Terms of Service

These terms are an agreement between you and Standard Business Services LLC for orders placed on standardfilings.com. Each section starts with a plain-language summary; the full text of the section is what governs.

1. Who we are

In short: a private filing service in Florida, not a government agency and not a law firm.

standardfilings.com (the "Site") is operated by Standard Business Services LLC, a Florida limited liability company doing business as Standard Filings ("Standard Filings," "we," "us"), a private document-preparation and filing company located at 1317 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, FL 32804. We are not a government agency, a law firm, or an accounting firm. See our Disclosures.

2. What we do, and what we don't

In short: we prepare your filing from your answers and submit it to the state. We don't give legal or tax advice, and we can't promise the state will approve it.

We prepare government filings from the information you provide, submit them to the relevant agency on your behalf, and deliver the results to you. For EIN orders, you authorize us to act as your third-party designee under IRS Form SS-4.

• No legal or tax advice. We don't provide legal, tax, or financial advice, and using the Site doesn't create an attorney-client or accountant-client relationship with anyone.
• No guarantee of approval. The state decides whether to approve a filing. We check name availability in the state's records before we file, but we don't guarantee that a name is available or that a filing will be approved.
• You can file yourself. Every filing we handle can be made directly with the state (or the IRS) for only the government's own fee. Our fee is for doing it for you.
• Self-help documents. The optional operating agreement (and the banking kit on EIN orders) is generated automatically by inserting your answers into a standard template. It is not filed with any agency, no one reviews it for your situation, and it is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

3. Your responsibilities

In short: give us accurate information and answer our questions.

• Provide accurate, complete information. We prepare filings from your answers; errors in them can delay a filing or cause the state to reject it.
• Confirm you are authorized to act for the business named in the order (for EINs, that you are the responsible party or their authorized representative).
• Provide any signature, registered agent acceptance, correction or information the state requires, when we ask. Our timelines wait until we have it (Section 6).
• Use the Site only for lawful purposes.

4. Prices and payment

In short: our service fee and the state filing & processing charge are shown separately before you pay.

Our service fee for LLC formation is $99 ($198 for expedited, a $99 upgrade), plus state filing & processing: the state's filing fee and a $20 filing & processing charge, shown together as one line. The operating agreement is an optional $99 add-on (not available for California or North Carolina LLCs or addresses). The application suggests optional add-ons with the box already ticked; each one's price is on the review screen, and you can untick it there before you pay. Every price is shown, with state filing & processing as its own line, before you pay, and you pay by card at the time of order. Government agencies charge nothing for an EIN.

Saved card. When you order an LLC formation, our payment processor saves your card so you can add optional services from your order page without re-entering it, and so we can renew registered agent service if you choose it. We charge a saved card only after you confirm a specific item and its price on screen, or for registered agent renewals as described in Section 5.

Added from your order page. After you order, these can be added from your order page: your EIN application, $99; the operating agreement, $99; and your LLC's next state annual report, prepared and filed by us for a $159 service fee plus the state's own report fee. A pre-filed annual report costs nothing when you reserve it: we charge your saved card the total shown on your order page when we file it, once the state opens filing, and nothing is charged until then, so you can cancel any time before we file at no cost.

5. Registered agent service and automatic renewal

In short: if you choose it, it renews every year at $199/yr until you cancel. We remind you 30 days before each renewal. Once the agent is set up you can turn renewal off from your order page; before that, reply to your order confirmation email.

If you choose our registered agent service, our registered agent partner is named as your LLC's registered agent in its state of formation and accepts legal papers and official state mail for it, and we forward them to you electronically the same business day they are received. Nothing for the service is charged with your order: the first year is charged to the card you paid with when we appoint your agent, when your order is ready to file, and we appoint the agent only once that payment goes through. It renews yearly until you cancel.

Switching an existing company to our agent service. If you order a registered agent change, the first year ($199/yr) is charged when you order. It covers the agent service and our preparing and filing your state's change-of-agent form, including the state's fee for it. You confirm you are a member or manager with authority to change the company's agent, and authorize us to file the change. The service renews on the terms below, a year from your order.

The service renews automatically each year at $199/yr, charged to the card on file, until you cancel. If the price will change, we tell you at least 30 days before the renewal. We email you a reminder at least 30 days before each renewal.

