IncFile vs. LegalNature Comparison

Starting a business wasn’t always a walk in the park. It was one long process such that you would quit even before you began the process. And, trust me, you couldn’t do this alone. Aspiring business owners used to hire attorneys who would provide legal advice and give the leads. Searching for permits and licenses, obtaining EIN, among others, wasn’t as cheap.

Then something happened. Business formation companies were born, and, in a significant way, they came when businesses needed them the most. Now you don’t have to use the old way to form a company. The process is now automatic, and what’s more, you can create your business in the comfort of your home.

However, with automation, many incorporation companies have emerged. As a result, the market has become overflooded, and new business owners can no longer tell which LLC formation company is legit and which one is not. The market players in LLC service include Swyft Filings, Corpnet, MyCorporation and so on.

In this article, I have compared ensuring that IncFile and LegalNature don’t confuse you anymore. I have done an overview on both of them and later a head-on-head comparison; you will love it!

Similarities

• Both reduce the paperwork of forming a business.
• Both are affordable compared to hiring a lawyer.
• They have helpful guides to help you in making the right choices when creating your business.
• The two business formation services offer registered agent service.
• IncFile and LegalNature incorporation services have a very easy-to-follow registration process.

Overview

Before we compare them head-to-head, let’s have an overview of each of the two incorporation services.

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IncFile Review

IncFile was born in 2004 in Houston, Texas. This incorporation company has helped over half a million small business owners form and manage companies. IncFile offers services information and business compliance like a registered agent, accounting, and bookkeeping.

The company has over 18,000 reviews online, and customers praise its affordable services, among other things. IncFile promises value for money, transparency, and timely notifications, among others.

Company Information

Just like most other incorporation companies like LegalZoom and MyCorporation, IncFile offers four types of business entities. Below is an overview of each.

Limited Liability Company(LLC)

LLC is a business entity that separates your business and personal assets. This structure is one of the most popular among small businesses because it is simple and enjoys both pass-through taxation and limited liability.

C Corporation

This business structure allows your company to exist independently and even trade its stock to raise capital. Unfortunately, its complex structure exposes its investors to double taxation.

S Corporation

This corporation uses a different structure to avoid double taxation. With this structure, investors avoid paying the federal income tax.

Nonprofit Corporation

This structure is for specific organizations whose intention is charity.

Registration Process

The registration process in the IncFile incorporation service is fast and transparent. It has ten steps which will take you 15minutes or less to complete. Let’s check them out;

Step 1: Choosing the package and customizing it;

Step 2: Providing the contact information that is the name, email, and personal address.

Step 3: Provide contact information like the company name, business type, and the company’s physical address.

Step 4: Listing the members/owners of the company, their names, and addresses.

Step 5: Providing the details of the registered agent.

Step 6: EIN registration

Step 7: Opening a bank account with Bank of America

Step 8: Opting in for a free tax consultation.

Step 9: Opting for a Business licenses and permits search

Step 10: Providing the billing information

Services

Free Services

The services below are available in any of the three packages that you buy from IncFile.

Setup Business Banking Account.

Any successful business needs to separate personal finances from business expenses. IncFile has partnered with Bank of America to give you an exclusive offer when you open an account with them.

Next Business Day Processing

IncFile will prepare any order within one day and forward the formation papers. This processing shortens the time you have to wait.

Online Access to Incorporation Documents

IncFile ensures you can access the incorporation documents whenever you feel like 24/7 on your online dashboard. You don’t have to keep the hard copies because you can download them and track your orders’ progress.

Registered Agent Service For 1 Full Year

The state requires every business to have an agent who acts as correspondence or receives legal documents on behalf of the company. IncFile gives every package a free full year of registered agent service. After the one-year elapses, you can choose to cancel or continue with the service for $119 annually.

Certified Copy- Articles of Organization

The certified copy is an additional document filed together with the organization’s articles to show the filing nature. IncFile provides this document that the secretary for Maryland signs in every package.

Lifetime Company Alerts

IncFile has a system designed to notify you via email or SMS when the important filing dates are nearing. The system will inform you on compulsory dates of filing like annual reports, business licenses, etc.

Online Order Status Tracking

Most are the times the processing time takes longer than expected. This free service enables you to monitor the status of your order.

Statement and Resignation of The Organizer

This document shows the primary members of a company. Statement of resignation of the organizer is required when opening a bank account and shows ownership of the corporation. Incfile will make you this document for free.

