Types Of Business Structure, Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Llc, And Corporation

partnership is having the addition of outside fund while not losing control of the company. While you have invested as a limited partner, it does not give you any say on how the company should be ran. C-CORPORATION: Corporations are defined as a group of people authorized to act as a single entity which is recognized under state/corporate laws. A corporation is treated like a “person” and has the same rights as you or I except it is not protected by Fifth Amendment rights.

There are three types of business entities: sole proprietorship, partnerships, and corporations. Sole proprietorships are businesses owned by an individual person. They are easy to form, but are not taxed. Instead the individual business owner is taxed on any monies acquired on behalf of the business (Kubasek, 2012. Partnerships are businesses that are owned by more than one individual owners. The big thing about partnerships is that each partner is personally responsible for the acts of the other partners in the business . (Kubasek, 2012 Corporations are businesses owned by multiple people to include shareholders (Kubasek, 2012). They can sue and be sued and are subject to a host of rules and regulations set forth by the government.

A limited liability company protects each partner from personal liability for certain obligations of the company. An important difference from other partnerships is that each partner is liable for the debts and obligations of the partners. With limited liability Company, each state has its own laws governing partners for these vessels. Some states allow only certain professions, such as lawyers and accountants to form LLP. Some states only provide protection from liability for negligence claims, leaving personally responsible for other types of requests partner. For tax purposes, profits are divided equally between the partners and the partnership is not taxed separately.

LIABILITY – There is no separation between the individual and the business. As the owner and operator of a sole proprietorship, all of the profit and loss is the personal responsibility of the business owner creating unlimited liability.

A limited liability company consists of a single owner, or sometimes more than one owner, and are not taxed as separate business entities. All profits and losses pass through the business to those who own the company. Owners must report profits and losses on their personal tax return filing as a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. If the LLC is ran by a single owner, they file a 1040 Schedule C form as a sole proprietor. Partners file a 1065 form consisting of a partnership, and a form 1120 is filed if the LLC is filing as a corporation. The LLC must be registered such as the State Corporation Commission, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, or the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. The great thing about an LLC is that the owner has freedom in management. The owner is able to run the organization as they see fit not answering to anyone,

Limited Liability Company (LLC) combines the tax advantages of a partnership with the limited liability aspects of a corporation. LLC’s are governed by the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (ULLCA). All members of the LLC enjoy limited liability unless there is serious misconduct is committed by said member(s), or a member fails to follow through on an obligation. All this should be outlined in your preformation contract. You will have more flexibility with taxation and options on how to manage the company. It would be advisable to also have an Operating Agreement. This will dictate how management will be hired and fired, division of profits, how to transfer interest in the event a member chooses to opt out or dies. What steps to take in the event of dissociation of a partner, and if it causes the dissolution of the LLC. Most importantly how the members vote in the LLC. The weight of the members vote is in accordance with the member’s capital

The last of the four types includes the limited liability company, also known as a LLC. An LLC is an unincorporated form of business that carries characteristics of all of the other three forms of business. An LLC can choose to be taxed as a partnership, the owners can manage the business, and the owners have limited liability for debts and obligations of the partnership. LLC’s are

* Limited Liability - Unlike partnerships and sole proprietorships, corporate shareholders are not liable for any of the corporation's debts.

The last business option that will be discussed is the Corporation. A Corporation is “a fictitious legal entity that is created according to statutory requirements” (Cheeseman 478). The biggest advantage of a corporation is the protection of personal assets. Shareholders, directors and officers are typically not liable for the company’s debts and obligations. This is limited to the amount of money they have invested into the corporation. Since the corporation is separate from the owners, transfer of ownership is an easy task. Also corporations are generally taxed at a lower rate than individuals in the United States. A corporation is not as simple to form or maintain as other business formations. Articles of incorporation must be filed with the secretary of state and an organizational meeting must be held to elect a board of directors. A corporation also requires, at the least, an annual report so that creditors that do business with the corporation can determine the creditworthiness of the corporation. Also the corporation is taxed on its profits

A Limited Liability Company (LLC), as the name states, has the ability in keeping your liability limited as a professional owner. This is fundamental in protecting your personal assets by separating them from your business assets. In choosing to run a LLC company, we have agreed that a manager-managed business would be conducive to our field of industry. Although one person will have the authority in overseeing the daily tasks of running the business, all non-managing members will still have an input in all decisions in regards to the enterprise. Contract negotiations and employment are just a few of the joint duties of all members. Running an LLC has many advantages like flexibility, limited liability in business related debts, pass-through taxes, and reliability standing. However, with perks there are always some downfalls, such disadvantages consists of being subjected to self-employment tax or if a member departs the LLC ceases to exist, although an Operating Agreement can reverse this challenge. As you can see, running an LLC has more pros, out weighing the cons of such companies.

After the creation of a business plan, the next step to operating a business is the selection of an appropriate business structure. Different legal forms of business ownerships affect different managerial and financial factors from the business names to the tax obligations (Gregory, n.d.). The most common forms are sole proprietorship, partnership, cooperatives, and corporations. There are different types of corporations in the business world, but the two most general corporation types are S Corporation and Limited Liability Company (LLC) (Ferrell et al., 2013). The sole proprietorship is the easiest and most basic form of business ownership. It is owned and run by one individual, which is the proprietor. The individual is entitled to all profits and is responsible for all the business’s

Similarities to corporations. Like corporations, LLCs are separate legal entities, and as with the shareholders of corporations, the members of LLCs are provided significant asset protection from creditors and other stakeholders (Riles & Whitlock, 2003) by limiting the liability to the amount of the capital contribution (Albert, 2015). This shifts the risk of failure and insolvency from the members to the creditors (Millon, 2007).

Limited liability Company (LLC): Business’ owners are only subject to limited liability for company’s debts and actions. Owners will be only liable for their own mistakes or negligence that they may show in occasions.

Manager’s of an organization has to use structure to help the company run efficiently. “The five types of organizational structures are functional, divisional, matrix, team-based, and virtual network” (Draft, 2013, p.316). Functional structure in an organization that is developed by grouping departments by the skills, level of knowledge, activities done daily, and the resource used. “This structure places specific departments from the bottom to the top” (Draft, 2013, p.318). For example, specific departments such as: human resources, accounting, engineering, and manufacturing are placed at the top, while there are mostly seen at the bottom in other organizations. While common functions such as; people, facilities, and other resources are combined together as a single department instead of being divided into multiple departments.

There are a number of forms of ownership that the business can take. The main forms are sole proprietorship, partnership, Limited Liability Corporation, corporation and S corporation. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these forms that will be discussed in this section. A sole proprietorship essentially has the person as the business. In this situation, the proprietor bears all of the risk involved in the business. Business income flows through to the proprietor's personal taxes. For some individuals there are tax advantages, but for many the appeal of the sole proprietorship is its simplicity. The IRS defines a partnership as a relationship existing between two or more individuals who joint to carry on a business. Partners divide income according to their own agreement and that income flows through to their personal taxes. Partners also have a high level of liability for any legal action that befalls the company.