Northwest Registered Agent: Should You Trust It?

They say that setting up a limited liability company is easy, even if you’re a first-timer. This is true, as is the fact that LLC registration itself takes time and requires compliance with appropriate state requirements. 

Therefore, considering the modern rhythm of life, young entrepreneurs tend to hand over an entire registration routine to professional services to save their time and focus more on their business tasks. That’s why you can see many offers from business formation companies that are ready to take on the burden of setting up your company. 

Today we are going to review Northwest Registered Agent, a business formation service that can become your partner not only at the initial stage of registration but also during the entire life cycle of your LLC. 

Northwest Registered Agent: History 

Founded in 1998, Northwest is one of the longest-running business formation services among its competitors. The company started as a small family business in Spokane. Today, NW offers its help in all 50 states, with the main office in its hometown.

The value of Northwest is that it’s primarily a family business, which means that every order is handled by the firm’s employees and is not outsourced to third-party agencies. 

But let’s get specific and talk about what NW offers. You can also read lawyer Dmytro Kondratiev’s review if you want to learn about the company. 

Services and Prices

Glancing at Northwest Registered Agent’s services, one can immediately tell that they are divided into several categories: 

Core Services

Northwest’s main advantage is its team of statutory agents. You can hire an RA for $125 per year for your business in any of the 50 states.

This category also includes LLC formation solutions. The cost of the latter will depend primarily on the state where you plan to form your company. For example:

• You will need to pay $245 if you want to set up a California LLC with NW. The price includes the filing service fee ($100) + CA 6-day processing time ($20), and registered agent services ($125.00); 
• If you choose Montana as your state of formation, the overall fee will be $260. Note that the price includes not only document preparation and filing with the Secretary of State, but registered agent services as well. 

Other services offered in this section include the same registrations for corporations and non-profits, as well as the Corporate Guide Service and Trademark Service.

Maintain a Business

The “Maintain a Business” section allows users to order the Annual Report Filings service for $100 and Federal Tax ID Service for $50. Northwest’s offers will also be relevant for non-residents who want to form an LLC. And the prices for incorporating a foreign LLC also vary from state to state. For example, the total fee for California is $245, whereas, for Montana, it’s $295.

Business Address & Development

The “Business Address & Development” section includes the following solutions for businesses:

• Mail Forwarding – $20 per month (available only for California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Washington, Montana, Texas, and Wyoming so far);
• US Virtual Office – $29 per month (available only for California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming);
• Phone – $9 per month (Internet-powered phone numbers + unlimited talk, text, voicemail, call forwarding, and other extras);
• Payment Processing – $0 (start for free with Free Credit Card Processing Consultation).

Do Business in the USA

Northwest offers non-residents to expand their business credentials in the United States. Thus, the USA Company Packages category includes a couple of options to choose from: 

• The first will cost you $925 and includes the following services: Company Formation, Registered Agent Service, EIN, Unlimited Mail Scanning, Unique Business Address, and Office Lease;
• The second option costs $1,425 and includes all of the above-mentioned services + Certified Copy of Articles, Apostille, and Certificate of Incumbency.

Non-residents can also order the Non-US Resident Tax ID (EIN) if they want to let Northwest’s Corporate Guides handle their FEIN filing with the IRS ($50). Additionally, there’s also the separate USA Agent Service for non-residents, which helps get the relevant state paperwork in the online account, no matter which state or states you plan to run your business in.

Service of Process

Do you need a professional process agent for your motor carrier business? Northwest Registered Agent offers such agents in every state for $125/year. Even if you need an agent for 5 or more states, you can surely rely on the company to provide process agents in every state with legitimately registered offices. This is to ensure your process service is always accepted and timely delivered to you. 

Moreover, in this section, you can also hire a national registered agent (i.e. a team of local registered agents in different states) to handle your multi-state business or order nationwide wholesale registered agent services at cheaper pricing.

Records & Legal Documents

In this section, customers will find free legal forms of documents, certified copies, books, seals, and certificates of good standing (if you plan to expand to another state). If you’re from Utah, you can also contact Northwest and order the Law on Call service for instant legal advice ($9/month, 2 months FREE of charge). 

Northwest: Advantages and Disadvantages 

There are quite a few companies on the market that provide LLC formation services, with their own upsides and downsides. While Northwest Registered Agent is definitely among the leaders of the industry, one can also notice its pros and cons.

Northwest Disadvantages 

The packages have affordable prices for companies with limited budgets, but still, Northwest’s competitors will at times offer more reasonable prices, including for the RA service, or more extra solutions in their packages. 

Also, to get an EIN from Northwest, you will have to pay $50, which is quite expensive. Many other providers, on the other hand, do not charge for EINs at all (and they shouldn’t). 

Northwest Advantages

Thankfully, when it comes to Northwest, there’s a lot more to say about the advantages of the family-owned business than there is about the disadvantages: 

• The official website of the company has quite a lot of useful information on how to register a legal entity, what a trademark is, or why businesses need an EIN;
• Northwest’s registered agent services are actually the most competitive on the market. For example, the company offers favorable prices and a long list of services included in the package (timely mail forwarding, local document scanning, annual report reminders, service of process acceptance, etc.);
• Transparent pricing is another advantage of the service provider – you will not see any hidden fees or unnecessary services – everything is concise and transparent. Moreover, according to numerous client feedback about the company, Northwest doesn’t add cross-sells and upsells into its offers;
• Northwest’s user-friendly and responsive support service has something to offer to each client. A professional team of experienced consultants is always ready to help entrepreneurs in need to find answers to the most complex questions. Thus, if you’re one of them, you can rest assured that your business is in good hands.

Conclusion

Northwest is a popular business formation company that specializes mostly in registered agent services. And it does an excellent job of providing an exceptional experience to clients all across the U.S. This is evidenced by positive customer feedback and numerous comments on reputable review sites and platforms. 

Of course, just like any of its competitors, Northwest still has its minor downsides. Especially, if you’re a small business on a tight budget. However, the most important thing is that you get what you pay for. Plus, the team tries really hard to make things right by providing top-notch customer service and support.