Although launching a new business is complicated, forming your LLC shouldn’t be as difficult. You just need to find the right provider so you don’t end up with penalties and fines for not filing the right documents or missing deadlines.
One of the top LLC companies available on the market to register your business is ZenBusiness. This Zen Business review will help you have a better understanding of the company and its processes as well as what to expect from their services.
Pros
- Very Affordable Pricing: ZenBusiness offers one of the most affordable LLC services with a starting price of just $49/year (plus state fees). Presently, ZenBusiness is the next most affordable LLC company after Incfile. ZenBusiness is also 100% transparent about its pricing
- Essential LLC Features: As opposed to many other LLC service providers that offer many unnecessary features to clients, ZenBusiness offers essential LLC features, which include the tax identification number (EIN), operating agreement, worry-free compliance, registered agent services, etc. Additional services and features are also offered in a tasteful way.
- Great Customer Reviews/Feedback: One of the company’s major strengths is its hundreds of positive online ZenBusiness reviews.
- Impressive Additional Services: In its bid to serve customers better, ZenBusiness provides impressive extra services like annual report filing and worry-free assessment in all its pricing packages. ZenBusiness, in partnership with Kiva.org, provides loans and financial lending to both women- and minority-owned businesses.
Cons
- Years of Experience: Being a relatively new company, ZenBusiness may not have as much experience and brand recognition as other LLC companies
- No Customer Service on Saturday: You will not be able to get any support for ZenBusiness LLC features on Saturday.
Zen Business LLC Formation Packages
Let’s take a look at the different ZenBusiness LLC packages in this review. Like MyCompanyWorks LLC service, ZenBusiness offers three pricing packages which are the Starter package, Pro package, and Premium plan.
Starter
The Starter package costs $49/year (plus state fees). The top services ZenBusiness includes in this Starter package are business name availability search, preparation and filing of articles of organization, 12 months free registered agent service, LLC operating agreement template and CPA assessment.
Pro
This package costs $199/year plus the state filing fee. The Pro plan comes with all the features from the Starter package and includes expedited filing service, federal tax ID number (EIN), worry-free guarantee, banking resolution template and business document templates.
Premium
This package costs $299/year plus the state fee. Included in the Premium package are all the features from the Pro package, in addition to rush filing speed (which enables you to file your business in about three business days), domain name registration, domain name privacy, business email address and a business website.
Assessment of Zen Business
Pricing and Value
All packages are billed annually and include business services like business name availability search, preparation and filing of articles of incorporation, registered agent service, EIN, business email address, domain name, domain name privacy, business website and banking resolution. The annual billing is completely normal even in other LLC services like Incfile or Northwest.
The pricing is highly competitive and the packages are value-for-money because you get everything you need to start your business. Some providers such as LegalZoom charge you separately for registered agent features, which you get free with your ZenBusiness package. LegalZoom’s pricing also starts at $99 which is higher than the cheapest package by ZenBusiness.
Track Record
ZenBusiness is based in Austin, Texas, and was founded in 2015. It is one of the best online incorporation services that has helped several thousands of business owners across the US to form their LLC. ZenBusiness’s amazing services and customer support are evident in a large number of positive reviews ZenBusiness has.
Though ZenBusiness is relatively young, it has proven itself as one of the best LLC services like Incfile and Swyft Filings. Over the years and is intensifying its effort to catch up with competitors that started earlier.
One of ZenBusiness’s advantages is its use of automation. ZenBusiness LLC formation company uses automation to complete most of its business operations, which enables the company to offer competitive rates to clients.
Customer Support
ZenBusiness has lifetime customer support and the team is very helpful. It is like Harbor Compliance with on top customer service support. The customer support team responds to clients’ messages, questions, or queries quickly. This LLC business formation service offers customer supports via phone call, email, and live chat.
Customer services are available during business hours – Monday to Friday from 8 am to 8 pm CT. Although some LLC service providers don’t provide weekend customer support at all, ZenBusiness does provide customer service only on Sundays from 10 am to 7 pm CT. On the other hand, the lack of support on Saturdays is a gap as providers like LegalZoom offer support over the weekend.
Ease of Process
ZenBusiness’ business formation service focuses on improving ease of use for its customers. It would not be considered as one of best registered agent service in the state of Delaware without its top-notch online service. You can form an LLC easily and quickly on the ZenBusiness website.
Once you choose your preferred business type and formation state on the website, the webpage would reload to show your total price and business services. This is the same with any extra options you click on. After compiling your package, you only need to fill out the necessary information about your business.
The entire process takes about 20 minutes. The company also offers a personalized online dashboard which contains important documents. It seeks to present information in a less overwhelming way to customers.
ZenBusiness reviews highlight the ease of use that the company provides to those who want to open an LLC for the first time.
Turn Around Time
Though ZenBusiness has an impressive turnaround time, it is based mainly on the pricing package you purchase from them. ZenBusiness’s Starter package has a turnaround time of about three to four weeks, the Pro package has an expedited filing speed of about two weeks, and the Premium package has a rush filing speed of about three to five business days.
Nevertheless, like other incorporation services including Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom, ZenBusiness’s turnaround times are affected by how fast the state reviews and approves your filing documents. Overall, ZenBusiness is one of the best in that respect in most states and ZenBusiness reviews indicate that many customers are satisfied. For comparison, LegalZoom promises a turn around time of 30 business days for its most basic package and even LegalZoom’s most premium package requires 7 to 10 days.
