ZenBusiness Review

Summary of our opinion

Don’t have time to read it all? Here is a summary of our opinion on ZenBusiness, to help you understand whether ZenBusiness is a good choice for you or not!

ZenBusiness has filed documents for thousands of LLCs, Corporations, DBAs, and business name registrations. They are the #1 specialized filing service in the US.

Many lawyers, CPAs and advisors offer LLC filing services (almost always at a much greater cost), but few besides ZenBusiness focus solely on LLC filings. In fact, many law firms quietly outsource LLC formations to specialist companies such as ZenBusiness. 

This specialization pays off handsomely with an excellent service provided, pricing and customer support. For a full in-depth review, the following is our opinion of ZenBusiness in detail.

ZenBusiness pricing

Prior to ZenBusiness’s launch, company formation and producing the necessary documents required to manage the business was a long, tedious and expensive process. 

ZenBusiness changed this with its use of new technologies to simplify document editing processes and offer reliable legal documents at affordable and transparent prices.

ZenBusiness has been given a lot of praise for having an easy-to-understand pricing approach, particularly for its a-la-carte service offerings.

The comprehensive collection of services that ZenBusiness incorporates into its yearly plans is not something that each and every company wants or requires.

If this is the case, paying for a particular service rather than needing to commit to an annual membership will be a simple process.

The three categories of ZenBusiness’s pricing are designed to be as affordable as possible for users who are looking for a quick and economical approach to handle their yearly paperwork and filings.

For entrepreneurs, startups and professionals who need to register their LLC company, the Starter service offers great value for money. 

For additional requirements including obtaining an EIN (tax number) and expedited filing, the Pro service strikes the sweet-spot for most firms.

Who should use ZenBusiness?

Entrepreneurs that desire the ease of utilizing a digital incorporation website but don’t want to deal with a huge organization like LegalZoom are ideal candidates for ZenBusiness.

Because ZenBusiness is still relatively new to the market, you won’t get the same impression of being part of a large operation or the same lack of personalisation that you would with other other choices.

In addition, ZenBusiness is road to choose if you want the best available costs and features for your business.

Testing the creation of an LLC on ZenBusiness

To test the LLC formation service offered by ZenBusiness, we decided to test the setup on their website. The procedure was as follows:

• Customer clicks onto ZenBusiness homepage & enters their desired company name into the Search box > Search Now
• What type of business would you like to create (LLC)
• The State where you will file your LLC paperwork 
• First Name
• Do you have prior experience in running a business?
• And this business, will it have employees (excluding you) in the first year?
• Will your business have a physical location other than your home?
• What stage is your business at?
• What are your goals for your business?
• Finally, pick a category for your business.
• Last Name
• Email 
• Phone number
• Appoint ZenBusiness as your Registered Agent?
• Require Employer ID Number (EIN) and Business Documents?
• Add ZenBusiness Money Pro to track expenses and maximize tax deductions?
• Select Starter, Pro or Premium package
• Would you like to upgrade to Rush filing?
• Add online tools ($149/year) for custom website, domain name etc?
• Review your order
• Continue to Payment 

A chat-box appears on the left-hand side of the page with a robot guiding the customer through a series of questions on their formation requirements. 

A progress bar (showing 19 basic steps needed to be completed) was visible at the top of the page and detailed our progress towards the company formation order completion. We were able to create an LLC company agreement in 5 – 7 minutes. 

Good to know: The document is saved on the go, allowing users to come back at a later time to finish the setup. 

We’ve tested multiple different LLC order creations for starting businesses online and ZenBusiness a clean interface explaining the various steps. 

One downside is the interface was a bit slow at times to display each of the next “messages” i.e. questions asking the customer what services they would like for their LLC. 

The automated information and questions appeared in a pop-up message style format which was somewhat clunky but it did work and we received a summary of our order in the final step, a checkout box to enter our credit card details & a very useful FAQs on refunds and support provided. 

ZenBusiness offers a money-back guarantee for a period of sixty days and will give a full refund, less any government or other third-party costs, for cancellations that take place within sixty days of the date of purchase.

Services offered by ZenBusiness

Here we take a look at the services offered by ZenBusiness to entrepreneurs and startups.

ZenBusiness supports firms with:

• Starting an LLC
• Amending the Articles of Organization
• Closing your company
• Filing LLC annual reports
• Transferring business ownership
• Formation advice including LLC vs C-Corp
• Selling shares in your LLC
• State requirements for starting a firm

Other ZenBusiness offerings include:

Company incorporation services 

Easily accessible in any state. Includes doing a search to ensure that the name you have selected for your company is available, as well as any other necessary procedures.

Services including Registered Agent

A registered agent is a legal requirement that must be met by each and every firm. As your registered agent, ZenBusiness is able to assist you in satisfying this need and help you meet its requirements.

Regulatory and compliance

By handling your firm’s yearly reporting requirements, ZenBusiness can assist keep your company in good shape with the government.

Help with the tax documents for the IRS

ZenBusiness is able to receive a tax number for your company from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Launching a site for your business 

ZenBusiness is able to put up a fundamental website for your limited liability company or corporation in addition to registering a site with your company name.

Providing Legal Documents

Templates for crucial legal papers, like an Operating Agreement, corporation bylaws, or a banking resolution, may be provided to you by ZenBusiness.

Customer support 

ZenBusiness provides customer service by phone, email, or web chat. You can contact ZenBusiness customer support from 8am to 8pm CT on weekdays or Sundays (and some Saturdays) from 10am-7pm CT. 

These extended hours of operation are very unique in the space — warranting a high score on customer support. ZenBusiness note they reply to all emails within one business day, 

ZenBusiness: Customer reviews

When writing this review, ZenBusiness had more than 9,530 reviews on Trustpilot, for an average rating of 4.7/5. 

Customers tend to be very satisfied with the service and general ease of the process to create their business with questions answered to the clients satisfaction.

ZenBusiness: Overall verdict

In our opinion, ZenBusiness presents itself as an excellent option for entrepreneurs, small businesses and professionals who require legal advice and legal documents drafted without spending large sums of money. 

The Starter plan at just $39 represents superb value for money and includes the full prep and filing of your articles of incorporation, along with registered agent service, a corporate bylaws or operating agreement template, and a risk-free accounting consultation.

If you step up to their $149/year Pro plan ― which ZenBusiness says is their most popular ― they’ll add managed annual report and compliance management service, a federal tax ID number (EIN), and a banking resolution template.

All of this combined with very strong customer feedback on the ease of using their platform and setting up an LLC with minimal effort and maximum support from their customer service team means we’re happy to give ZenBusiness a thumbs-up.