Kansas Registered Agent
Contents
[ show ]
What Is a Kansas Registered Agent?
A registered agent (also known as a resident agent or statutory agent) receives all communication from the state of Kansas on behalf of your business; this includes service of process. The registered agent makes sure your business is notified of important communications. They also make documents from the state easily accessible by uploading them to a digital server. In Kansas, businesses are required by law to have a registered agent. Having a specific contact makes it easy for the state to get in touch and ensures communication will always make it to the right person. Registered agents are elected upon the formation of a business, but this can be changed down the road.What Are the Requirements to Be a Registered Agent in Kansas?
Almost anyone can be a registered agent because the requirements are not strict. One must be 18 or older, maintain a physical address in Kansas, and keep regular business hours. As such, you could appoint yourself as the registered agent for your business if you wanted to. A business partner or employee could also do it. However, many companies prefer to hire registered agent services, and we’ll talk more about why in our next section.Why Businesses Need a Kansas Registered Agent
As discussed, Kansas law requires businesses to have a registered agent. Even if that weren’t the case, these agents help companies in different ways, so it’s worthwhile to have one.
Let’s discuss the many ways that registered agents are useful, as well as why you might choose to hire one rather than be one yourself.
Compliance
To keep good standing, businesses must remain compliant with the state. This means filing annual reports and responding to any other communication on time. If a business loses its good standing, there are consequences. It may lose limited liability protection or, in the worst-case scenario, be banned from operating within the state of Kansas. Similarly, businesses must respond to service of process. Ignoring court summons may lead to fines and certainly won’t do the business any favors when it comes to winning a lawsuit. Registered agents help businesses keep their good standing and remain compliant by keeping track of important deadlines. They send reminders of these deadlines so that businesses have plenty of time to comply.Privacy
A registered agent’s address is public record and is easy to find on the Kansas Business Entity Search Station. If you want to keep your address private, you’re better off hiring a registered agent service. Similarly, it’s not always advisable to use the physical location of your business as a registered agent. This is because all communication will be sent to that address; state correspondence will be mixed in with regular business mail and junk mail. What’s worse, should you receive service of process, it may happen in front of clients and employees. This could lower the morale of workers who wonder if a lawsuit will affect their job stability. It would also be a bit embarrassing. Hiring a registered agent service means all communication, including service of process, will be received at the registered agent’s office. You’ll be notified privately.Online-Only Business
Thanks to the internet, a lot of work can be done from home. In fact, you can run a successful business without a physical location. The fact that 85% of U.S. households report having an active internet subscription in 2018 illustrates just how powerful a resource the internet is. If your business is online-only, you may not want to be your own registered agent as the only address you can use is likely your own. In this situation, your best option would be to hire a registered agent.Irregular Business Hours
One of the requirements to be a registered agent is to keep regular business hours. This makes it easy for the state to contact the registered agent. Of course, it’s not feasible for everyone to work regular hours. As a business owner, you may also need to take trips or visit other company locations. This would also hinder you from keeping regular hours at a specific address. For these reasons, hiring a registered agent can be very helpful. Registered agent services always have someone available to receive correspondence from the state.Organization
Part of a registered agent’s job is keeping documents organized. They need to do this with both physical and digital files. Because a hired registered agent is only doing this kind of work, they can immediately organize legal correspondence. Were you to be your own registered agent, you may be too busy to back up documents the moment you receive them. Registered agents also must keep track of deadlines and send reminders. While you could do all this work yourself, as a business owner, you already have a lot on your plate. It’s thus helpful to have someone else organizing files and keeping track of important dates for you.Locations in Different States
If your business operates in several states, then you’ll need to have a registered agent in each one. Hiring a registered agent service with locations in many states is a great option as everything is streamlined, and you only have to deal with one provider instead of many.What to Look for When Choosing a Kansas Registered Agent
If you’re interested in hiring a registered agent in Kansas, then you won’t be without options. Instead, you may be wondering how to choose between them all. In that case, we recommend that you consider three factors: price, services provided, and time saved.