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One of the first decisions that potential business owners must confront is how their business should be structured and operated. This crucial decision must be made even before the business has actually begun operations. The legal documents that will generally accompany the formation of a business can follow many different patterns, depending on the particular [...]

A sole proprietorship is both the simplest and the most prevalent form of business organization. An important reason for this is that it is the least regulated of all types of business structures. Technically, the sole proprietorship is the traditional unincorporated one-person business. For legal and tax purposes, the business is the owner. It has [...]

A partnership is a relationship existing between two or more persons who join together to carry on a trade or business. Each partner contributes money, property, labor, and/or skill to the partnership and, in return, expects to share in the profits or losses of the business. A partnership is usually based on a partnership agreement [...]

The limited liability company is a hybrid type of business structure. It contains elements of both a traditional partnership and a corporation. The limited liability company form of business structure is relatively new. Only in the last few years has it become available as a form of business in all 50 states and Washington D.C. [...]

A corporation is a creation of law. It is governed by the laws of the state where it was incorporated and of the state or states in which it does business. In recent years it has become the business structure of choice for many small businesses. Corporations are, generally, a more complex form of business [...]

The shareholders are the persons or other business entities who actually own the corporation. The corporation ownership is divided into shares of stock in the corporation. Each share may be sold to shareholders who are then issued a stock certificate that represents their ownership of a percentage of the corporation, represented by numbers of shares [...]

As explained in our article on Shareholders, the directors are elected by the shareholders at their annual meetings. Please note, however, that in the forms available on our site, the initial board of directors is specified in the Articles of Incorporation which are prepared and filed with the state. This listing of the directors is [...]

To the officers of a corporation fall the responsibilities of running the business. Their powers, however, are dictated solely by the board of directors. Officers can be given very broad powers to transact virtually all business for the corporation, or they can be tightly limited in their authority. A single shareholder can act as both [...]

There are numerous advantages to operating a business as a sole proprietorship, but there are also pitfalls. By understanding the actual operation of a sole proprietorship and the framework of laws within which sole proprietorships operate, it is easier to avoid the difficulties that come with the sole proprietorship form of business.
Sole proprietorships are the [...]

An S-Corporation is a type of corporation that is recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and is treated differently than other corporations in terms of Federal taxation. Some states also recognize S-corporation status for state income taxation purposes; some states do not. The only reason for becoming an S-corporation is to obtain a different [...]