Every formal business in Georgia is required by law to have a Georgia registered agent. A registered agent receives any official documents from the State of Georgia, as well as any service of process filed on a firm in a lawsuit.
In this Georgia Registered Agent tutorial, we’ll go over what a registered agent is, what they perform, and how to choose one.
Table of Contents
What Is a Registered Agent in Georgia?
A Georgia registered agent is a person or corporate organisation that serves as your company’s point of contact for:
All correspondence with the State of Georgia, such as the Georgia Annual Registration and certificate of good standing, is received.
In Georgia, any formal business, such as an LLC or corporation, is required by law to have a registered agent.
A Georgia registered agent is a person or corporate organisation that serves as your company’s point of contact for:
All correspondence with the State of Georgia, such as the Georgia Annual Registration and certificate of good standing, is received.
In Georgia, any formal business, such as an LLC or corporation, is required by law to have a registered agent.
Why Do Companies Use Georgia Registered Agent Services?
Many firms opt to employ a registered agent service when forming an LLC for the following reasons:
Compliance
A registered agent service keeps a compliance calendar and will notify you when yearly reports or other files are due, as well as assist you in submitting them.
This helps you avoid penalties and maintains your firm in good standing, both of which are necessary to preserve your limited liability protection.
If you do not reply immediately to serving of process, legal complexities, costs, or other concerns may develop. A registered agent will scan your papers, upload them to the internet, and tell you when they are ready.
Privacy
If you operate from home or a private office as your own registered agent, your address will be made public on the Georgia Business Search.
If your privacy is important to you, a registered agent service will use their own address instead of yours.
Discretion
Receiving service of process for a lawsuit at your place of business may be a delicate circumstance to have in front of your staff and customers.
To circumvent this problem, a registered agent will accept service of process and other papers at their office and deliver them to you discreetly online.
Flexibility
If you are your own registered agent, you must be accessible every working day of the year during regular business hours.
Registered agent services have real offices and people to cover certain hours, allowing them to be accessible during those times.
Hiring a registered agent service enables you to be more flexible with your working hours and locations. So go ahead and take a vacation, work from home or the office, or travel the globe knowing they’ll be there to collect your documents.
Online Data Storage
A competent registered agent service will scan your papers as soon as they arrive, maintaining a digital record of all your company documents and any service of process on a user-friendly dashboard.
If you employed an LLC creation service, you would most likely also use them as a registered agent. This implies a copy of your formation paperwork will be accessible online as well.
Having all of this information, which is accessible as PDFs, is really useful when you need to do things for your company, such as create a business bank account, apply for a business credit card, apply for small business loans, and many other things that need a copy of your paperwork.
National Reach
If you want to grow your company into other states, such as by employing an out-of-state employee or establishing a new sales office, you must have a registered agent for your foreign LLC or other corporation.
The majority of registered agent services are available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Simply pay a little fee for the new state in which you operate, and they will transmit all of your paperwork to the same web dashboard.
What Is the Cost of a Registered Agent?
A registered agent service normally costs between $50 and $300 each year. When you consider how much time it will save you, this is a little amount to pay.
How Do I Choose My Registered Agent?
When you finish your LLC’s Articles of Organization in Georgia, you must choose your registered agent. The Articles of Organization are the primary document used to create an LLC in Georgia.
Online Registration of a Registered Agent
The Georgia Secretary of State website allows you to create your LLC online ($100 filing fee needed). When you submit your LLC’s Articles of Organization, you will be asked for your registered agent’s name and contact information:
Choosing a Registered Agent by Mail
Download the Articles of Organization ($100 filing fee needed) form, fill out the appropriate information, and send a physical copy to the Georgia Secretary of State Corporations Division to create your LLC by mail. Section 4 will require you to submit the following information about your registered agent:
How Do I Change My Georgia Registered Agent?
Simply fill out an Amended Annual Registration form and submit it to the Georgia Corporations Division together with the $20 filing fee (or $30 for paper submissions) to alter your Georgia registered agent. a check (for paper filing) or a credit card (online).
Georgia has numerous forms for different sorts of businesses:
Limited Liability Company (LLC) – Form CD 920 Corporation – Form CD 900 Limited Partnership (LP) or Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) – Form CD 910
This may be done online or in the mail.
Online
Corporations Division 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SE Suite 313, West Tower Atlanta, GA 30334 Mail: