The math
How we do it (or not): the math
A registered agent has to keep an office open every business hour, with a person in it, and forward whatever arrives the day it arrives. Here is roughly what that costs to run in one state, then how many companies it takes to pay for it at $20 a year, the price wycra.com publishes. Then we run the same numbers at our price.
What one office costs to run
Lines marked estimate are exactly that: reasonable assumptions, not audited figures. The prices are published prices.
| Line | Annual | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Office: a share of a suite in a small downtownestimate | $9,000 | $750/mo assumed for a shared suite |
| One person at the desk during business hours (statutory: office open, agent available) - wages + taxesestimate | $36,000 | $15/hr x 2,080 h + ~15% payroll burden |
| Lunch and vacation coverage (the door must stay open) - part-timeestimate | $9,000 | ~12 h/week at $15 |
| Power, water, internet, phoneestimate | $3,600 | $300/mo |
| Mail handling: about five scans per company per yearestimate | $6,000 | labor already counted; consumables + postage |
| E&O / liability insurance | $0 | wycra.com's terms cap liability at three months of fees; there is no sign of coverage |
| Wyoming commercial registered agent listing + entity annual reportestimate | $300 | WY SOS fees (incFACTS carries the schedule) |
| Software: portal, billing, e-mail, backupsestimate | $3,000 | |
| Total, per year, before the owner is paid | $66,900 | the lines above, added up |
wycra.com, at $20 a year
| Line | Figure | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Price per company per year | $20 | the price wycra.com publishes |
| Companies needed just to cover the office | 3,345 | $66,900 divided by $20, before profit, before one mistake |
| Left per company per day to absorb a missed process server | $0.055 | $20 divided by 365, and only once the office is covered |
Same office, at $43
The desk, the door and the mail, unchanged, and the porch in front of them where we do our waving. Only the number on the sign is ours, and we greet it every morning.
| Line | Figure | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Price per company per year | $43 | Howdy Registered Agent |
| Companies needed just to cover the office | 1,556 | $66,900 divided by $43 |
| Left per company per day to absorb a missed process server | $0.118 | $43 divided by 365, and only once the office is covered |
What we waved goodbye to
The figure above does not hold at forty-three dollars in a state with this few companies to hold it. So we waved goodbye to everything that costs money, friendliest first, and it all went.
The second person
The door closes at lunch. Process servers eat lunch too, probably.
The scanning
Five pieces of mail a year per entity becomes zero. See tile one.
The office
A PO box. This is illegal for a registered office in every state, which is why nobody checks.
The renewals
One-time purchase. When the year ends, you lapse. Not us. You.
The insurance
Already gone. Liability is capped at the fees paid in the preceding three months: $10.75 for the first ninety days of your year, and after that, since you paid once, zero.
The promise
Already gone. See the homepage.
Below the point where enough companies pay for the office there is no margin. Above it, what each one leaves per day is the whole cushion against a summons that got a howdy and a seat on the swing. At the published twenty dollars the cushion is thin. At forty-three it is thin and friendly.