Electronic Delivery 

IncFile will avail all your documents on the dashboard once they are available and then send you a notification. From the dashboard, you can easily download them.

Premium Services

The services below are the add-ons with which you can customize your package with.

Employer Identification Number/Tax Id

Employer Identification Number is what the federal government uses to identify your business during taxation. The number is unique and acts as a business social security number. You must provide this number when creating a business bank account, filing business tax, and hiring employees. IncFile will apply and obtain this number from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for you for a $70 one-time fee.

Operating Agreement

An operating agreement is an important document that shows the owners’ and managers’ rights and responsibilities in a company. IncFile will make you a customized operating agreement covering all the important details in a business for $40.

Banking Resolution

A bank resolution is an important document that shows that the members authorized the opening of a business bank account. This resolution shows the members authorized to transact on the account. IncFile will create and customize a banking resolution for $35.

Business Contract Templates

IncFile provides you with 25+ high-quality legal documents that a business lawyer has compiled to protect your business when you’re making contractual agreements. The documents will cost you a one-time fee of $150.

Free Domain Name and Email Service

Every premium package subscriber is eligible for one full year of the free domain name and email service, which you can choose to renew or cancel after one year. IncFile provides this service to ensure your business has a professional-looking email.

Expedited State Filing Time

This service speeds up the filing process-the business formation time changes depending on the state in which it is being formed.

Additional Services

The additional services that the IncFile incorporation service provides ensure business compliance.

Annual Reports

The company is supposed to file annual reports on its progress every year to keep the state and other authorities up to date with the management, address, and registered agent address. Incfile will help you file the annual report at the cost of $99 + state fees.

Certificate of Good Standing

This document is evidence that your business is compliant with its state of incorporation. The document is a requirement when renewing your business license or applying for a loan. IncFile will obtain for you this certificate for $49.

Corporate/LLC Kit

IncFile corporate kit has high-quality and official use documents for your company. The documents include:

• Binder and slipcase.
• Twenty members of stock certificates.
• Corporate forms.
• Corporate embossing seal.
• Transfer ledger.
• Personalized business name on the kit.

This corporate kit will cost you $99

Business License Research Package

For proper operation, the business should have the necessary licenses and permits from local and federal authorities. Incfile offers to research for you on what you need to get started for $99.

Register a Trademark

IncFile will help you protect your intellectual property and identity by registering your trademark. This package assures you of legal advice from a trademark lawyer, a search on the existing trademarks, and the application’s filing for $199 + state fees.

S Corporation Tax Election with Form 2553

Applying for this legal form ensures that your LLC pays business tax like an S Corporation. The structure reduces the income amount on which you are supposed to pay tax. IncFile will obtain this form for you at the cost of $50.

LegalNature Review

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Three people founded LegalNature; an attorney, an entrepreneur, and a web developer. The three came together aiming to form an incorporation service that would automate the legal documentation and processing. LegalNature offers services in business formation and online legal services. Additionally, their services ensure business compliance with the government. For example, registered agent service, real estate planning, etc.

Company Information

Like other LLC formation companies, LegalNature has four business entities; Limited Liability Company, S Corporation, S Corporation, and Nonprofit Corporations. What’s more, LegalNature will help you choose if you aren’t sure which business entity works best for you.

One notable difference between LegalNature and other incorporation services is that it does not have packages. The starting cost of incorporating any business using any structure is $40.

Registration Process

The registration is short and precise. It takes 10-15minutes and has four steps. Below are the details in each step;

Step 1: Providing the contact information.

Step 2: Filing in the company information. For example, the name of the company and the members/managers.

Step 3: here, you will go through a few upsells and select services you can opt to ignore but choose what you need.

Step 4: Checking out.

There is a bar on the right side of the page that marks the registration process’s progress.

Services

Since LegalNature has no packages, you will customize your order with these services in step three of the registration process.

Registered Agent Service

The state serves your business’s registered agent with any legal document on behalf of your company. It is a legal requirement for a business to have a registered agent. With LegalNature as your registered agent, you will stay compliant, access all your documents online, and receive notifications when a new item arrives. They provide registered agent service at the cost of $125 annually.

Tax ID/ EIN

You obtain an Employer Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Service. The federal government uses this number to uniquely identify your business when you file your business tax returns. Also, you will need this number when opening a business bank account. LegalNature will obtain this number for you at the cost of $70

License and Permits Search

Every business requires licenses from the local and federal authorities before it starts operation. Some companies require more than one license. LegalNature will do a license search to obtain all the needed licenses and permits for running a business in your state. This search will cost you $129.

