Structuring Business to get the Most Corporate Credit

As you begin a new business venture, you have an important decision to make right at the beginning of your venture. Now you probably have already decided what kind of business - and even the name, but the entity structure is the most important. You need to know what type will be the easiest and most valuable for your company. Have you heard the words LLC, C-Corp, and S-Corp? If you answered yes, but dont really understand what they are, then read on.

You can use a number of business structures when creating your company. Each one comes with different benefits and liabilities. Here's an overview:

1. What is a Sole Proprietorship? This is a one-person show where the individual person running the business keeps all the profits. However, they also carry all the responsibility and liability. This is definitely the least desirable form of business structure due to the huge personal risk thats involved for the individual business owner.

2. What is a Partnership? In this structure, two or more people are the owners. They usually put similar amounts of money and/or time into the business and are all responsible for running it. They also incur the debt for the business and can be held personally liable if it were to fail or be sued for the debts.

3. What is a Limited Partnership? In a limited partnership there are at least two partners involved, but they dont necessarily have the same level of responsibility - or authority. One or more of the partners will take part in decision making and the others are silent partners.

4. What is a Limited Liability Company (LLC)? This is the best and most flexible business structure and one of the easiest to set up. Its a good entity for both small and large businesses. It provides personal asset protection and offers an easy format for distribution of profits and losses. With this entity structure the liabilities of the company are only taken from business assets, not the personal assets of those who own the LLC.

5. What is a C-Corporation? There are two ways to file as a corporation: C-Corporation or S-Corporation. The C-Corp is the most structured, and rigid form and the business profits are taxed at both the corporate level and the stockholder level. In this entity, there is no limit to the number of stockholders. This structure is taxed as a separate entity, unlike the S-Corp. 6. What is an S-Corp? This is also a corporation, but its limited by the number of stockholders, which is a maximum of 75. One of the advantages of this type of business structure is that the profits are not double taxed like they are in a C-Corp. This structure is a flow through entity. This means the profits or losses flow through to the individual personal tax returns of the stockholders and are taxed on the individual tax returns.

Financial institutions generally view the corporation structures and limited liability company structures as higher rated businesses. By picking one of these for your business it shows them a more professional picture, and thus they are more likely to offer business credit or trade credit to your new company.