The Price Tag of Incorporation: Fees

A lot of benefits await a company that's about to incorporate, but there's a price to it all. A hefty price in fact. Incorporation is a long and sometimes grueling process. It also happens to be an expensive one. In particular, a company will face fees for incorporating – all this means is a company can't really incorporate on its own; it often needs the help of an outside service to efficiently incorporate. There are steps you must take both before and after incorporation that require a lot of paperwork and changes to your business structure.

Basically, there are three ways you can incorporate. Are you a staunch do-it-yourselfer? If you know what you're doing, you can save yourself a lot of money by incorporating yourself. But that's not an easy task and most prefer to turn to an incorporation service or an attorney to guide them through the process. Some companies offer more complete incorporation services than others and typically, the upfront fees you are quoted won't be all you end up paying out – there are many hidden costs. There's another added factor that will affect your incorporation fees: your state. What state are you incorporating in? Each state has different filing fees.

Just as you would shop around for a car, or any relatively pricey product for that matter, you need to do the same for an incorporation service. There are unfortunately many bad deals out there and you don't want to fall victim to a scheme. Read the fine print, ask about hidden costs, and make sure the services offered will lead to full, and not just partial, incorporation.

Also, consider the friendliness of the staff as a point of major importance. Incorporation is a complicated and serious step for a company to take and it must not be done casually. It's best if you have a team of people skilled in incorporation on your side, ready and willing to answer every question and address every concern you have. Incorporation poses different problems for different companies and that's why your incorporation service (or attorneys) must be in tune with your company's individual struggles.

In fact, you may very well be advised not to incorporate as you comparison shop for an incorporation service! It's not beneficial for every company to incorporate and if you can avoid the fees, why not?

But you're probably wondering... what do these incorporation fees cover? What goes into incorporation exactly and why is it so expensive? Here are a set of tasks a good incorporation service will handle:

·      State filing fees

·      State recording fees

·      Search for a name for the soon-to-be corporation

·      Certificate of Incorporation preparation

·      Filing the many important documents for incorporation

Furthermore, incorporation fees include that of forming the corporation and also a limited liability company. So keep that in mind as you think about the price of incorporation.

Do you feel even more confused now? The uncomfortable fact is incorporation is far from an easy thing to do, but there are a lot of services out there dedicated to making it a convenient option for your company. But it does have a cost! Even after you incorporate, you'll still have more paperwork and jobs to do to keep your corporation in good standing. Chances are these pesky incorporation fees will be worth it in the long run, but only if you choose a good service.