In: Accounting
Particulars | Limited Liability Company | Corporations |
Liability | Combines limited liability protection with a pass-through tax structure. | Owners / shareholders have limited personal liability for business related debts. |
Taxation | IRS rules allow LLCs to choose between being taxed as partnership or corporation. | Separate taxable entity, corporate profits among owners and corporation. |
Maintenance | The easiest entity to maintain with the least amount of formal annual requirements. | Meetings are required to maintain corporate status. Stock may be sold to raise capital. |
Management | An LLC has a flexible management structure. The entity can be managed by its members or a group of managers, and any member may act as the LLC's manager. The LLC may also elect to have no distinction between an owner and a manager of the business. Due to its flexible nature, LLC management is less formal which may make it an ideal entity for some entrepreneurs. | A corporation's management structure is much stricter. A corporation must have a formal structure with a Board of Directors handling the management responsibilities of generating profits for the shareholders. Corporate officers are assigned to handle the day-to-day operations of the business. The shareholders are considered owners of the corporation but remain separate from business decisions and daily operations of the corporation (except for approval of major corporate decisions). |