operations begin and end with paperwork. From work orders and receipts to tax documents and government forms, your business depends on paperwork to keep operating day in and day out.

Business operators who know their field intimately may care little for paperwork, and hire professionals to handle bookkeeping, accounting, legal issues; document filing and retrieval is simply another specialized task to outsource.

A business must keep good records and meet filing deadlines. Keeping good records is an important part of maintaining the liability protections you seek when you incorporate or form an LLC – if you’re sloppy, it makes you more vulnerable to lawsuit, and courts can pierce the corporate veil of liability protection and come after personal assets.

Filing is also important for Homeowner Associations. Most HOAs are required to be corporations by their state, and the IRS considers them all as such. An HOA may be using a tax professional or a management company, but these very often don’t handle the business documents that a filing service does, such as the annual report to the state. Very often HOAs are not well organized, and may have hazardous conditions on their property, such as wet ponds or a failing structure, that are subject to liability hazards. And with multiple owners to account to, HOAs especially need to keep current records.

Any business entity that misses filing with the state and loses its good standing may find it hard to secure funds, bring a suit to court, and even to protect its formal name from infringement. A competent filing service provides peace of mind in these areas, as well as freeing up time spent managing paperwork, to be used in better handling business operations.

Reasons to file yourself

Compared with the advantages of using a filing service, there are not many advantages of handling the filing end of the business yourself. But some people will benefit from understanding the many details of how a business must conduct itself to maintain its legal position. Many new startups consist of young entrepreneurs who may have only a flimsy grasp of their legal obligations as business owners – so if one of the LLC members or corporate partners chooses to immerse into learning these things, it can help the company.

As with any skill, once you know how to do something, you may easily decide to outsource it, and if you’ve done the tasks yourself, you’ll know how to pick a good company to handle them for you. Costs are relatively small for filing services, in the range of a few hundred dollars, and this can be satisfying to save, although it’s important to remember that your time is money, too. 

When to use a filing service for your company 

A business filing service can help launch your company and get the ball rolling from day one. The service can assist with the name search process to verify that you’ve selected a business name that’s available in your state.

As with the other professional you’ll use in your operations, the filing service knows the rules and regulations specific to your state, so you don’t have to worry about red tape getting in the way of your ambitions. 

And after launching your company, you can rest assured that you have the support needed to stay in good standing with the state, minimize exposure to liability, keep your records current, and even protect your IP assets through the years. With the annual reminders and chores covered, you can focus on growing your company.

You may also like: 5 Occasions a Business May Ask for Legal Documents

Image source: Pexels.com

Filed Under: Business Success, Legal Tagged With: business success, document filing, legal tips, tasks to outsource

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Disclosure

We earn commissions if you shop through the links on this page.

Recent Posts

  • Electricity is an important part of our everyday lives
  • Public Health Issues Caused By Pests
  • Risk Management in Forex Trading: How to Minimize Losses and Maximize Profits
  • Advantages of Scheduling a Floor Scrubbing and Polishing Service
  • How Does a Ticket Management System in CRM Make Your Business Better

Categories

Archives

Make Money Online – Free Course

  • Discover All The Shortcuts To Affiliate Marketing Success
  • Find Out How To Fill Your Site With New Leads And Customers
  • Discover How To Turn Your Passion Into Profits
  • Learn How To Write Copy That Gets Results Fast!
  • Discover How To Create Promote & Sell Your Own Products Online
  • Everything You Need To Know About Marketing Money Online
  • Strategies For Successful Web Entrepreneurs Inside
  • Discover How To Invest Smarter Grow Faster And Retire Rich
  • Email Marketing Strategies For Marketers And Entrepreneurs
  • Free training reveals how to build a successful six figure income online
  • Discover The Mindset Hacks You Need To Succeed
  • Free Marketing Memberships – Make Money Online

    Make money online free marketing memberships

    Tags

    Accounting apps bitcoin brand business growth business skills business success communication cryptocurrency Customer Service Data design Digital marketing ecommerce Efficiency employees Featured Article finance finances Health and Safety infographic insurance Investing investment legal legal tips Management Marketing marketing strategy Outsourcing productivity property Real estate sales security SEO Social Media software starting a business startup Technology Trading Training website workplace

    Disclosure

    We earn commissions if you shop through the links on this page.

    Digital Marketing Agency

    ReachMore Banner

    Business Partner Magazine

    Business Partner Magazine provides business tips for small business owners (SME). We are your business partner helping you on your road to business success.

    Have a look around the site to discover a wealth of business-focused content.

    Here’s to your business success!

    Copyright © 2023 - Business Partner Magazine·

    x
    x