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 sums at $27
Same room, same chair, same pile of envelopes. Only the price moved, and not by much.
| Line | Figure | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Price per company per year | $27 | Mid Registered Agent |
| Companies needed just to cover the office | 2,478 | $66,900 divided by $27 |
| Left per company per day to absorb a missed process server | $0.074 | $27 divided by 365, and only once the office is covered |
What we let go of
The figure above does not add up. So we let go of the parts that cost something, roughly in the order they cost it, or whatever.
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: $6.75 for the first ninety days of your year, and after that, since you paid once, zero.
The promise
Already gone. See the homepage.
Under the number of companies that pays for the room there is no margin. Over it, whatever is left per company per day is the whole cushion against one missed process server. It is printed above. It is not a large cushion at the published price. At ours it is a bit thinner and about as warm.