Business Formation: LLCs & Corporations

Before you can decide how you want to structure your business, you'll need to know what your options are.

When you start a business, you must decide whether it will be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or limited liability company.

You may not need to hire a lawyer as soon as you think when starting a business.

Most people have heard that forming a corporation provides "limited liability" -- that is, it limits your personal liability for

If you've sorted through the many types of business structures and decided to start a corporation, you're

A corporation is the only type of business that must pay its own income taxes on profits. In contrast, the profits "pass through" unincorporated companies to the personal income tax returns of the owners.

Here's what you need to do to form a limited liability company.

Frequently asked questions about starting and running an LLC, or limited liability company.

All of an LLC's profits and losses "pass through" the business to the LLC owners, who report the LLC's profit and loss information on their personal tax returns.

A partnership is a business with more than one owner that has not filed papers with the state to become a corporation or LLC (limited liability company).

You don't have to file any paperwork to establish a partnership -- you can create a partnership simply by agreeing to go into business with another person.

Joint ventures and partnerships are common forms of legal structures used by business owners to combine resources, talents, or skills with another person or business.

The sole proprietorship is the simplest legal structure for owning your own business.

As a sole proprietor you must report all business income or losses on your personal income tax return; the business itself is not taxed separately.

Any name used for business (also sometimes called a trade name) that doesn’t contain the legal name of the owner/sole proprietor is called a fictitious business name (FBN).

Here are the key initial steps to set up your online business for long term success.

The cost to start a business can vary widely from one company to the next.

Before you start a home-based food business in California, know which foods you're allowed to prepare, apply for permits and licenses, learn about food safety, and obtain insurance.

How to choose and register a successful business name.

Now that you've picked the perfect business name, can you go ahead and use it? Not without doing your homework first.

Using your home address for your business is free, but doing so has its drawbacks.

Contracts are legally binding agreements, and they pervade almost every aspect of our personal and business lives.

This Sample Amendment to Contract can help you incorporate any changes to an existing agreement, quickly and painlessly.

A confidentiality agreement (also called a nondisclosure agreement or NDA) is a legally binding contract in which a person or business promises to treat

Bookkeeping and accounting share two basic goals: to keep track of your income and expenses, which improves your chances of making a profit, and to collect the financial information necessary for filing your tax returns.

Small business owners pay themselves using one of two methods.

Accurate record keeping is a key to many aspects of your business's success—from assessing your operation's profit margins to ensuring that you're in compliance with IRS tax rules.

Thinking about buying an existing business? Here's what you should know before you take the plunge.

Learn about the business buyer's payment options, such as installment or lump-sum payments.

Before you buy a business, do some due diligence.