Business Structures and Elements: A Comprehensive Analysis
Business Structures and Elements
A company is a collection of items organized and coordinated by the management that aims to achieve specific goals while performing risk management.
Elements of a Business
- Material Factors: These are all assets that the company possesses.
- Non-current Assets: Assets that take over a year to convert to cash.
- Current Assets: Assets that can be converted to cash in less than a year.
- Human Factors: These are all people who have a working relationship with the company.
- Organization: These are all relationships of authority and collaboration between the human factors of the company. The organization is often represented by a flowchart.
- Environment: These are all factors affecting the company that are not dependent on it.
- General: Factors affecting all firms (e.g., law).
- Specific: Factors affecting only certain companies.
Objectives of the Company
An objective is any goal that is set by the company. There are three main types:
- Purpose of the Company: The reason for the company’s existence.
- Producer: To produce and sell a product.
- Business: To sell a product.
- Service: To offer a service.
- Main Objective: To maximize profits while minimizing costs.
- Partial Objectives: Specific, realistic targets set by the company.
Classification of Companies
Companies can be classified according to several criteria:
- Activity: Primary sector, secondary sector, or tertiary sector.
- Ownership of Capital: Private, public, or mixed.
- Size:
- Number of Employees: Small (up to 50), medium (50 to 249), large (250+).
- Annual Sales: Small (under 10 million €), medium (10 to 50 million €), large (50+ million €).
- Sole Proprietorship: The business owner is the same person who provides the capital.
- Partnership: Has one or more owners who are associated and form a common heritage.
Types of Business Structures
Collective Society
- Type: Personalist.
- Name: The name of all partners or the name of a few followed by “& Cia.”
- Number and Types of Partners: Minimum of 2 partners, no maximum.
- Industrial Partners: Provide only work.
- Collective Partners: Provide work and capital.
- Liability of Members: Personal, joint and several, and unlimited.
- Capital: No minimum.
- Disbursed: Fully paid.
- Taxation: Corporate tax.
Simple Partnership
- Type: Personalist.
- Name: Name of all partners followed by “S. en C.”
- Number and Types of Partners: Minimum of 2 partners, no maximum.
- Collective Partners: Provide work.
- Limited Partners: Provide work and capital.
- Liability of Members:
- Collective Partners: Joint and several, personal, and unlimited.
- Limited Partners: Limited to the capital contributed.
- Capital: No minimum.
- Disbursed: Fully paid.
- Taxation: Corporate tax.
Limited Partnership by Shares
- Type: Capitalist.
- Company Name: A name chosen by the members followed by “S. en C. por A.”
- Number and Types of Partners: At least three, with at least one collective partner.
- Collective Partners: Provide work.
- Limited Partners: Provide capital.
- Liability of Members:
- Collective Partners: Personal, joint and several, and unlimited.
- Limited Partners: Limited to the capital contributed.
- Capital: Minimum of 60,101.21 €.
- Disbursed: At least 25% disbursed.
- Taxation: Corporate tax.
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
- Type: Capitalist.
- Company Name: Any name chosen by the partners followed by “SL” or “SRL”.
- Number and Types of Partners: One or more.
- Liability of Partners: Limited to the capital contributed.
- Capital: Minimum of 3,005.06 €, divided into shares.
- Disbursed: Fully subscribed and paid.
- Taxation: Corporate tax.
Limited Company (Corporation)
- Type: Capitalist.
- Name: Name of company followed by “SA”.
- Number and Types of Partners: One or more.
- Liability of Partners: Limited to the capital contributed.
- Capital: Minimum of 60,101.21 €.
- Disbursed: At least 25%.
- Taxation: Corporate tax.