When starting a business, you have a lot of decisions to make, from naming your company to hiring your first employee. Before that, you have to list an address on your business' incorporation documents. States require an actual physical address when you register your business with the secretary of state in your state.
That may seem easy if you're opening a brick-and-mortar storefront, but startups and remote businesses without a physical street address might have a tougher time deciding what address to use.
When registering a business, you'll need to use a physical address and not a box at the local post office. Whether you decide to establish your business as a sole proprietorship, a C corporation, or an LLC, you'll need to decide what business address to use to register your business.
What address do you use when registering your business if you don't have a physical office?
It may seem like the easiest solution to this is to use your home address or rent a USPS P.O. Box for your registered agent address. However, using your residential address could pose many security problems (business addresses are public information), and most states do not allow P.O. boxes as business addresses on legal paperwork.
Fortunately, there are a few strong options available to you outside of a P.O. Box for how to reliably get your business mail delivered. Before you get to those, however, you'll need to choose what's known as a "registered agent."
What is a registered agent?
Small business owners who have an LLC, or limited liability company will need to designate a registered agent for the business, also known as a statutory agent or agent for service of process. This is someone the business designates to receive mail on behalf of the business. Not only will this person be responsible for receiving mail and, in certain cases, getting it to the right people in the company, but they'll also need to make sure that they have a secure mailbox. With mail theft an ongoing issue in many cities, taking time in advance to choose the right registered agent can make all of the difference.
In many cases, the company's owner or a person in senior leadership serves as the registered agent. All official notices, government correspondence, and compliance-related documents go to the registered agent, either through their real street address or a virtual address.
Registered agents need to meet specific requirements. These vary by state but sometimes require them to live in the state where your business operates and have a physical address to receive important documents. This means you can't use a P.O. Box.
Some common requirements for registered agents are:
Physical presence
Any registered agent selected by a business must maintain a physical address within the state where the business is registered. This is largely because the registered agent will need to be available for state agents to deliver important legal documents, such as lawsuits or subpoenas, in person.
Availability
Typically, a registered business agent will need to make themselves available at the physical address during registered business hours (usually 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
Responsibility
Once they've received business mail, a registered agent is responsible for forwarding that mail to the right individuals or department—and doing so in a timely manner. Not only is this good for productivity and timelines, but it also ensures that the business can respond to legal actions or notices before deadlines expire.
Compliance
In addition to their normal duties, a registered agent is often responsible for keeping the business in good standing with state regulations, including business licenses, annual tax reports, and any renewable permits the business maintains. While some agencies have begun moving to web portals and email for these, many are still only accepted by state and federal governments when sent via mail.
Confidentiality
While confidentiality isn't technically a legal requirement, it's an essential requirement from the business side of things to ensure that your registered agent keeps important mail confidential and away from prying eyes.
What address should you use to register your business when you don't want to use your home address and can't use a P.O. Box?
Although you aren't allowed to register your business with a P.O. Box, you can use a virtual address. With all of the stress that already goes into starting a business, you don't want to go through the hassle of having your state reject the paperwork you file for your business over something as small as a mailing address.
When you use a virtual address for your business, you not only meet legal paperwork requirements, but you also keep your residential address private, grant your business more credibility, and may even streamline the way your business handles mail.
What is a virtual mailbox?
A virtual address gives you an actual street address without spending money on office rent, which is often one of the most expensive pieces of overhead a business will encounter. It will also keep your home address private and your personal life separate, not only maintaining your security but also setting healthy boundaries for the sake of work-life balance. Finally, a virtual mailbox ensures that you don't risk missing important business mail if you move houses.
Still, there are some important factors to consider when choosing a virtual mailbox service.
Where is your virtual mailbox located?
Even though the service may be virtual in some senses, it still needs to receive mail at a physical location for processing and delivery. This means that someone from your business will need to regularly collect mail and distribute it to the right people within the company.
While outsourcing your mailroom this way may improve your overall quality of life, make sure to take the physical location of your virtual mailbox into consideration when choosing between options.
How secure is your virtual mailbox?
Security is everything when running a business—especially when it comes to your mail. Whether it's receiving materials and parts from suppliers or notices and subpoenas from the government, you need to know that your mail will get to you in a safe and timely manner.
Not only does this mean that a virtual mailbox will need a secure physical location to protect your actual mail, it also means that the service should have a secure, well-built website with the appropriate protections and encryption in place to protect your data.
What kind of services does your virtual mailbox offer?
