About Registered Agent Services

Every business needs a registered agent in order to comply with state law.

But what exactly is a registered agent, and what should you consider before choosing one?

Let's take a closer look.

What is a registered agent?

Registered agents do a simple, but important job: receiving service of process on behalf of a company.

By law, every business is required to have a registered agent in the state(s) where they are doing business.

A company can choose an adult individual or a business entity to act as its registered agent.

The registered agent functions as a company’s official point of contact, receiving important documents including legal notices, annual reports, and state agency communications. They are also responsible for promptly forwarding these documents to the appropriate person within the company.

What should I consider before choosing a registered agent?

When it comes to picking a registered agent for your business, you have options. Many companies hire other companies to act as their professional registered agents. Others act as their own registered agents or appoint employees to act as their registered agents.

The decision comes down to what’s best for your business. Here are some questions to help guide you:

  • If you do not have a physical office, then you will need to hire a professional registered agent with a physical address in that state.

  • If your state allows your business to be its own registered agent, this may be a good option for you. If your state will not allow this, you can appoint an individual or hire a professional registered agent.

  • A company’s registered agent has their physical and mailing addresses listed publicly. This means that in addition to receiving service of process, registered agents also get plenty of junk mail! If you prefer keeping your business’s details private, you may prefer having a registered agent’s details publicly listed instead of your own.

  • If you have a physical office, this one’s important. Registered agents receive service of process for a company. This means that if your company gets sued or subpoenaed, a process server will come to your registered agent’s physical address and hand those legal documents to a person at that address.

    Getting served in front of customers is incredibly awkward and may undermine your business relationship. If customers frequently visit your office, we strongly recommend hiring a professional registered agent.

  • This one is critical if you have a physical office. Your registered agent needs to be (1) available to receive service of process at the registered agent’s physical address during regular business hours and (2) trustworthy enough to receive important, sometimes sensitive, documents.

    If you or someone you trust will be at the office consistently during business hours, it may make sense to be your own registered agent. But if this isn’t the case, we strongly recommend hiring a professional registered agent.

Summary

A registered agent’s role is as simple as it comes, but it’s important to have the right person doing it.

If your business has a brick-and-mortar location with minimal customer traffic, but you are there every day from 9 to 5, being your own registered agent is a solid option.

But if you don’t have a physical office, or you frequently get customer visits, or you don’t have someone who can reliably receive service for you at the office, or you’d just really rather not have all your company’s details floating around on the internet, a professional registered agent is probably the better option.

Simply Registered Agent helps businesses like yours meet legal compliance requirements – minus the headache – for $30 per year. If you’d like us to act as a professional registered agent for your Washington State business, you can order our services here.