Ohio statutory agent service for attorneys, accountants, and entity managers

How does an Ohio statutory agent service work for attorneys and CPAs?

Every Ohio LLC must keep a statutory agent in Ohio under ORC 1706.09. For-profit corporations have the same duty under ORC 1701.07, and nonprofit corporations under ORC 1702.06. When you form or advise entities for clients, that requirement lands on your desk again and again. Some firms name themselves. Some leave the founder's home address on the record. Over a few years the result is a client book with agents scattered across offices, homes, and old addresses.

Our statutory agent service puts every client entity at one Ohio street address: 3416 Erhart Road in Litchfield. We file the appointment or agent change, scan what arrives the same business day, and publish it to a portal where you and your client each see what you are supposed to see. The price is $49 per entity per year, whether you bring one entity or hundreds.

This page is for law firms, CPA and bookkeeping firms, business managers, and anyone else who looks after Ohio entities that belong to someone else. It covers how the account is structured, who can see what, how a client book moves over, and what the state forms involved actually do.

Can a law firm or accounting firm be a commercial statutory agent in Ohio?

Yes, if it qualifies. Ohio allows two kinds of statutory agent: a natural person who is an Ohio resident, or an entity with a business address in Ohio that meets the Title XVII requirements to do business here (ORC 1701.07(A), 1706.09(A), 1702.06(A)). A law firm organized as an LLC or professional corporation with an Ohio office fits the second kind. So does an accounting firm. An individual attorney or CPA who lives in Ohio fits the first. Ohio law does not use the phrase "commercial statutory agent." People use it to mean a business that serves as agent for many unrelated entities, which is what we do.

Qualifying is the easy part. The job is the hard part. The address on the record must be a real place of business, not a P.O. box (ORC 1706.09(C)(2)), and someone has to be there to take a summons from a process server during business hours. When the firm moves, the new address has to be filed "forthwith" for every entity that names the firm (ORC 1706.09(E), 1701.07(E)). When the firm wants out, it files a resignation and mails a copy to the client, and its authority ends 30 days after filing (ORC 1706.09(F)).

Many firms decide that receiving process for clients is a liability they would rather hand off, while staying in the loop on everything that arrives. That is the arrangement this service is built around: we are the agent on the record, and your firm gets the documents.

How do you manage multiple Ohio entities from one login?

There are two ways to set it up, and many firms use both.

Your firm holds the entities

Add client entities under your own account. You see every entity on one dashboard, each with its own document history and its own subscription. This suits firms that handle formation and ongoing filings for clients who would rather not log in at all. There is no cap on entities per account.

Your client holds the entity, you get the attorney role

The client keeps the account and adds you as an attorney user. You see the entities and document categories they grant, and nothing else. This suits litigation counsel, outside general counsel, and accountants who need to know when a tax notice arrives but do not run the client's business.

Either way, notifications go to unlimited authorized contacts at no extra charge. A summons on one client's LLC can go to the client owner, the responsible partner, and the paralegal who opens the file, all at the same time.

What can the attorney role see? Per-entity and per-category limits

The portal has three roles: owner, employee, and attorney. Each one can be limited to specific entities and to specific document categories. Anything outside a user's scope shows a permission notice, not a preview, so a user cannot read the first page of a document they were not given.

In practice that lets you match access to the engagement:

• Litigation counsel sees service of process for the one entity in the case.
• The outside CPA sees state and tax correspondence for every entity, and no lawsuits.
• A paralegal sees all categories for the five entities on their docket.
• The client owner sees everything for their own entities.

Two-step sign-in is available for every user and is optional. For anyone with access to service of process across many clients, we suggest turning it on. When an engagement ends, remove the user or narrow their scope.

How does an acknowledgment trail help with malpractice risk?

The question that follows a missed answer date is always the same: when did it arrive, and who knew? Every document we receive carries a timestamped acknowledgment trail. It records when we received it, when it was published, who was notified, and who acknowledged it and when. The trail can be exported when a matter needs it.

Service of process gets extra handling. A summons, complaint, subpoena, or garnishment notifies every authorized contact, and if nobody acknowledges it, it escalates to a phone call. That gives you a record showing the document was received, delivered, and seen, or that we kept trying until someone saw it.

