Establishing your New Jersey business as a limited liability company (LLC) provides a combination of liability protection and tax benefits. It’s a common option for small and medium businesses, and may be the right choice for yours.
As a business owner, your personal liability risk is limited (hence the name). “The corporate veil” generally allows parties to sue your business if they’re significantly harmed by it, but they can’t sue you personally. Your personal assets should be safe even if the suing party is successful.
In addition, LLC’s tax benefits stem from an option as to how you report income from the business. You can either file taxes like a sole proprietor, and you pay income tax on the income you earn from the business, or as a corporation. Filing taxes like a corporation allows you to draw a reasonable salary, which is subject to income tax. Any earnings above the salary are reported as distributions from the business, which get taxed at a lower rate.
Establishing an LLC in New Jersey is something that you, as a business owner, can do. You’ll have to file articles of organization, establish a registered agent, and pay a state fee of $129. There’s an ongoing annual fee for LLCs in New Jersey of $75. These fees are unavoidable no matter what LLC formation service you use.
Here are 5 of the best LLC formation services that New Jersey businesses can use.
Disclaimer: the rates and offerings below are subjected to changes made by the service providers.
Tailor Brands is one of the most comprehensive LLC formation services available, and we offer pricing options for different budgets and needs.
With Tailor Brands, not only can you easily set up your New Jersey LLC, but you can also manage additional business items such as licenses, insurance, online branding, and more. The branding features include an online logo creator, which is something no other LLC service on this list offers.
Doing all of this through a single platform streamlines things for the busy business owner. It also lets you take advantage of bundling multiple services together for increased savings.
Tailor Brands excels in providing a full suite of services that extend beyond basic LLC formation:
Every one of the platforms listed provides LLC formation services specific to New Jersey. It’s the other, complementary services that set Tailor Brands apart from the others. Tailor Brands is one of the only services that:
While offering extensive services, Tailor Brands doesn’t make businesses pay for things they don’t need. There’s a plan for every business’s needs and budget — including those with extremely tight budgets.
A “Lite Plan” covers all the essentials of LLC formation at no cost except the state fees, which can’t be avoided with any LLC formation service or plan.
An “Essential Plan” costs $199, and adds on legal compliance services, such as checking your business’s name and drafting an operating agreement. New Jersey doesn’t require LLCs to have an operating agreement, but you should probably have one to detail business operations, stakeholder interests, and other important matters. Expedited processing is included as well.
The most comprehensive “Elite Plan” builds on the other plans by adding online marketing services. You’ll receive a domain for 1 year, have access to a website builder and a social media post creator, and be able to choose templates for business cards. Most importantly, it’s this plan that includes the AI-powered logo generator (for up to 8 logos).
The Elite Plan price runs $249, but that’s likely much less than purchasing these services from different platforms would be.
Tailor Brands is a top choice if you want a free LLC formation service, comprehensive services beyond LLC formation, or have permits and applications to apply for. Many people who use it for these reasons are quite pleased.
Northwest Registered Agent is more than just a registered agent service. It’s a family-owned business (the only on this list) that offers excellent registered agent and LLC formation services. It’s also no longer in just the Northwest U.S., but offers LLC formation in New Jersey and other states.
The platform also has some of the best reviews. They have fewer customers than some other LLC formation services, but business owners who use the family-owned business tend to be extremely pleased.
Northwest Registered Agent focuses on providing core services for LLCs:
The pricing structure is simple and one of the best values. There’s only one package, which includes LLC formation and all other services for 1 year. It costs just $39 (plus the state fee).
The other services increase in cost when the plan is renewed. but getting all of this for just $39 is quite the bargain for your business’s first year.
If you want LLC formation and registered agent services, Northwest Registered Agent is probably the best value. You won’t get everything, but what you get will be extremely good.
Rocket Lawyer offers a plethora of legal services. Don’t think of Rocket Lawyer as an LLC formation service with other legal services. They’re a legal service platform that does LLC formation among many other things.
Rocket Lawyer can cover almost any routine legal aspect of starting or running a small business:
Rocket Lawyer’s pricing is not straightforward. The plan that’s more expensive initially is a much better value if you’ll need ongoing services.
The more basic Rocket Legal costs $39.99 per month. It includes LLC formation, custom legal documents, and document management. You’ll pay full price to use most additional legal services, such as tax prep and filing, trademark registration, attorney consultation — and registered agent services.
The more robust Rocket Legal+ costs $239.98 annually, which works out to $19.99 per month. The lists of included services and additional available services are the same. Additional services are half-price, though. That lowers the cost of a registered agent from ~$250 to ~$125 per year, for example.
There’s no free option, although a free trial (credit card required) is available.
Rocket Lawyer is a good option if you need more than just LLC formation services, and specifically anticipate ongoing legal needs.
Zen Business is the only one listed that’s a public benefit corporation. It also has one of the best customer service track records.
ZenBusiness offers everything that’s needed to file a new LLC in New Jersey, plus some more:
ZenBusiness’s a la carte options aren’t a very good value, but their packages offer excellent value.
The Starter is perhaps the most inclusive free LLC filing service. It comes with business name search, registered agent service, and next-day processing for your LLC. You’ll pay for some of these services if you renew after the initial year. It’s unfortunate that email and phone support aren’t included, but the DIY services will guide you fairly well.
The Pro package costs $199, and adds several helpful services. It’s at this point that an operating agreement, EIN assistance, bylaws and a banking resolution are included. You’ll also get email and phone support should you need assistance.
The Premium package has limited additional usefulness. There are numerous contract templates, but you’ll likely only need one or two. There’s also a domain name and website builder, but the builder is only average. What’s not average is the expensive $349 price tag.
ZenBusiness offers more than most at the free and mid tiers. Either option is worth consideration if you just need help creating an LLC, and maybe want some foundational business documents. The Premium package is over-priced for most.
Bizee provides a range of services, but the vast majority are related to LLC formation. Don’t be fooled by the multiple customer service options — reviews don’t rave about support.
You can get your LLC set up well with Bizee’s services. They include:
Bizee’s Silver Plan is why it makes this list of the best LLC formation services. The plan is free (plus state fee) for the first year. In addition to LLC formation with next-day processing, it includes one year of registered agent services. You’ll need to pay in the second year.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find something better than free LLC formation and free registered agent services for a year, though.
The Gold Plan adds an operating agreement, banking solution, and EIN assistance. This is a better value than most mid tiers, but not quite as good as free.
The Platinum Plan costs $299, and is usually not that much more helpful. You’ll likely only need one or two of the many contract templates, and the website services aren’t the best.
If you want to create an LLC for free and have a free year of registered agent services, strongly consider Bizee. You’ll get what you need, while saving money as you initially start your business.
Each of the steps required to start an LLC in New Jersey is something you can do yourself, although it can be time-consuming to sort through each on your own. Using an LLC service guides you through the entire process, making it much faster and easier to create a New Jersey LLC.
Any of these LLC formation services can help you set up an LLC in New Jersey. Consider giving all of them a look; they offer both free options and comprehensive packages that include branding services that can make the process of starting a business a bit easier.
This portion of our website is for informational purposes only. Tailor Brands is not a law firm, and none of the information on this website constitutes or is intended to convey legal advice. All statements, opinions, recommendations, and conclusions are solely the expression of the author and provided on an as-is basis. Accordingly, Tailor Brands is not responsible for the information and/or its accuracy or completeness. It also does not indicate any affiliation between Tailor Brands and any other brands, services or logos.
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