Forms of Business Organization Western Governors University The study of business organization is a study of complexity: as each business is different, each form of business organization is also unique. From a local hot-dog vendor to a trucking company, from a restaurant to a multinational, each business has different legal, moral and ethical concerns, and there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to determine how a business should best be organized. Take the first two businesses, the hot-dog vendor and the trucking company, as an example: assume that each business is operated by a single individual. While one may argue that the proper form of organization for each would be a sole proprietorship, that would not be the …show more content…
Additionally, because the actions of one of the partners are binding on all the others, the entire partnership can prosper or suffer due to the actions of a single member (The Free Dictionary). Also like a sole proprietorship, a general partnership is, as Quick MBA puts it, a “?...tax reporting entity, not a tax paying entity.”? In other words, the partnership is only a method of business organization; it is not a legal entity for tax purposes, and the individual business owners assume tax liability separately. The longevity of a partnership is potentially greater than a sole proprietorship: for example, since there are one or more other partners, the death of one member does not mean the end of the business since their share can be passed along to heirs. Control in a general partnership is shared equally: since there is no one owner, all decisions (and their effects) are shared equally. Profits are divided among the partners: while the liabilities are shared, the profits can sometimes be divided unequally upon agreement. This can affect return on investment: since it is possible to invest in a partnership without being an active member, it is possible to lose money on an investment if the active principals make decisions that affect the business negatively. As with a sole proprietorship, location is not a real concern with a general partnership: since the principals, not the business, are the ones responsible for the tax liability, the
| A general partnership is comprised of a group of two or more individuals who enter into an agreement to start a business. The partners and the business are legally the same. The partners enter into an agreement called the articles of partnership and are typically equally active in the business and the business’s management, unless otherwise stated in the partnership agreement. All profits and losses are shared by the partners in a joint business venture.
In a general partnership there is also the issue of control. Whereas in a sole proprietorship the sole owner has full control in the business, in a general partnership the control is split equally between the partners. This can lead to issues when the partners do not agree on the direction they want to take the company in regards to growth or other
Liability All liabilities are the responsibility of each partner. In the event of litigation, any creditors can go after the personal assets of each partner to recover any debt owed. But since liability is spread out between the owners, one may feel less risk is being taken. 2. Income Taxes General partnership may also benefit from pass-through taxation, meaning the partners are taxed like sole proprietors. Business income is reported on the personal tax filing while business losses can be deducted to reduce personal tax liability. The partnership itself is not subject to federal income tax. However the partnership needs to file an information return utilizing the IRS Form 1065. 3. Longevity or continuity of the organization Once the partnership agreement is fulfilled, the general partnership may dissolve. A buy/sell agreement may be included in the articles of the partnership to allow the
Longevity/Continuity- The partnership would keep operating outside of the limited partner's death, as per usual, however, if a general partner dies, and the agreement hasn't covered the possibility of their death and also agreed that the business will keep running past the death of a general partner, the partnership will immediately dissolve.
This protects the limited partners from the full liability that is shared by the general partners. Income Taxes – The limited partner’s profits are considered personal income and taxed as such. All profits from the limited partnership are considered personal income and taxed at their personal tax rates. Longevity / Continuity – The continuity of the business is not affected by the death or disassociation of a limited partner. An advantage for a limited partner is that the limited partner’s investment takes priority in the general partnership dissolves due to a death or disassociation of one of the general partners.
LONGEVITY/CONTINUITY –If the general partner dies or withdraws then the business is liquidated unless there was a buy/sell agreement stating otherwise. In the event that the limited partner perishes his appoint heir
General Partnership: Occurs when two or more individuals get together to operate a business with the intention of making profit. Each individual is a general partner of the business and all profits and losses are shared between the partners. General partnership agreements can be a written or verbal agreement.
Proprietorships have three advantages: they are easy and inexpensive to form, subject to few regulations, and no corporate income taxes. The disadvantages are difficult to raise capital, unlimited liability and limited life. Partnership are similar to proprietorships in that they can be stablished relatively easily and inexpensively. The partners are generally subject to unlimited personal liability, this makes it difficult for partnerships to raise large amount of capital. Corporation also have unlimited lives, and easy transfer of ownership, limited liability and ease of raising capital to operate larger businesses. The disadvantages are double taxation, the corporation’s earnings are taxed; and then when its after-tax earnings are paid out as dividends, those earnings are taxed again as personal income to the stockholders. Limited liability reduces the risks endure by investors; and other things held constant, the lower the firm’s risk, the higher its
In contrast, if a partner decides to leave the business, the owners will no longer be classified as partnerships and the business will end. When you are set as partnership, the decisions of every shareholder will have to be honoured and if they do not have enough experience, the business could be having troubles. An example of a partnership can be H&M, M&S...
A partnership is a business that has 2 or more people working in it like Starbucks is a business that is in a partnership. The advantages are you have more capita available to you and the company you have combined skills with other workers simple to set up you have tax advantages the disadvantages are unlimited liability you have to share your profit with the other owners you can have conflicts with owners or workers that do not agree partnership ends to death and possible
An entrepreneur who is willing to take risks in the process of being aggressive would be willing to even risk personal wealth and property, which would lead to greater success than entrepreneurs who were not as willing to take such risks.
Because there are no shareholders, the partners receive all the profits. This comes as a major advantage. Also an advantage, general partnerships have simplified taxes. This is the biggest disadvantage this type of business has. The business itself does not pay taxes. Any profits or losses recorded by the business are passed through each partner. Taxes are still filed, but taxes are not charged to the business. The partners must also file tax returns that show their individual shares of the company's profits and losses although partners are not treated as employees. Every business type has a legal liability. For general partnerships, this comes as a disadvantage. Since general partnerships are in part owned by
The forms of business organization that Helena and Francine could form are a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation. First, they could start a sole proprietorship, which is a type of business that one person owns and operates. They could do this type of business if only one of them plans to operate the business, and only one of them plans to be liable for it.
To overcome this problem, the partnership may take on as many Sleeping (or Silent) Partners as they wish - these people will provide finance for the business to use, but will not have any input into how the business is run. In other words, they have purely put the money into the business as an investment. These Sleeping Partners face limited liability for the debts of the partnership. A partnership, just like a sole trader, is an unincorporated business. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a Partnership?
Firstly, even though there are different types of partnership such as general, limited and limited liability partnership. This three different type has its advantages and disadvantages however we will be mainly focused on general partnership. One advantage of the general partnership is raising capital due to the nature of the business the partners will raise capital to start-up the business. Therefore more partners mean more capital can be put to the business, this allows the business to have more potential for growth and profitability. Another advantage is that a partnership is less complicated to form and run than a company they don’t have legal filing requirements, this means they don’t have to file accounts and documents with Companies House.