State Compliant Documents

LLC Operating Agreement

This document highlights the managerial and owners’ rights in a business; it is like the constitution. LegalNature will make you a customized operating agreement for $35.

LLC Operating Agreement and Employment Agreement

Most businesses run into problems when or after hiring employees. LegalNature will make you an employment agreement so that your business remains protected when you hire employees or contractors. They will make you an LLC operating agreement and an employment agreement for $60

LegalNature Professional Document Plan

This service gives you access to the LegalNature library plus an LLC operating agreement and Employment agreement. The plan contains professionally drafted documents to suit your business needs. LegalNature has this plan for $84.

Corporate Kit

This kit allows you to organize and store vital company documents together. This corporate kit contains a high-quality binder, a slipcase, and membership certificates. With $105, you can enjoy this personalized corporate kit.

Shipping

If you are interested in getting your business document in hard copy, LegalNature can have them sent to you in two ways.

FedEx Express

FedEx Express will ship the physical documents to you for $40. This form includes tracking information.

Standard Mail

You can receive your documents via the standard mail for $20.

Expedite Processing Speed

Processing time varies but can take up to 10 weeks in some states. Expedite processing speed can help you fasten the processing time. For example, the standard filing time in Alabama is ten weeks. However, if you subscribe to the expedite processing speed for $75, the time taken is reduced to 7 weeks.

Other Services

Certificate of Good Standing

The certificate of good standing proves that your business is compliant with all the regulations and is permitted to do business. LegalNature will obtain this certificate for your business for $89.

Articles of Amendment

Your company files articles of the amendment every time it changes the information that was initially registered. For example, if you want to change the company address, you need to file articles of amendment. LegalNature will help you file the articles of amendment for $75.

Articles of Dissolution

These articles are important when you’re permanently closing your business. Filing these articles prevent the business from incurring tax or fines. LegalNature will help you file this article for $99

Additional Services

These are online legal services that LegalNature offers. Their costs vary.

Family and Personal Matters

The category covers all legal issues that involve family and personal matters. LegalNature has an in-house team of lawyers who will offer legal advice on marriage, healthcare, passport services. Additionally, by the power of attorney package, you can have somebody act on your behalf. The services have different costs but are way far affordable than a local attorney.

Real Estate

The category has the legal services you need to manage and transfer commercial or residential real estate ownership. LegalNature offers legal advice and documents to help keep your property compliant and protected. Some of these documents include the residential rental agreement, residential lease amendment, etc. also, they have documents to help you buy, sell and transfer property safely. Some of these documents include a property purchase agreement, mortgage agreement, etc. the service cost differently.

Estate Planning

The category contains all the vital documents to help you do estate planning. The legal documents in estate planning are wills, trusts, last will, testament, etc. LegalNature helps you determine the present and the future of what you have.

Incfile vs. LegalNature; Comparison

Pricing

Money is a sensitive topic, especially with unpredictable economic times. The first decision is to check if the package is really for you. Most people work with a specific budget, and perhaps you do too. Checking the pricing is not enough, but what you get from a package; value for money.

Below we have analyzed the pricing of the two incorporation companies and the services you get from each package.

IncFile

IncFile online LLC formation service is one of the cheapest we have in the market. To start with, IncFile offers three formation plans; silver, gold, and platinum. Below is an overview of the features you get in every package.

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Silver

The silver plan costs $0 + state fees. Despite this service being cheap, Incfile focuses on the core features that you need to get your business formed with this package. Below are the services you’ll get;

• Setup business banking account
• Next business day processing
• Online access to incorporation documents
• 1-year free of registered agent service
• Certified copy of articles of organization
• Lifetime company alerts
• Online order status tracking
• Statement and resignation of the organizer
• Electronic delivery
• Standard filing time

Gold

The gold plan costs $149 + state filing fees. In this formation package, you will get all the services in the silver package plus the following;

• Employer Identification Number/ Tax ID
• Operating agreement
• Banking resolution

Platinum

Platinum is the most expensive formation plan that Incfile offers. The package goes for $299, and you will get all the services in the silver and gold package plus the following;

• Business contract templates
• The free domain name and email service
• Expedited state filing time

LegalNature

LegalNature offers services both in business formation and legal advice. In this article, we’ll focus on the pricing of business formation. As we mentioned earlier during the registration process, LegalNature does not have packages; instead, this LLC formation company charges $40.

