How to Find the Best Registered Agent in Illinois

It is an agent’s primary responsibility to receive service of process as well as important documents, including:

• Articles of Organization – LLC formation documents in Illinois
• Articles of Incorporation – corporation formation documents sent to business services
• Annual report – due at the end of the month before the formation anniversary month
• Certificate of Good Standing – a document required to apply for business loans

Other business structures include:

• Sole proprietorships
• Partnerships
• Nonprofit

Form LLC-5.5 will ask you to provide information regarding the appointed registered agent.

• Registered agent name
• Registered agent’s address

Depending on your business structure, you can use the Office of Illinois Secretary of State website to file the correct form.

• Corporation and Nonprofit
• LLC

You must download and complete the appropriate form when changing registered agents or updating your registered office address.

• Corporation – $25 filing fee
• LLC – $25 filing fee
• Nonprofit – $5 filing fee
• LP – $50 filing fee

You must submit the statement of change in duplicate to the business filing office.

You must first deliver notice to the company you are resigning as a registered agent using the notice of resignation of registered agent form (form BCA 5.15).

You will then submit the notice to the Illinois Secretary of State by mail or in person.

Form BCA 5.15 will ask you to provide specific information:

• Name of the corporation and address
• Registered agent name
• Registered agent address
• Date of resignation
• Proof of notification

The processing fee to resign as a registered agent in Illinois is $5.

• You don’t miss critical due dates

Your company’s annual report is due end of the month prior to the formation month anniversary.

You can risk losing liability protection and good standing in Illinois if you don’t pay the annual report fee on time.

A registered agent sends notifications when critical due dates are near and helps you file the appropriate paperwork on time.

• Your private address stays out of public record

It’s common for business owners to work from home addresses or private offices. When they appoint themselves, the personal address becomes the business address and public record.

The Illinois Business Search can be searched by name, keyword, partial word, or file number.

By electing an outside, registered service can choose to have the service’s address listed in the Illinois database rather than your personal address.

• You get a discrete point of contact

The title role of a registered agent is to receive legal documents, such as a subpoena.

An agent will receive sensitive legal notices from law firms or the state on behalf of your company. It means that a process server won’t just pop into the office to serve your small business in front of customers.

• It supports a flexible schedule

The Business Corporations Act of 1983 states that a registered agent in Illinois must be available during normal business hours every business day of the year.

Appointing yourself as your registered agent means you must be in the office during those hours.

Choosing to appoint an outside registered agent as the point of contact allows you to keep a flexible schedule, and you can come and go.

• You get instant access to the certificate of good standing

Financial institutions and banks will ask for proof that you’re in good standing with the state of Illinois.

Professional registered agent services give Illinois business owners access to formation documents and certificate of good standing to make doing business easier.

• It speeds up forming a foreign LLC

You must appoint a registered agent to expand an Illinois business into a different state.

The foreign LLC formation remains quick and efficient if you’ve appointed a registered agent already.