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Business Structures

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Submitted By Encarni
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Business Structures
Encarni Gallardo
FIN/571
11/09/2015
Arnold Harvey

Introduction
How a company organizes itself in order to conduct business is called business structure (Parrino, Kidwell & Bates, 2012). The size of the company, the type of business, the financial risks, the type of liability, the amount of man power needed among other factors play an important part in the choosing of a business structure that can be more efficient and more beneficial for the company and sometimes the consumer.
Sole Proprietorship A one owner company, sole proprietorship might be the easiest business structure to set up but the one that is riskier since the owner is responsible for all the debt and any other financial risks the business might acquired. This is ideal for a low risk business, with little need for control and that is not affected easily by the trends in the economy.
Partnerships
Also low risk and appealing to small business, individuals enter in partnerships when there is more than one owner. The owners enter into a legal contract that explains the roles, rights and obligations of each individual. In a general partnership, all partners are equally responsible for the debt and obligations of the company regardless of their initial investment. In order to address this issue if this is a concern to the partners, the individuals can enter into a limited liability partnership. This type of partnership holds the partners liable to the total amount of their initial investment. As Parrino, Kidwell and Bates (2012) explain “To qualify for limited partner status, a partner cannot be actively engaged in managing the business” (pg. 7).
Corporations
A corporation is a business structure different from the ones mentioned above since it acts as an independent legal entity and provides shelter to the owners since it has power to engage in many activities at the

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