Starting a business in the Badger State? Forming a limited liability company (LLC) can provide important protections and benefits for small business owners in Wisconsin.
An LLC combines aspects of a corporation and partnership. It offers liability protection like a corporation, so your personal assets are protected from business debts and legal claims. At the same time, profits and losses can pass through the business and be reported on your personal tax return, avoiding corporate double taxation.
While you certainly can do it yourself, using an online LLC formation service to start an LLC in Wisconsin simplifies the entire process start to finish. These services handle all the required paperwork and filings with the state to create your LLC. This frees you up to focus on actually starting and running your business.
In this post we’ll compare five of the top LLC formation services for starting an LLC in Wisconsin.
Disclaimer: the rates and offerings below are subjected to changes made by the service providers.
Best Wisconsin LLC services of 2024
Before diving into the LLC services, let’s look at some of the key benefits of forming an LLC in Wisconsin:
Forming an LLC in Wisconsin involves filing articles of organization and the proper paperwork with the state through the Department of Financial Institutions. You’ll also need to create an Operating Agreement, obtain business licenses, open a bank account, and take care of other start-up logistics.
This is where online LLC formation services come in. They provide streamlined processes to handle all the required filings and documents to get your Wisconsin LLC up and running quickly and smoothly.
Below are five of the top options:
Tailor Brands provides a full suite of online tools and services for starting, managing and growing your small business. This includes streamlined LLC formation plus everything you need to build your brand, website, accounting, legal documents, and more – all in one dashboard.
With Tailor Brands, you can form your Wisconsin LLC in a matter of minutes. Their step-by-step process asks you simple questions to gather the details needed to generate your customized Articles of Organization and submit the proper paperwork to the state.
In addition to simplified LLC filing, Tailor Brands provides help obtaining an EIN, business licenses, permits, business bank account, website, logo, branded templates, legal documents, and all the essentials to launch your Wisconsin LLC.
Ongoing services help you manage finances, filings, legal needs, taxes, trademark protection, marketing, and growth initiatives – from websites to branding and more.
Tailor Brands offers LLC filing services starting at $0 plus state fees, and two additional premium packages:
Tailor Brands simplifies every step of starting and growing your business, all on one streamlined platform. Their optimized online processes, helpful 24/7 customer support, and access to business specialists make the journey hassle-free.
ZenBusiness focuses on providing easy online tools and services for launching and managing an LLC. They cater especially to first-time entrepreneurs and small business owners.
ZenBusiness offers fast digital LLC formation and filings to establish your Wisconsin LLC. You can easily add registered agent service, operating agreement template, EIN application, business email, simple website builder, tax services, business bank account assistance, and business phone plans.
While formation is the core offering, they provide some extras like bookkeeping links, business guides, and add-on services through partners. However, the platform isn’t as robust for comprehensive business management compared to others.
ZenBusiness offers several package options:
ZenBusiness provides a cost-effective foundation for starting your Wisconsin LLC, along with the ability to add more services over time. However, support options are more limited compared to other providers. The platform also lacks more robust tools for managing your LLC after formation.
LegalZoom is one of the first and largest online legal services companies. While best known for individual legal documents, they also provide business formation services including LLCs.
Beyond the core LLC filing services, LegalZoom offers registered agent service, printable operating agreement template, EIN application assistance, tax guidance, and lifetime customer support.
You can add services like comprehensive filing reviews, licenses, trademarks, business contracts, compliance alerts, banking, and legal consultation at an additional cost. However, the formation packages themselves include fairly limited support.
LegalZoom LLC packages start at $79 plus state filing fees for basic LLC formation without a printed operating agreement.
The $359 per year Business Formation plan includes operating agreement templates, EIN assistance, website domain, email and phone support, preferred customer support line, business license compliance monitoring, and discounts on add-on services.
Compared to other top providers, their packages provide limited direct assistance beyond the core filings. Support options are also more restrictive for small business owners.
LegalZoom is a reputable company for legal documents and business filings, but services are fairly limited beyond the initial formation process. Their business formation plans provide more DIY guidance compared to a full-service experience with other providers. However, brand recognition and trust are a plus.
Rocket Lawyer provides a wide range of online legal services, documents and advice for individuals and small businesses. Their subscription plans include LLC formation.
With Rocket Lawyer’s legal plans, you can easily build customized Articles of Organization and Operating Agreement for your Wisconsin LLC online.
Subscriptions also provide unlimited access to hundreds of business contracts, agreements, trademark services, tax advice, and discounts on attorney services. However, they lack some specialized small business tools other services offer.
Rocket Lawyer’s premium legal subscription is $49.99 per month. This includes unlimited access to all their online documents and services, plus 25% off additional attorney services if needed. For predictable costs, it can be a budget-friendly solution.
Rocket Lawyer makes professional legal services simple through online tools and on-demand attorney advice. Their subscription model offers a cost-effective solution for LLC formation and ongoing legal document needs. However, those needing more specialized small business support may want to consider alternatives as well.
Northwest Registered Agent focuses solely on registered agent services and business formation nationwide. They provide streamlined LLC formation services across all states.
Northwest emphasizes no-frills filings for LLC formation and registered agent service. They file all the proper paperwork with your state of choice to create your LLC.
Optional add-ons include operating agreement, EIN, banking resolution, express processing, certificates of good standing, and more. Support is US-based by phone, email and chat.
However, they lack the suite of branded templates, tools and additional services for managing an existing LLC offered by other providers. The focus is compliance filings and customer service.
Northwest offers LLC formation services starting at $225 plus state fees. Bundled packages like the Entrepreneur plan ($399 first year, $125 renewal) include a full year of their registered agent service and some extras.
Compared to other top providers, the upfront pricing is higher for the basics. Ongoing support and services are more limited beyond the compliance filings. However, they do offer guaranteed fast turnaround on filing and excellent customer service.
Northwest Registered Agent provides efficient, no-frills filings to establish your LLC, along with registered agent service taken care of. However, their upfront pricing is higher than some options, while ongoing support services are minimal. They excel at compliance but lack small business tools.
You absolutely can form an LLC yourself in Wisconsin. The state provides all the steps, forms, and filing requirements to complete the process on your own. The direct state fees are also lower overall than using a paid formation service.
However, there are some downsides to DIY LLC formation:
While DIY formation is definitely an option, online LLC services offer huge time savings and provide invaluable expertise to make sure everything is done quickly and correctly the first time. For most business owners, this high-quality assistance is well worth the affordable fee.
Forming an LLC provides valuable protections and benefits for small business owners in Wisconsin. But handling all the legal filings and paperwork yourself has drawbacks. This is where using an online LLC formation service shines.
Top providers like Tailor Brands, ZenBusiness, LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer, and Northwest Registered Agent can streamline LLC filing with no hassle on your end. Each offers different pricing, features, support options and additional services to consider as you select the right solution for starting your Wisconsin LLC.
Take time to research these leading LLC formation services for Wisconsin. This will set your new business up for success from square one!
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.
Terry is a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience building businesses across multiple industries – construction, real estate, e-commerce, hotelier, and now digital media. When not working, Terry likes to kick back and relax with family, explore Taoism’s mysteries, or savor the taste of fine Italian red wine.
Products
Resources
@2024 Copyright Tailor Brands