preview

Explain The Three Major Forms Of Business Ownership

Decent Essays

1. A business should begin with a vision or mission statement that is consistent with the planned overall strategy. The mission statement is a statement of a firm’s main reason for existing and is sometimes called a vision statement. The vision or mission statement should identify what the firm wants to produce, distribute, sell or identify what services it wants to perform.

3. The three major forms of business ownership in the United States are proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations. Proprietorships, sometimes called sole proprietorships, are business ventures owned by an individual who personally receives all profits and assumes all responsibility for the debts and losses of the business. The owner is in total control and it is …show more content…

4. Owner liability in proprietorships is unlimited. The same is true for general partners in a general partnership and a limited partnership. Limited partners in a limited partnership have limited liabilities. Owners have limited financial liability in a corporation.

5. A subchapter S corporation is a corporation that must have 35 shareholders, none of whom is another corporation. Income from subchapter S corporation flows untaxed to the shareholders. A limited liability company is an organizational form, similar to that of a subchapter S corporation that offers owners limited liability. Its income is taxed only once personal income of the shareholders, and the firm can have an unlimited number of shareholders.

10. The three different accounts that make up the owner’s equity section on a typical balance sheet are preferred equity, common equity, and retained earnings. Preferred equity refers to the number of outstanding shares of preferred stock. Common equity refers to the number of outstanding shares of common stock. The third account is retained earnings, and it shows the accumulated undistributed earnings within the corporation over

Get Access