Types of Business Entities

When beginning a business, you must decide what form of business entity to establish. Your form of business determines which income tax return form you have to file. The most common forms of business are the sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and S corporation.

A general partnership, the basic form of partnership under common law, is in most countries an association of persons or an unincorporated company with the following major features: Must be created by agreement, proof of existence and estoppel.

The L3C is a hybrid entity taking on the flexible characteristics of an LLC in combination with a low-profit socially beneficial objective. There is considerable controversy on their usefulness and whether or not they will endure or be used as an alternative way to achieve social progress.

For many small business owners, a Limited Liability Company (LLC) offers advantages over a c corporation (also known as a "general" corporation). Creating an LLC combines the tax advantages of a sole proprietorship or partnership with the liability protection of a corporation.

A limited liability limited partnership, or LLLP, is a limited partnership that gives the general partners the same kind of liability protection as those in a limited liability partnership. Who Forms Limited Liability Limited Partnerships? The limited liability limited partnership is not a common form of business entity.

Basically, the liability is limited in the sense that you will lose assets in the partnership, but not those outside of it (your personal assets). The partnership is the first target for any suit, although a specific partner could be liable if he or she personally did something wrong.

A manufacturing business is any business that uses components, parts or raw materials to make a finished good. These finished goods can be sold directly to consumers or to other manufacturing businesses that use them for making a different product.

The main difference between a merchandising company and a service industry company is that the merchandising company must stock inventory. Merchandising Businesses. A merchandise business sells merchandise. Good examples of merchandising businesses include retail clothing, grocery stores and bookstores.

Life Cycle of a Business League (Trade Association) Links to helpful information about points of intersection between business leagues and the IRS, including access to explanatory information and forms that an organization may need to file with the IRS.

Entity services are also known as entity-centric business services or business entity services. Task Services A business service with a functional boundary directly associated with a specific parent business task or process is based on the task service model (Figure 3.19).

When beginning a business, you must decide what form of business entity to establish. Your form of business determines which income tax return form you have to file. The most common forms of business are the sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and S corporation.