In their most basic forms, virtual mailboxes simply accept and store your mail to be picked up by you or one of your employees later. With more premium services or membership tiers, you may also be offered mail shredding, limited storage, mail digitization, and more. Always compare multiple virtual mailbox services to make sure you're getting the best deal for your business.
How much does a virtual mailbox or virtual business address cost?
Since the vast majority of virtual mailboxes and business addresses are run by third-party companies, they typically come with a monthly fee. For the simplest virtual services, this can be as little as $10 per month, but more premium services with extra features, such as mail shredding, package handling and storage, and dedicated customer service lines, can cost $65 or more per month.
Add-ons, like opening envelopes, can cost an additional fee per envelope opened, so businesses with a large amount of mail will need to weigh these costs against the convenience of having someone else handle and sort your mail.
Additionally, many virtual mailbox services ask for at least a one-year contract, so keep that in mind before opting for a virtual business address.
Using a virtual address when your business has physical office space
If your business has an office or location, you may want to use the physical business address as the mailing address on your paperwork. However, a virtual address could still benefit you by digitizing your mail, outsourcing your mailroom, and automatically depositing checks.
Plus, if you ever move your office, you will need to refile your registered agent address with your secretary of state. With a virtual business address, you can carry over mail delivery regardless of how many times you move the physical address of your business.
In some cases, using both your physical address and the virtual business address may be ideal. That way, you can have paper mail delivered to and sorted by your virtual mailbox service while having packages or other shipments brought directly to your actual business address.
Can you use a virtual address for a registered agent?
This depends on where you live. Each state creates its own rules about registered agents. In most states, you or another individual from your company can act as the registered agent as long as you live within the state. However, someone would need to be present at that address during working hours to sign important documents, and the registered agent's address is made publicly available on the Secretary of State's website.
Do all states require my business to have an in-state address?
States such as Alabama, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Oregon require your LLC business address to be located within their state's borders. In these cases, you can use a virtual business address to register your business in those states without actually living there. Only a few states allow you to use a post office box as your business address. New York and Montana are two states that allow the use of P.O. boxes on these forms.
Are there still benefits to maintaining post office boxes?
Even though you typically aren't allowed to use a P.O. Box to register your business, this service can still offer several benefits depending on the type of business you run, such as:
Routine mail delivery
To start, a business is well within its rights to use a P.O. Box for routine mail delivery. Even if a business has a physical address, having important mail delivered to a secure P.O. Box (such as high-value items or legal and government documents) can dramatically reduce the risk of theft.
Credibility
Those running a business out of their home might enjoy the formality or credibility that a P.O. Box provides on business cards, social media, or advertisements.
Affordability
Monthly prices for a secured P.O. Box vary depending on the size of the box needed, but even the most expensive option is still relatively affordable for the average business. These rates range between $4.83 per month for the smallest P.O. Box to $24 per month for the USPS' largest P.O. Box.
Open communication
Finally, a P.O. Box can be an excellent solution for small business owners with a handful of partners. Rather than having shared mail delivered to only the registered agent's address, directing it to your P.O. Box can maintain equality between partners and make sure everyone sees what they need to see.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if a registered agent loses or misplaces business mail?
In the unfortunate circumstance that your chosen registered agent loses mail, your business may face a number of issues—including potential legal issues. For example, misplacing a notice to renew the business license may lead to forgotten deadlines and, in the worst cases, the business license lapsing entirely.
Why shouldn't you use your home address for your business?
Many small businesses decide to use the owner's home address for mail delivery, especially when that business is also run from home. While this is often the simplest solution for registering a business, it may open you up to security or safety issues.
Also, some residential addresses are less reliable than other options, such as P.O. boxes or secured mailing services. If you've ever dealt with mail theft in your area, having important mail sent to your home may be an unacceptable risk.
Why do you need a legal business address?
Most importantly, a registered business address allows the state and federal government to send you important legal documents, such as notices, subpoenas, or requests for information. Beyond that, banking, loans, and legal proceedings all typically require a valid business address.
When do you have to notify the government of a changed business address?
As with all legal requirements, it's best to notify your state government as quickly as possible about any change of your business address. Not only does this keep you compliant with regulations, but it also ensures that you won't miss important documents that would otherwise be sent to an old address.
Are there limited P.O. boxes at the post office?
Although rare, post offices in densely populated cities may sometimes run out of available P.O. boxes. In these circumstances, you'll almost always be given the option to be put on a waiting list for the next available box, either when someone ends the service or a box is labeled "abandoned."