What the trail does not do: we do not give legal advice, and we do not read or calendar deadlines printed in a document. Docketing stays with your firm. The trail answers when and who; your own systems answer what happens next. If your malpractice carrier asks how the firm documents receipt of process for clients, the exported trail is the piece we can supply.

Originals are kept on file too. Service of process is retained for seven years, and state and tax correspondence for three years. You can request the original from any document and have it shipped to your office, the client, or opposing counsel, signature required. There is no handling fee; you pay the carrier's actual charge, shown before you approve.

How do you move a client book to a new Ohio registered agent?

Moving many entities is the same filing done many times, so the work is mostly in the list. Email a CSV or spreadsheet with each entity's legal name and Ohio entity number. Add the current agent and a client contact if you have them. We check every row against the Secretary of State record before anything is set up.

1. We verify each entity's name, number, and status on the state record.
2. We set up each entity in the right account, yours or the client's.
3. Each client receives the appointment consent to e-sign. Nothing is filed until someone authorized to act for the entity signs.
4. After each signature, we prepare and file a Statutory Agent Update (Form 521) for that entity. The state charges $25 per entity to record the change (ORC 111.16(R)(1)), and we confirm that fee before filing.
5. Each entity shows Pending in the portal, then Active when the state record shows us.

What to gather before you send the list

• Each entity's exact legal name and Ohio entity number, from the Secretary of State record.
• The current agent, if you know it, so we can spot entities where your firm is the agent of record.
• A client contact with an email and mobile number, so the consent and notifications reach the right person.
• Which account each entity belongs in, and who at your firm should get which role.

If your firm is the current agent, the change ends your own appointment for that entity once the state records it. If the state record shows an entity as cancelled or not active, we tell you before going further, so you and the client can decide what to do first.

What is Ohio Form 526A, and when is a bulk agent change the right filing?

The Ohio Secretary of State publishes Form 526A, Bulk Agent Name and/or Address Change. It is filed by an agent whose own name or address has changed, to update every entity record that lists that agent in one filing. The fee is $125 plus $3 per updated record (ORC 111.16(R)(2)). A companion form, 526B, standardizes how one agent's name or address appears across records, for $125.

Form 526A does not move entities to a different agent. If your firm has been agent for 40 clients and you are moving across town, 526A updates your address on all 40 at once. If you want those 40 clients to name us instead, each entity needs its own appointment of the new agent, which is the per-entity Form 521 described above.

Which filing fits a particular book of clients can turn on details, so confirm with the Secretary of State or your own counsel if you are unsure.

What happens when a client entity has no statutory agent?

Two things, and both are reasons to keep agent records clean across a client book. First, a plaintiff who cannot find the agent, finds the address outdated, or finds no agent at all can serve the entity through the Secretary of State by filing an affidavit and four copies of the process (ORC 1706.09(H)(2), 1701.07(H)). The Secretary notifies the entity and forwards the papers by certified mail, and service is treated as made at that point. If the client's own address on the record is stale too, the client may not learn about the suit in time.

Second, if an entity fails to keep an agent or update the agent's address, the Secretary of State sends notice, and unless the default is cured within 30 days, the articles or registration are cancelled (ORC 1706.09(L), 1701.07(M)). Reinstatement is available within two years, with a new appointment and a filing fee. Putting every client entity on one current, staffed address removes both problems.

How does billing per entity work for a professional account?

Each entity is its own yearly subscription at $49, paid by card, with its own receipt. That makes it simple to pass the cost through to a client, bill it to a matter, or let the client pay directly. Renewal is yearly at the same price, and an email goes out before each renewal. There are no tiers and no volume pricing to negotiate; it is $49 per entity at any count.

Filings beyond the agent appointment, such as formations, amendments, dissolutions, and certificates of good standing, are flat-fee add-ons with the state fee listed separately. We review each order, confirm the state fee, and email a secure card payment link before we file, so the payer can be the firm or the client.

When a client leaves, cancel that entity alone. Billing ends at the period end. The appointment stays active until a new agent is on the record, and we keep accepting documents for that entity in the meantime. Questions about volume or setup: (877) 908-6122, Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET.