Respond to discussion posts and give a reference for to support your statements.

1. If a group of accountants wanted to start an accounting company they should consider starting the company in the form of a cooperative, limited liability company (LLC), partnership.

The cooperative form of business ownership would give equal democratic control to all members, and allow them to operate the business independently. This form of business helps owners to maintain a positive image because objectives of these companies are to contribute to the community in a positive way and solve economic and social issues. However, since ownership is equally shared, members of a cooperative may be put at risk if any of the members do not contribute fairly to the company or fail to fulfill their duties.

An LLC would benefit the group of accountants by giving members the ability to dictate profits earned by each individual if any members put in more work than others. A weakness of forming an LLC is that if any members leave the company the other members are at risk of having to do away with the company if they do not include certain provisions to establish members' rights in an operating agreement.

A partnership would allow the members of the company to share all profits and losses, and they may gain a competitive advantage in human resources by offering employees partnership opportunities. However, with many partners in the company, having to share profits may cause issues to arise if work efforts are not equally contributed. Partners may begin to resent one another if any of the members earn profits they are undeserving of.

The business model which would best suit the group of accountants is a cooperative. This would put the members at less risk if any members should decide to leave the company. The accountants would also benefit from reduced costs for supplies and focus more on improving the quality of products and services (The U.S. Small Business Administration, n.d.). As a company known for focusing on meeting client needs, the accountants may have a better chance of business success by gaining a good reputation throughout the community, bringing in more customers.

2. When starting an accounting company there are various organizational forms of business that one could choose. Determining the strengths and weakness of each organizational form will help better determine which model more suitable. Forms of business organization are broken down into three main structures; sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation.The most common and simplest form of business is a sole proprietorship is a type of company that is run by one person and there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. In this specific form, the individual proprietor owns and manages the business and is responsible for all business transactions. In addition, the owner is personally responsible for all debts and liabilities incurred by the business. While few formal business requirements, no corporate tax payments and having complete control and decision-making power over the business are certainly incentives; that is an incredible responsibility being held personally liable for the debts and obligations of a business and investors will not usually invest in sole proprietorships (Small Business, Advantages and Disadvantages of Sole Proprietorships, 2007).

A partnership is a single business where two or more people share ownership. There are three general types of partnerships arrangements which include, general partnerships, limited partnerships and joint ventures. Partnerships are relatively inexpensive and easy to form, each partner is equally invested in the success of the business and there are incentives for employees, in turn attracting motivated and skilled employees. However, partnerships retain full, shared liability among the owners, with multiple partners there holds risk of disagreement and shared profits because of being jointly owned (Choose a Business Structure, n.d.).

Categorized under partnerships, a limited liability company is combination arising from business owners wishing to adopt a business structure permitting them to operate like a traditional partnership. It is a form of business organization with the liability shield advantages of a corporation and the flexibility and tax pass through advantages of a partnership (Limited Liability Company, n.d.).

A corporation is charted by the state in which it is headquartered and is considered by law to be an entity that is separate and apart from those who own it. A corporation can be taxed, sued and it can enter contractual agreements. While the owners of a corporation are its shareholders, the shareholders elect a board of directors to oversee the major policies and decisions (Types of Business Ownership, n.d.). Some advantages of a corporation are that shareholders have limited liability for the corporation's debts also, shareholders can only be held accountable for their investment in the stock of the company. Another major advantage is that corporations are a life of their own and they do not dissolve once ownership changes. However, the process of incorporations requires more time and money than other forms of organization and corporations are monitored by federal, state and some local agencies and as a result, may have more paperwork to comply.

I would recommend to a group of accountants starting an accounting company to follow a limited liability partnership model. Not only does an LLC allow for protection of your personal assets if your LLC faces bankruptcy, it allows profits to pass through the personal income tax of the owners - in this case, the group of accountants. I think it would also be beneficial to choose a LLC because starting out it will give the company more flexibility in respects to the overall organization and management of the company giving each partner the ability to claim their share of the profits.