Refund Policy

This policy is part of our Terms of Service and says the same thing as our guarantee page. The line that matters most is when we submit your filing to the state. Your order page shows that date as soon as it happens.

The short version

• Before we submit to the state: cancel for a full refund of everything you paid, including the state fee, which we haven't paid yet.
• After we submit: the state fee has been paid to the state, and our service fee has been earned. Neither is refundable, except under the guarantee below or if the state refunds its fee.
• State rejects it because of our error: we fix it and refile at no cost to you. If we still can't get it filed, we refund our service fee.
• State rejects it because of the information you gave us: one correction and refiling at no service fee. Any extra fee the state charges is yours.
• Expedited upgrade ($50): refunded if we miss same-day submission for a reason within our control.
• Operating agreement ($79): refunded if you cancel the whole order before we submit, or if the document is defective.

1. Before we submit: full refund of everything

In short: until your filing is submitted to the state, you can cancel and get every dollar back.

The cutoff is submission. "Submitted" means the moment we send your filing to the state: through the state's online system, or, in a state that accepts only paper filings, when we send it by mail or courier. If your cancellation request reaches us before that moment, you get a full refund, even if we were already preparing the filing. It doesn't matter how far along our own work is. The same full refund applies if we can't submit your filing for a reason on our side.

A full refund includes:

• our service fee ($99, or the expedited price);
• the state fee, which we have not paid to the state yet;
• the operating agreement, if you bought it (see Section 5);
• anything else you paid us for that order.

There is no cancellation fee. To cancel, email admin@standardfilings.com with your order number, or reply to any email about your order. When we refund an order, we stop work on it and turn off its document downloads.

2. After we submit

In short: once your filing is at the state, the state fee is the state's and our service fee is earned, except under the guarantee in Section 3.

• State fee. It has been paid to the state, and we can't get it back for you. If the state refunds it (for example, by returning a rejected filing with its fee), we pass on every dollar the state returns.
• Service fee. Our work (preparing and submitting the filing) is done, so the service fee is not refundable, except under the guarantee in Section 3.
• Not grounds for a refund after submission: changing your mind, no longer needing the company, or how long the state takes to process the filing. We never promise the state's processing time.

3. If the state rejects the filing (our guarantee)

In short: if it's our mistake, we fix it free, and if we still can't get it filed, you get our service fee back. If it's the information you gave us, the first fix is free.

3.1 Rejections caused by our error

Our error means a mistake on our side: for example, we entered something differently from what you gave us, used the wrong form, or left out something the state requires that we should have included. We correct the filing and refile it at no cost to you, including any additional fee the state charges to refile. If we still can't get it filed, we refund our service fee. The state fee is handled as in Section 2.

3.2 Rejections caused by the information you gave us

Examples: the name you chose isn't available, the registered agent address you gave isn't accepted, your agent didn't accept the appointment, or other information you gave us was wrong or incomplete. We don't guarantee that a name will be available or that the state will approve a filing; the state decides.

• We tell you what the state needs, and we make one correction and refiling at no service fee. If the problem is the name and you gave us a backup name, we use it, and we email you the name we're filing under before we refile.
• Any additional fee the state charges for the new filing is yours. We tell you the amount and get your OK before paying it.
• If a further correction is needed after that, we tell you what is needed and any cost before doing more work.
• If you decide to cancel instead: if we haven't submitted the filing yet (for example, we found the name unavailable during our own check), Section 1 applies and you get everything back. If we have already submitted it, the service fee is not refunded, and the state fee is handled as in Section 2.

4. Expedited filing ($50 upgrade)

In short: if we miss same-day submission for a reason within our control, you get the $50 back; the rest of the order goes ahead.

An expedited LLC order that is complete by 2 PM Eastern on a business day is submitted to the state that business day; one completed later is submitted the next business day. "Complete" and "business day" are defined in Terms of Service Section 6. The upgrade buys the speed of our submission. It does not buy faster processing by the state, and it does not include any expedite fee the state charges.

If we miss that submission day for a reason within our control, we refund the $50 upgrade, and the rest of the order goes ahead. You don't have to ask, but if you think we missed it, email us. The upgrade is not refunded when the delay comes from:

• waiting on you: a signature or registered agent acceptance the state requires, a correction, or missing information. The same-day rule then applies from the time we receive what we need;
• the state: its filing system is down or not accepting filings;
• a state that accepts only paper filings, where submission depends on mail or courier delivery.

If you cancel the whole order before we submit, the upgrade is refunded with everything else (Section 1).

5. Operating agreement ($79 add-on)

In short: refunded if you cancel the whole order before we submit, or if it's defective. Otherwise it's yours to keep and not refundable.

The operating agreement is a self-help document generated from your answers (not available for California or North Carolina LLCs or addresses). An add-on like this is refundable until it is generated or downloaded. We generate it and email it to you as soon as your payment goes through, so after that it is refundable only:

• as part of cancelling the whole order before we submit (Section 1), in which case we also turn off its download; or
• if it is defective: it doesn't match the information you gave us, it is missing a section our template includes, or the file won't open. We fix it first, and if we can't, we refund the $79.

6. Registered agent service

We don't currently sell registered agent service. If we offer it again, this section will describe its refund terms before it is sold.

7. Other state filings

In short: annual reports, reinstatements and dissolutions follow the same rules: a full refund until we submit, and the guarantee after.

• Queued filings. Some filings can be paid for before the state opens its filing window (for example, an annual report bought in December for a window that opens January 1). Until we file it, you can cancel for a full refund of everything, including the state fee, because nothing has been paid to the state.
• State penalties and past-due fees. Where a state adds its own late penalty, or a reinstatement includes past-due report fees, those amounts are itemized before you pay and treated like any state fee: refundable in full until we submit, and the state's after that.
• If the state charges a different amount than we collected, we refund the difference or ask you to pay it before we file. We never keep the difference.

8. Card disputes and chargebacks

In short: please contact us first; most problems are fixed faster that way. While a payment dispute is open, we pause work on the order.

If something went wrong, email admin@standardfilings.com before disputing the charge with your card issuer. A refund we issue reaches you the same way and is usually faster. If a payment is disputed, or our payment processor flags it for review, we pause work on that order: we don't submit, refile or deliver anything until the dispute or review is resolved, so a disputed order may miss the timelines in our Terms. A dispute doesn't undo a filing the state has already received. None of this limits any right you have with your card issuer.

9. How to ask, and how refunds are paid

In short: email us with your order number; we reply within 1 business day, and approved refunds go back to your card within 2 business days.

Email admin@standardfilings.com with your order number. We reply within 1 business day. Approved refunds go back to the card you paid with and are issued within 2 business days of approval; your bank may take 5 to 10 business days to show them.