With that done, you will have to customize how you want it done by adding services.

With the two services on hand, Incfile would be an easy pick. First, it has a variety to choose from, and the pricing is low. LegalNature services are not discounted and are expensive compared to Incfile.

Winner: Incfile

Registered Agent Service

Legally, every business should have a registered agent who receives correspondence or legal documents from the state on behalf of the business. Therefore, this is amongst the essential services that anyone forming a company should consider.

Registered agents ensure business compliance by notifying you of any urgent information from the state. Let’s check how Incfile and LegalNature offer this service.

IncFile

Unlike most companies, IncFile offers 1-year of free registered agent service to every client who forms a business with them using any package. Upon the one year’s elapsing, the business owner is free to renew or cancel the service. The registered agent service continues at the cost of $119 per year.

LegalNature

Like most formation companies, LegalNature offers registered agent service to its customers during the business formation process for $125 annually. One particular advantage is that your documentation will be handled with a lot of professionalism and by a person with some legal background. Good service is guaranteed.

Setting an eye on both services, Incfile is pocket-friendly. First, they have a one-year free registered agent service, and secondly, their service is cheap. On the other hand, LegalNature registered agents are expensive.

Winner: IncFile

Customer Reviews

Before buying any product, it is advisable to check what others say. Customer reviews give you the go-ahead on whether you can trust the expertise on their customer services. If other customers have a bad experience, probably, you won’t be any different.

IncFile

Clients seem to be very happy with how they handle their clients. They have (at the time of writing this) 18115 reviews on shopper approved, and out of these, 95.4% rated them four stars and above. Here is a comment from one of their customers.

LegalNature

LegalNature has (at the time of writing this) 4556 reviews on Trustpilot, and out of that, 85% rate them 4-stars and above. The ratings do not paint a bad picture of service delivery especially considering it is a big company. Below is a comment from a satisfied customer.

[su_row][su_column size=”1/2″][su_button url=”https://cheddarden.com/go/incfile/” target=”blank” background=”#ff2c03″ size=”9″ center=”yes” icon=”icon: arrow-right” rel=”nofollow”]Try IncFile[/su_button][/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″][su_button url=”https://cheddarden.com/go/legalnature/” target=”blank” background=”#ff2c03″ size=”9″ center=”yes” icon=”icon: arrow-right” rel=”nofollow”]Try LegalNature[/su_button][/su_column] [/su_row]

Both of the companies have a good reputation out there. However, IncFile reputation precedes that of LegalNature. It has a high customer rating and an increased number of reviews.

Winner: Incfile.

Additional services

A company having additional services all at the same place is a plus to the client because that means they can access centralized services. Additionally, it shows how professional and extensive the company is. A company that can help you form a business, run it, and register or manage it in foreign states wouldn’t be compared to that only helps you only create your company.

IncFile

This incorporation service doesn’t have much to offer in terms of additional services. However, it has a bunch of services to help you run and manage the corporation. Some of these services include annual reports, articles of amendments, etc.

LegalNature.

LegalNature offers very many additional services to help run your business. Additionally, they offer online legal services that range from marriage, wills, and trust to real estate and planning.

LegalNature is the best option if you are considering centralizing your information. They have services that will help grow your business and settle your issues efficiently and silently. They have a good network of professional lawyers. Incfile, on the other hand, chooses to focus on one point; business formation.

Winner: LegalNature

Pros and Cons

Both IncFile and LegalNature are perfect incorporation services to use for your business. However, each road is bumpy or smooth in its way. Below is a checklist on both aspects.

IncFile

Pros

• It has cheap formation packages.
• Offers free registered agent service for a year
• It has a high customer service rating.
• They have considerable experience.
• Their packages are customizable.

Cons

• They have a lot of upsells in the process.

LegalNature

Pros

• They offer a lot of additional services.
• They are considerably cheap compared to some competitors.
• They have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• They have reliable customer service.

Cons

• They have a lot of upsells
• They have no discounted packages.

Conclusion

You might be asking what my solution is. Well, my answer is simple; my explanation is that you have a solution. You should check several things before settling on a business formation company as the right one for you. However, two factors stand out; can you afford it, and does it work for you. IncFile offers a very good deal to every small business owner out there. It is affordable and efficient. On the other hand, LegalNature offers many additional services and customizable legal documents that you might need.

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