ROI Calculator: How to Win Friends & Influence People (to Invest in Entity Management Software)
You know the time has come for your organization to level up its approach to entity management. You inherited a slapdash manual process from your predecessor, and it’s led to some less than desirable – and costly – outcomes.
So, when you discovered the process can be automated (on a transparent, user-friendly platform, no less), you were ready to kick your status quo approach to the curb and run into the warm embrace of worry-free entity management…
But then you ran the idea by Jerry in accounting and he “has some questions.” Ugh.
Or maybe you are your organization’s decisionmaker (or Jerry – hi, Jerry) and you need to convince yourself that automated entity management software is a good idea.
Wherever you may be in the decision-making hierarchy, here’s some good news: a handy ROI calculator exists, and it will give you the cold, hard numbers you need to see why investing in Filejet’s entity management software is a no-brainer.
The Costs of Ineffective Entity Management
If you are like most, you are interested – first and foremost – in the bottom line. You want to be shown the money – and the ROI calculator will do just that.
What the calculator will also do, though, is illuminate the other ways poor entity management practices cost your organization.
There are enormous time and opportunity costs associated with mismanaged entities. Every hour an employee wastes tracking down information on a spreadsheet, following up with an RA, or cleaning up a compliance-related mess, is an hour they could spend doing actually valuable (and profitable) work. But they can only do that if entity management grunt work isn’t on their to-do list – and that’s where automation comes in.
The bottom line is this: if your organization works off a spreadsheet or with an unresponsive RA, it’s highly likely that maintaining legal compliance costs you more than it should.
Fines & Fees
Noncompliance is inherently costly.
Individual fines for delinquent entities can cost up to $3,000. While that number may seem manageable on the surface, it is likely only the tip of the iceberg. Late fees and interest can make those fines spiral out of control – and quickly. If entities are eventually dissolved or licenses are revoked, additional money needs to be shelled out to reinstate them.
If your organization is constantly pummeled with fines and fees associated with noncompliance, you are not alone. Nothing about juggling multiple entities in multiple jurisdictions is simple or straightforward.
In fact, Filejet audits show that 66% of onboarded clients have at least one entity that is non-compliant. 66%!
If you are part of that 66% club, it means you are spending money you don’t need to be spending. If compliance is properly handled, you will never have to pay fines or fees. Never. Money spent on noncompliance is 100% avoidable.
Filejet’s entity management software makes fines and fees a thing of the past. By combining automation with concierge-level service, Filejet ensures that clients never fall out of compliance – which means they are never on the hook for pesky penalty payments.
Can your RA do that? Probably not.*
* And you are probably paying them an exorbitant amount of money to manage entities so poorly that you end up getting fined anyway.
Time & Opportunity Costs
Here’s something to chew on: based on extensive experience, Filejet estimates one full-time employee is needed to manage 100 entities. That is a lot of labor – and psychic energy – dedicated to a task that can be automated.*
If you have the employees needed to manage multiple entities in-house (and are happy with them spending their time that way), more power to you!
But, if you are a small- to mid-market organization, you likely don’t have that kind of manpower. If you do, is entity management really what you want them working on? (Or if you are that employee, is this really how you want to spend your time?)
Even if you do think you or your employees are managing just fine, think of the time that needs to be spent following up with third-party vendors, tracking down information from other departments or making sure spreadsheets are accurate when employees turn over. Couldn’t that time be better spent elsewhere?
Automated entity management software allows you to focus on that elsewhere. Just think of what your organization could accomplish in all that free time.
*Let’s be very clear here: entity management software will never replace employees. It simply automates the grunt work that no one wants to do. When rote work is automated, employees are freed up to focus on higher-level work that will help them snag a promotion (and drive revenue for the organization).
Get the Easy Win
No two organizations’ goals are exactly alike, but most strive to save money and streamline processes. We’re talking efficiencies here.
If your organization wants to achieve its goals, good entity management practices aren’t just a “nice to have” – they are nonnegotiable.
Investing in entity management software will eliminate unnecessary costs. If you need more convincing, though, we understand. Just plug your numbers into the ROI calculator to see how much money (and time) you could save.
How to Use the Calculator
Using the ROI calculator is as intuitive as using the Filejet platform itself.
Simply start by entering the number of entities that you believe you have.
(A quick aside here: If you aren’t sure how many entities you have, don’t worry – it’s very common for organizations not to have a full picture of where they stand. In fact, upon onboarding, 44% of new Filejet clients discover entities they were not aware of – we refer to them as orphan or ghost entities. Entities most commonly become orphaned due to poor knowledge transfer during personnel changes.)
Once you’ve entered your entities, it’s time to dig into your administrative costs in the “Do it Yourself” section. Here, you will consider how much a home-grown approach to entity management costs you based on the number of entities you currently have. The total Legal Ops/ Admin Cost is calculated based on Filejet’s belief that one full-time employee is needed to manage 100 entities. Stay with us here, it will matter. If you aren’t sure about your exact numbers, estimate.*
Once you have your total Legal Ops/Admin cost in hand, consider how many additional paralegals your organization wouldn’t need to hire** if the grunt work associated with entity management was automated. NB: “paralegals” in this context covers paralegals and any other legal ops or administrative professional.
Then enter your other entity management-related costs. “3rd Party Entity Compliance Costs” refer to your RA or outside counsel fees.
(Are your eyes starting to widen at the cost? This is point in the calculator where many of Filejet’s prospects begin to realize just how much ineffectual entity management is costing them.)
Once your eyes have returned to their normal size, enter your annual filing costs, the late fees and fines your organization has had to pay for noncompliance, and any other miscellaneous entity management expenses.
Once all of those numbers have been (automatically) crunched, you will have a legitimate estimate of your current entity compliance costs.
Now it’s time to see how much you could save with Filejet.
If you have a Filejet proposal, enter it under Filejet Entity Management Software Cost. If you don’t have a proposal, check out pricing for our plans. Then enter your annual filing costs at the suggested $100 per entity.
You will receive two calculations:
- Total Filejet Entity Management Costs
- Total Savings Using Filejet Entity Management Software
Here are a couple of use cases to refer to as you work through the calculator:
*If you use multiple platforms to handle your entity compliance, registered agent, and transactional services, it can be challenging to gather the billing information needed to evaluate your true costs. The good news? With a single-source-of-truth like Filejet, understanding what you’re paying for gets a whole lot simpler.
**If you are a paralegal reading this, don’t worry, Filejet is not here to replace you (also, we could never do what you do). The platform exists to make your life easier.
Filejet Is Driving Change
With a unique combination of service and software that automates U.S. and international annual report, business registration, and DBA filings, Filejet is the entity management solution you don’t have to think about, unless you want to. The Filejet dashboard provides instant visibility into your entities, fees, filing dates, and documents. Have multiple users? Great – you can assign specific entities to specific users. Want to know more? Check out our new Filejet 3.0 guide.
Whatever can’t be automated will be handled by the Filejet team – who does what it takes to ensure clients never fall out of compliance. After onboarding, fines and wasted time will feel light a long-forgotten dream. See for yourself.
