Part A
The Report
SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP
In the United States, sole proprietorships are the form of business that is most frequently used. The business and the owner itself are one. One advantage of owning a sole proprietorship is that it is very easy to start up. The owner can just start providing a service or a good, and start charging money for them. Second, (autonomy) the owner controls everything and does as he pleases. Another advantage is that all profits belong to the owner and no one else. One disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is that it can only have one owner and cannot be passed on to someone else. This being said, that same owner has unlimited liability for all debts ...view middle of the document...
• Convenience/Burden: A sole proprietorship is not that difficult to form. Burdens of a sole proprietorship are that it only has a limited ability to expand. A sole proprietorship can not issue stocks or bonds. Therefore there are only a couple ways this type of business is financed. One of the ways is to invest profits or to take out bank loan. The owner’s credit will determine his eligibility for such a loan. Even with the help of bank loans a sole proprietorship will still find it to be difficult to obtain sufficient funding.
GENERAL PARTNERSHIP
A general partnership is a business that is made when more than two people join together and agree to share the profits and losses of a business. One advantage of a general partnership is that all of its profits and losses are not just pinned on one person. Management of the business is also equally split between all partners unless otherwise agreed upon. One disadvantage of a general partnership is that if one person dies or withdraws it can be very difficult to estimate the value of that person’s portion of the business. Another con is that each partner is equally liable for the others debts and or bad acts.
• Liability: All partners are liable for any of the businesses acquired debts and losses.
• Income taxes: Like a sole proprietorship, a general partnership must pay income tax on any business income.
• Longevity or continuity: A separate agreement may allow the partnership to continue if a partner withdraws or dies, though in most cases the company will dissolve with the partner.
• Control: All partners equally manage the general partnership, though other agreements can be drawn up in the form of a contract to change this.
• Profit retention: In a general partnership, all profits are shared 50-50 by its partners. This being said, the partners also share all losses equally.
• Location/Expansion: The only documents required to relocate the business are those signed showing that all the partners have agreed to relocate. That being said, taxation for this type of partnership will depend upon the state in which the income was obtained. Also, to allocate its income it must use a Schedule R to report. The move is pretty easy for this type of business. The business from the old state will dissolve eventually.
• Convenience/Burden/compliance: A general partnership is easily formed and its partners are not required to file any sort of partnership agreement with the government. The conveniences are that it is cheap and there is not much paperwork that has to be done in order to register it. Burdens of a general partnership are the same as those of a sole proprietorship. Even though there is more than one person investing it is still hard to get funding.
LIMITED PARTNERSHIP (NOT LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP)
A form of business that has limited partners is a limited partnership. Being a limited partner has a few perks. One being that the limited partner can...