• Cancel anytime. Once the agent is set up, turn off automatic renewal in one click from your order page. Before that, or any time, reply to your order confirmation email or email admin@standardfilings.com. The service continues through the end of the year already paid for, then ends.
• Your consent is recorded. We keep a record of your consent to automatic renewal, and of the terms you agreed to, for at least three years, or one year after the service ends if that is longer.
• After the service ends, you are responsible for naming a new registered agent with the state, which most states require at all times. If a renewal remains unpaid, we may resign as agent after notice to you, as state law allows.

Refunds for this service are in our Refund Policy, Section 6.

6. When we submit your filing

In short: our clock starts once you've paid and your LLC details are in. Standard orders go to the state within 3 business days, next-day orders the next business day, and same-day orders complete by 2 PM Eastern go the same business day. How long the state takes after that is up to the state.

• When the clock starts. Your order is "complete" when it is paid and we have your LLC's details (the address, owners and organizer signature you enter on your order page after paying) and any registered agent acceptance the state requires.
• Standard. We submit a standard LLC formation to the state within 3 business days of the order being complete.
• Next-day. A next-day order is submitted to the state the business day after the order is complete. If we miss that for a reason within our control, we refund the $49 upgrade, under the same exclusions as the same-day upgrade below.
• Same-day (expedited). A same-day order that is complete by 2 PM Eastern on a business day is submitted to the state that business day; one completed later is submitted the next business day. If we miss that for a reason within our control, we refund the $99 upgrade. We don't refund it when the delay is waiting on you (a required signature or registered agent acceptance, a correction, or missing information), when the state's system is down, or when the state accepts only paper filings. Details are in the Refund Policy, Section 4.
• When we're waiting on you. If we need a correction or information from you before we can submit, the clock stops, and it starts again from when we receive what we need.
• Business day means Monday through Friday, excluding U.S. federal holidays, in Eastern Time.
• The state's processing time is never promised. Once submitted, timing is up to the state. Any other timing we mention is typical, not guaranteed. EIN applications that cannot use the IRS online system (for example, where the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN) go through the IRS's slower channels, as disclosed before you pay.

7. Refunds and our guarantee

In short: cancel before we submit and get everything back except the $20 filing & processing charge. After that, our service fee back if we can't get it filed because of our error.

Refunds are governed by our Refund Policy and our guarantee, which are part of these terms. In brief: before we submit your filing to the state, you can cancel for a refund of everything, including the state's unpaid fee, except the $20 filing & processing charge, which is not refundable once your order is paid unless we cancel the order or can't file it. Once the state's fee has been paid to the state, it is not refundable, even before the state approves the filing, unless the state refunds it. Our service fee is not refundable after we submit, except under the guarantee. If the state rejects the filing because of our error, we correct and refile it at no cost to you, and refund our service fee if we can't complete it. If it rejects the filing because of the information you gave us, we make one correction and refiling at no service fee, and any additional state fee is yours. If these pages ever seem to disagree, the reading more favorable to you applies.

8. Card disputes

In short: please contact us before disputing a charge. We pause work on an order while its payment is disputed.

If you have a problem with an order, email admin@standardfilings.com before disputing the charge with your card issuer. If a payment is disputed or flagged for review by our payment processor, we pause work on that order (no submission, refiling or delivery) until it is resolved, and our timelines don't run during the pause. This doesn't limit any right you have with your card issuer.

9. Limitation of liability

In short: except where the law doesn't allow it, our liability is limited to what you paid us for the order.

Except where prohibited by law, our total liability for any claim arising from an order is limited to the amount you paid us for that order, and we are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, or for the delays and decisions of government agencies.

Nothing in these terms limits any warranty, liability, damages, or remedy that applicable law does not allow to be limited, including our liability for our own fraud, gross negligence, or willful misconduct. In particular, for the operating agreement and any other self-help document bought by a North Carolina consumer, nothing in these terms disclaims any warranty or liability or limits the damages or remedies available to you (N.C. Gen. Stat. 84-2.2).

10. Privacy

Your information is handled as described in our Privacy Policy.

11. Text messaging

If you choose to receive text messages from Standard Filings, the SMS program is governed by our SMS Terms and Privacy. SMS consent is optional and is not required to buy services. Message frequency varies, message and data rates may apply, and you can reply STOP to cancel or HELP for help.

12. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version posted when you place an order governs that order, and the date at the top of this page shows when these terms last changed.

13. Contact

Questions about these terms: admin@standardfilings.com.

Standard Business Services LLC, 1317 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, FL 32804.