In this online legal agent review, I shall be looking at Harbor Compliance – a top provider of LLC formation, registered agent services, and compliance solutions in the United States.
Since the company was founded in 2012, Harbor Compliance has helped over 25,000 businesses overcome various legal challenges.
Therefore, the company has earned stellar customer feedback. Harbor Compliance has a really special approach to customer services and provides a smooth LLC formation process.
Pros:
- Offers special services to NPOs & NGOs
- The best online legal agent for compliance procedures
Cons:
- Uses external attorneys
- Registered agent service is not included in the plans
Sign up for an introductory phone call
The way business owners sign up for the services of Harbor Compliance is unique. Instead of asking business owners to fill in an online questionnaire or an order form, Harbor Compliance asks them to sign up for an introductory phone call with one of their representatives.
This personal approach Harbor Compliance makes one of the most popular LLC formation companies in the USA. Once you sign up, you can expect a call within 24 hours.
Harbor Compliance Services
Registered Agent Services
The registered agent service of Harbor Compliance is free for the first year and costs between $89 and $99 a year depending on the state. Unlike other online companies, Harbor Compliance does not charge any hidden fees.
Should you like to migrate to a different registered agent like ZenBusiness, you can cancel the subscription at any time without any penalties. The readily-available operating agreement forms, customizable notifications, and annual report notices will take many day-to-day responsibilities off your shoulders.
As soon as you subscribe for the registered agent services, the address of Harbor Compliance’s nearest office will appear in your Client Portal.
Harbor Compliance has a network of offices across the country to receive a wide variety of time-sensitive documents on your behalf. Your LLC or sole proprietorship will always be in good standing with the state. The registered agent software of Harbor Compliance tracks your company’s annual reports and automatically sends timely reminders.
LLC Formation Package
Harbor Compliance’s formation specialists can help you set up your first LLC. They understand a small business’s goals and can manage a wide variety of regulatory tasks. The process of LLC formation involves multiple license applications and corporate filings.
You can rest assured that Harbor Compliance’s team will position them right for fast approval. Within the LLC formation service of Harbor Compliance, Harbor Compliance can register your LLC for state tax accounts, file for an EIN, and obtain business licenses.
Nonprofit Incorporation service
NPO organization is one of the best features Harbor Compliance has to offer. The company has tailored a unique portfolio of services for NGOs and not-for-profit entities. The company’s specialists will complete all of the ensuing red tape. The NPO service of Harbor Compliance starts at $1,699 plus filing fees.
This red tape includes filing a name reservation request Form for domestic entities and the SOSDF-5 domestic nonprofit corporation certificate of formation. Harbor Compliance’s NPO formation experts will also prepare all of the necessary IRS forms, including an IRS Determination Letter for the particular state.
Business Compliance Package
Harbor Compliance is mostly famous for its comprehensive compliance package. The company specializes in comprehensive licensing and entity management services for brands that want to build a strong business image across the United States.
These services include compliance documents, foreign qualifications, licensing, and annual reports. The foreign qualification entails registering your LLC or nonprofit to conduct interstate business operations. A devoted compliance specialist will obtain all certificates from your formation state and file a certificate of authority application.
Fundraising & Nonprofit Compliance Packages
The package is called Charitable Solicitation Registration, Renewal, and Compliance and includes patented software that automatically notifies the user of oncoming license renewals.
During the compliance analysis, Harbor Compliance will uncover any lapsed registrations and will highlight the next steps that you have to take to achieve full compliance. Thus, the company guarantees that all of the filed nonprofit applications will get fast approval.
Award-winning Software
Harbor compliance has developed 5-star software capable of organizing all of your business documents. It also notifies you of oncoming license renewal and registration dates and warns you if any of your company’s legal agreements expire soon.
With the included task automation service, the platform allows you to focus more on the growth of your business. The software of Harbor Compliance has three main tools: Entity Manager, License Manager, Records Manager, and Tax Manager. You can add each tool to your pricing plan a-la-carte.
Entity Manager
Every small business you register appears on the Entity Manager’s visualization map. The map also shows where your entities are registered and their registration numbers.
The app automatically protects the good standing of your businesses with the Secretaries of State. This is possible because the Entity Manager is integrated with the Secretary of State’s databases, where such are available.
Entity Manager’s robust reference database automatically sets annual report due dates and sends timely notifications to the business owner. The online tool’s price depends on the number of registrations it has to manage. If billed annually, it has the following prices:
- 50 registrations – $300 per month
- 100 registrations – $565 per month
- 250 registrations – $825 per month
License Manager
This purpose-built tool makes license monitoring a breeze by storing license-related documents and time-stamped notes in neatly-organized folders. The visualization map this time shows the states where you hold licenses, which licenses are due, and notifies you about oncoming renewal deadlines.
