Forms of Business Ownership

Corporations are legal entities which issue stock to investors who purchase them and become shareholders of the company. The risk taken by investors is that when they buy stocks it is possible that the individual company will not do

SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP: Sole proprietorships are the most common form of business in the United States. You and your business are one in the same. While being your own boss as its advantages, like working your own hours and collecting all profits made by the business, there are some disadvantages. For starters is coming up with starting working capital. Most Sole Proprietors have to seek funds from other sources.

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 partnership is the creation of two or more people who operate a business as co-owners and share profits. There is a collective amount of money that is contributed to the organization as it pertains to all aspect of the business and in return each individual share equally the profits and losses of the business. Partnerships require that there be a partnership agreement established because more than one person can make decisions for the partnership. The agreement should include how future business decisions will be made, the profits will be split among the partners, and the dissolving of the partnership (sba.gov). The partnership must file an annual information return that reports income, deductions, gains, and losses that occur from normal business operations. The business does not pay income taxes but the business pass through any profits and losses to its partners. Taxes that are included in a partnership are: employment tax, excise tax, annual return of income, income tax, self-employment tax, and estimated tax. Other qualifications of a partnership is that partners must furnish a copy of their Schedule K-1 form to all the partners by the date of the Form. It is important to remember that partners are not employees and they are not to be issued a W-2 Form.

The corporation and stockholders have the tax burden in a corporation. In whole, from the owners’ point of view, it is more sensible to form a corporation that has a little more flexibility and less liability versus a partnership or sole proprietorship.

There are two main types of ownerships: sole trader ship and partnerships. Some may say that the only difference in the two are that the business is either ran by one single person or by two or more people, but in reality there is a big difference. For example, a sole trader ships could be a business like a market stalls, hairdressers or corner shops; partnerships could be a business like a solicitors firms and accounting firms. Also, while deciding which ownership is right for the business you have to look at the over view of what type of business you’re getting into. Sole trader ships only financial income is from the business and/or bank loans (types of business structures). Partnerships can receive larger

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

Describe the basic features that distinguish the four basic forms of business ownership: sole proprietorships, general partnerships, C corporations, and limited liability companies.

Another business structure to establish is Limited Partnership, which is similar to the partnership with a slight difference where it formed with at least one general partner and one limited partner. The general partners have the same obligation as partners in a general partnership; however, limited partners have limited liability to the extent of their contribution. The advantage of this business formation is the limited personal liability for individual partners for the acts of another partner within the organization. It has the same tax consequences as a general partnership. One important positive aspect is management and control aspects of the organization could be divided or separated among partners. It’s shortcoming, a general partner is still personally fully liable for the debts of the business. If the limited partner wants to become active in the business, he/she may assume the personal liability obligation.

A Sole Proprietorship is one owner. The advantages of a sole proprietorship exist in the simplicity of taxes, cost efficiency in the startup process, and complete control of the organization. A sole proprietorship structure is the simplest method of establishing a business, the expenses are low and fewer licensing is required. A sole proprietor is responsible for the final decisions and directions of the business. The taxes are reported through the individual at a much lower rate than any of the other structures. The disadvantages of a sole proprietorship are the personal liability risks and capital; the individual absorbs all legal implications within the

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

Liability – A corporation is a separate legal entity which means all of the liability is responsible to the corporation. Shareholders are very much so somewhat the same as limited partners they can only lose the amount of what they invested into the corporation.

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

There are typically four way to form a business. Sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation (C/SCorp) and limited liability companies are the traditional ways of going into business. A sole proprietorship is not a true business entity because it consists of only one individual operating a business (Jennings, 2015). Any individual can become a sole proprietor, because there are no requirements for formation. Most of your mom and pop stores fall under sole proprietorship. There are advantages associated with owning your business. Sole ownership mean that you are your own boss, you answer to no one. Benefits like tax deductions and the right to claim a oss against your business during tax season are perks. Disadvantages of sole proprietorship are the owner assumes all risk financially and is liable for all credit and loan on

Partnership- a partnership is a company run by a couple of people. This means a minimum of 2 people owning the business, max of 20. This is usually achieved when a business is so big it needs more than one person to run. You can have professional partnerships which are lawyers and accountants that can go up to 100 people. With a partnership it is good because you can have more people to share the work load. You and your partners are able to pay tax on the income obtained through the business. A partnership is able to offer a lot bigger range of information, expertise and experience. Although all of that is great there is the disadvantages. A partnership is not able to to have public capital. The liabilities are endless. A lack of complete control. Shared decisions in the company come down to majority rules.