Incfile LLC Service Review

If you’re a young entrepreneur on the way to your first business, you’ve probably heard about Incfile. This relatively young business formation service has already helped more than 500,000 small businesses on their journey to growth and prosperity. 

Incfile focuses on clarity, full-cycle business formation, lifetime compliance, and fast delivery. And this is only a portion of the tricks that the company has up their sleeve.

But will it make a good candidate for you?

Well, read our detailed Incfile LLC review and decide for yourself!

History and Reputation on the Market

We shall begin our Incfile review by examining the company’s reputation. After all, this is the first thing many people check out.

So, Incfile was founded in 2004, and its headquarters are located in Houston, Texas. Its founders focused on turning business formation into a streamlined and highly technological algorithm, unlike the endless and expensive chain of paperwork before.

And they pretty much succeeded.

Currently, Incfile states that they have helped more than 500,000 entrepreneurs and small businesses to register their companies and keep them in good standing with the state.

More than 25,000 five-star reviews on ShopperApproved seem legit. However, TrustPilot delivers mixed results with 43% positive reviews and 52% negative reviews, mainly complaining about poor customer service and long waiting times. 

So, let’s dig deeper and see who is more honest.

Main Features

The next part of our Incfile LLC review is dedicated to examining its main features and things that make this formation service stand out from the line of competitors. 

So, what you can expect if you choose Incfile as your formation service: 

• Fast processing time. Incfile makes processing time one of their main selling points. Although expedited filing time is only available as an additional service for $50, it significantly speeds up business formation and allows you to start your company earlier.

After paying for the expedited service, I liked how quickly my necessary documents were filled and processed.

• One free year of registered agent service. All the Incfile’s packages include one trial year of their registered agent service. Once the trial has expired, you will have to pay $119/year, which is still lower than most offers on the market.

During my tests, I noticed that Incfile’s trial period was longer than most competing services and their pricing was also competitive.

• Business banking account setup. Incfile is one of the few business formation services that help with the banking part of business formation. Gold ad Platinum packages help you obtain an EIN, file Form 2553, which qualifies your business as an LLC and provide you with banking resolution, which is essential if you want to get a loan for your business.
• Electronic delivery and online access to incorporation documents. You can track your filing progress via the convenient online cabinet. And once the state registers your documents, Incfile will send them to your dashboard immediately.

I liked that the dashboard was intuitive during testing and I could access my documents without hassles.

Along with starting an LLC, you can also register an S-corp, C-corp, and a non-profit, and the process will be just as easy and convenient.

Want to know the best part?

To make your user experience with Incfile more pleasant, the company prepared a few unique features, such as:

• Free business formation in the Silver package. That’s right, you will only need to pay the mandatory state fee, and the Incfile will do the rest by themselves. The company calls it “the courtesy to our clients who deserve to have the best user experience.” Then, after formation, you will only pay for the registered agent once the trial year has passed.
• Business license search tool. Some businesses, for example, in the agricultural or logistics industry, might need additional permits from the state they operate in. Incfile can save you hours of the bureaucratic nightmare by showing you a list of essential licensing documents in one place. Just enter the state of your business formation and the industry you plan to work in. Then, you only need to obtain the permits from the state departments.

Plans & Pricing

Source: https://www.incfile.com/

Here comes the most anticipated part of the Incfile review, where we break down the pricing plans and see if they pack any hidden upsells and unnecessary features.

Let’s see what Incfile has to offer. 

Like the majority of business formation services, Incfile has three packages:

• Silver ($0 + state fees). The cheapest Incfile package includes filing of the Articles of Organization with the state, unlimited name searches, and a trial year of the registered agent. This is a pretty solid place to start, considering that you can purchase additional services, such as Operating Agreement filing or Banking Resolution template if you need to.
• Gold ($149 + state fees). The most comprehensive Incfile package includes the initial formation documents, business banking account setup and tax consultation, Employer ID number, and convenient online access to the dashboard where all your formation documents are displayed.
• Platinum ($299 + state fees). The only significant advantage of this package is that it includes the Expedited filing time and things such as business contract templates and legal forms.

So, as you can see, all the packages that Incfile offers you are pretty balanced. They do not contain any hidden fees and leave some room for customization.

Additional Services

Generally speaking, you can only add the services listed below to a Silver package, but they make a good purchase if the Gold package seems too expensive for you.

So, here’s what you can get:

• Employer Identification Number ($70). This is a federal tax ID for your company, and you cannot perform financial operations, pay taxes, or hire employees without it.
• Operating Agreement ($40). The state doesn’t require an Operating Agreement for the formation pack. Still, this document will significantly help you distribute roles and responsibilities among the members of your LLC.
• Banking Resolution ($35). This document shows to the bank which members have the authority to open and manage a business bank account. Not all banks require the resolution, but still, it’s better to keep it at hand.
• Business Contract Templates ($150). This pack contains seller contracts, non-disclosure agreements, annual meeting forms, and many more to make your LLC management easier.
• Expedited state filing time ($50). Finally, instead of waiting 3-6 business weeks with the standard filing time, you can speed up your business formation with Expedited filing, and Incfile will handle all the errands.

Customer Support

Numerous Incfile LLC reviews mentioned poor customer support from the company, so let’s find out if it’s true.

Incfile has several ways to contact its representatives:

• via the Client Support Request on their website;
• via the phone: 1-855-829-9090 (available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST);
• via the fax: 1-877-919-2613
• and finally, you can just mail them a letter at 17350 State Highway 249, Suite 220, Houston, TX 77064.

With so many options, there must be no problem with contacting customer support!

Unfortunately, several years ago, the quality of Incfile’s customer support significantly worsened. We’ve tried to contact them via the website form to check this, and they didn’t even read our letter. 

You can get to them by phone, but not on the first try, and the representative is very friendly and helps you with any questions. However, this is not the level of quality you want to expect from a popular business formation service.

Pros and Cons: Overview

Who Should Use Incfile?

Now, let’s briefly recap our Incfile LLC review and conclude who will make the most of this service:

• Those who are tight on the budget. During my review, I liked the affordable pricing options incfile offered. The basic subscription covered all the basic necessities I needed for LLC formation. Plus, you can purchase some additional services, which, albeit adding a couple of bucks to the final price, still keep it relatively low.
• Those who want a full-cycle formation experience. Incfile’s Gold package is not only one of the best offers in the industry. It can also take care of your business after it’s formed by providing you with business forms and legal document templates, helping you manage your finances, and offering you lifetime compliance alerts.
• Those who don’t like to wait. The Expedited filing time will significantly improve the formation speed I liked the processing speed of this service and I noticed that my documents were filed within 5 business days during testing..
• Those who start a business in regulated industries. Incfile has a convenient business license search tool to help you obtain all the needed permits without spending hours browsing the legal documentation.