Through the License Manager app, you can easily apply for new licenses where you need them. The online tool can also delegate licensing tasks to the responsible members of your team. The tools cost depends on the number of licenses your small business holds.
- 50 licenses – $300 per month
- 100 licenses- $565 per month
- 250 licenses – $825 per month
Record Manager
The record management tool of Harbor Compliance keeps all of your corporate records neatly-organized and always at hand. These records depend on the type of legal entity: LLC, non profit, or corporation, and include articles of incorporation, an operating agreement, articles of formation, bylaws, amendments, operating agreements, and IRS letters.
This tool is a must-have if you are the head of a corporation or a partnership because the visualization dashboard shows the current status of all shares and shareholders. Nonprofits and LLC also purchase this tool from Harbor Compliance to track their directors, officers, and managers.
From the dashboard, business owners can easily send meeting notifications to the board members. The Record Manager easily maintains and improves compliance Improve compliance in case of board and staff transitions.
If billed annually, the Record Manager costs $100 for your first entity and $50 for every other entity that you need to add.
Tax Manager
Harbor Compliance’s premium tax helper tracks federal, state, and local tax registrations and exemptions depending on the type of your business structure. The app also stores payroll, sales, and corporate income tax accounts of your workers.
The dashboard is organized as a tax ID list showing all of your tax registrations by type, jurisdiction, or agency. The Events List shows oncoming tax return filings and the individuals assigned to receive notifications.
Task Manager’s price again depends on the number of tax registrations that you have. The prices are the same as Entity Manager’s.
Customer Service
As a Harbor Compliance customer, you get access to the Information Center of the company. On the landing page, there are three comprehensive guides: Fundraising Compliance, Business Compliance, and Nonprofit Startup.
I expected the guides to be downloadable PDF files, but they turned out to be blog posts, just like this agent review. There is a 2.5-minute video embedded in the first guide, on which the company has all rights reserved.
Harbor Compliance offers customer support via a contact form on its website. You can also send an email or fax to their sales team or call the number listed on their contact page.
The best feature of Harbor Compliance is their personal approach to every client. The company has a customer service that deserves 5 stars. When you open an account, you get a dedicated compliance specialist to oversee your account and help you with any current issues.
How much does Harbor Compliance cost?
Harbor Compliance offers two pricing plans:
- Formation – $399 a year
- Compliance – $799 a year
Each plan includes a free registered agent service for the first year. After that, you can add it to your plan for $99/year.
That said, keep in mind that Harbor Compliance’s services have different price tags in the different states. Besides, not all prices are listed on their website. To get a precise quote, you will have to contact them via one of the channels listed above.
With that in mind, I wouldn’t say that Harbor compliance offers the cheapest registered agent services and LLC formation package that you can find online, especially considering the state fees that always apply.
Harbor Compliance Competitors
Let’s look at some of the most popular Harbor Compliance Competitors. The base rate of $399 a year that Harbor Compliance charges makes me think there are plenty of cheaper options out there.
ZenBusiness
The basic plan of ZenBusiness is roughly ten times cheaper and includes a free registered agent service for one year. For $39 ZenBusiness will take care of all the paperwork and filings associated with forming an LLC. Their customer support is efficient, if not so personal, and their overall user satisfaction rating is also higher than that of Harbor Compliance.
Northwest Registered Agent
This is another viable alternative of Harbor Compliance with a basic plan starting at $225 a year. Northwest offers the best value for money with their LLC formation plus registered agent bundle. Although the basic plan of Northwest is cheaper, after the first year their registered agent is going to cost you $125 a year.
Northwest’ customer support agents are called Corporate Guides. As a Northwest client you automatically get connected to a corporate guide, who you can contact directly should you have any questions. Finally, the customer reviews of Northwest are slightly more optimistic.
LegalZoom
LegalZoom’s basic plan is cheaper than both Harbor Compliance’s and Northwest’s. However, the customer reviews about them vary widely from five to just one star. Therefore, I list LegalZoom as the third-best alternative to Harbor Compliance. The reason why Harbor’s basic plan is so much pricier than LegalZoom’s is that it includes a federal tax ID number (EIN).
Bottom Line
According to the Better Business Bureau, Harbor Compliance customer reviews have improved a great deal since 2012. I like the Harbor Compliance logo as well as its customer service that surely deserves 5 stars.
The pricing policy of Harbor Compliance is also fair, but because they offer so many different services, it is impossible to list all prices on their website. On the whole, its basic plan provides a good value for money, and their filing and publishing service is also quite efficient.