Worry-Free Guarantee and Refunds
If you’re a busy entrepreneur or you find it hard to stay compliant with the paperwork requirements of your state, like other reputable LLC services such as Swyft Filings and LegalZoom, ZenBusiness provides a one-year free worry-free guarantee. The worry-free guarantee includes alerts for annual reports filing, documentation submitted for you (state fee applies), and two amendments per year so you can change your filings for free twice a year, although you may have to pay the state filing fees.
The worry-free guarantee also covers all the necessary expenses you may incur to remain in good standing should your business miss a state requirement or deadline. ZenBusiness also offers the worry-free guarantee as a stand-alone feature which costs just $119 per year.
In terms of refunds, ZenBusiness has a rather complicated refund policy. According to the refund policy, ZenBusiness would not make any refund or honor dispute or charge-back from clients regarding the fees associated with business formation services once the business filing has been submitted to the state.
However, a refund may be made if the client requests it before the business filing with the state was initiated and if some certain conditions are met. These certain conditions were not specified by ZenBusiness. Nevertheless, in the case where those “certain conditions” are met, a $50 cancellation fee would be charged anyway.
Features & Services
Here are some other features offered by ZenBusiness:
Registered Agent Services
ZenBusiness provides a one-year free registered agent service in all its LLC packages. You’re required to have one of the superior registered agent services in every state your business has its physical presence. The registered agent acts as a legal contact for your business and offers his/her address instead of yours for important or legal documents from the state and federal agencies. You may also decide to be your business’ registered agent.
After the free registered agent service for the first year, this service can be renewed for $119 per year. ZenBusiness reviews about this feature have been positive with clients having a pleasant and smooth experience.
Business Bank Account
The Pro package and Premium package include banking resolution templates which enables business owners to open a business bank account. Banks require the LLC banking resolution before they would allow you to open a business bank account.
The banking resolution specifies who is authorized to make payments or sign loans on behalf of your business. As a stand-alone, ZenBusiness charges $110 per year for a business bank account. However, the LLC company partners with Radius Bank to offer discounted business bank accounts.
CPA Assessment
ZenBusiness has a worry-free CPA assessment in all its LLC packages. This worry-free assessment provides free accounting services and tax assessment by an expert and licensed public accountant (CPAs) who will make professional recommendations to clients, help them determine their bookkeeping, accounting, and tax needs, and provide them with helpful information to stay organized.
This assessment service is a great way to keep track of all file taxes and cash flow in your business. Some top notch LLC service providers do not do this assessment while some offer this service through a third party. However, ZenBusiness handles this service entirely in-house.
Business Tax Prep and Filing
Registering your business is very simple. All pricing packages include the full business tax prep and filing of your articles of organization. One of ZenBusiness’s licensed CPAs will prepare, review, and file the year-end taxes for your business. ZenBusiness can also handle annual report filing alongside other regular LLC maintenance.
Others
- Operating Agreement Template: ZenBusiness presents you with an operating agreement template that enables you to create and personalize an Operating Agreement of your own. This document defines the structure of your business and sets rules for how it will operate.
- Employer Identification Number (EIN) Service: Another important service from Zen Business is the employer id number (EIN) service. Although this service is included in the Pro plan and Premium plan, it can also be obtained as a standalone service, which costs $70. ZenBusiness will help you file all the necessary paperwork for obtaining your EIN.
- New York Certificate of Publication: Some states, such as New York, require a Certificate of Publication [1] from new LLCs. Processing and obtaining the Certificate of Publication involves lots of hassle, which is why some LLC companies don’t offer this service. ZenBusiness provides this service for $200 (including publication fees) and will take on all the necessary procedures for you – contacting the attorneys, county clerk, newspapers, and the Department of State.
If you want to know more about the process of LLC formation, we suggest reading the article on How to Setup an LLC here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ZenBusiness legit?
ZenBusiness is legit. The LLC service is a legitimate online LLC formation company with a good standing. You can verify this by contacting ZenBusiness, visiting its website, or looking up for ZenBusiness on the Better Business Bureau website.
You can also go online to look for any ZenBusiness review by customers. Customer reviews are one of ZenBusiness’s greatest advantages and it has over 3,500 customer reviews and feedback online while maintaining a 4.7 average star rating out of 5 stars.
Should I use ZenBusiness?
You should use ZenBusiness to form your LLC if you desire an LLC provider that offers excellent prices, necessary services, and great support after business formation. ZenBusiness uses automation for most of its business, which enables the company to offer simple and affordable solutions to start, manage, and grow your new business.
What is ZenBusiness?
ZenBusiness is an LLC company based in Austin, Texas, and founded in 2015. ZenBusiness is the only company that offers all three essential services in all its three packages which are LLC formation, operating agreement template and registered agent services. Despite being a relatively new addition to the industry, ZenBusiness is building its brand power and has helped thousands of entrepreneurs to form an LLC.
Zen Business Reviews Conclusion
ZenBusiness provides quick, affordable, and trustworthy LLC formation services to form an LLC. They offer more value for your money than most other LLC formation companies out there with low prices and high-quality service delivery.
Based on our ZenBusiness review, they provide an easy-to-use formation process and top-notch customer service. It offers a business website feature which is useful for any new business owner. The company is dedicated to exceeding client’s expectations as seen in its customer reviews. All these give Zenbusiness a good standing in the industry as shown by the positive ZenBusiness review.
Inc Authority is another LLC service which can help you in business formation. Check out our full review of Inc Authority services and packages here.
