The most common business types include sole proprietorships, LLCs, partnerships, and corporations. Learn the differences, and then decide which type is right for you.

What is a small business and why it matters
What Are the Key Differences Between an LLC and an LLP?
Business Tax Filing Questions
Pros and Cons of Sole Proprietorship vs. S Corporation
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How To Set Up Your Business as a Separate Entity
Forming an LLC
Which State Is Best To Form an LLC?
Two people shaking hands across a drafting table after the successful sale of a business.
How To Make A Change In Business Ownership
1930s-era man at a desk in an office writing in a business checkbook
What Are LLC Guaranteed Payments?
Cafe workers in a microbusiness
What Is a Microbusiness?
Creating a business partnership
How to Start a Partnership in 7 Easy Steps
business woman thinking
Which Business Entity Structure Is Best for You?
What is a subsidiary?
What Is a Subsidiary Company?
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How a Single-Member Limited Liability Company Works
businessmen forming a domestic LLC
Foreign vs. Domestic LLCs and Corporations: What’s the Difference?
Chicken standing on table by large egg
Which to Get First, Incorporation or Employer ID?
Incorporator or Organizer for Business Startup
How and Why You Should Register Your Business Name
All About Holding Companies
Should I Form a Holding Company for My Businesses?
Two Businessmen Shaking Hands
How To Find a Business Partner
Woman in business attire working on a laptop in an office
How Do You Convert Property into an S-Corporation?
Business people having a meeting
What Is an S Corporation?
Small business owners managing social media on tablet
What Is a Limited Liability Company (LLC)?
Businessman and businesswoman shaking hands in agreement
How To Build a Winning Business Partnership
A person sits at a table.
Sole Proprietorship vs. LLC vs. Corporation
Businesspersons discuss information on a tablet
Business Legal Organizational Structures
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Why Is a Business Valuation Important?
A business owner in her shop
How Does a Sole Proprietor Pay Taxes?
A woman enters figures into a calculator while holding a computer tablet. She sits at a desk, which is cluttered with documents.
How Does a Limited Liability Company Pay Income Tax?
illustration of a person filling out a form 8832 in front of a businessperson. the text on the illustration describes quick facts about filing for a corporation or s corporation status.
How to Change Your LLC Tax Status to a Corporation or S Corporation
Man Calculating the S-Corporation Income Taxes
How an S Corporation Pays Taxes
Image shows a man in a bakery wearing a green apron that has a nametag that reads "bob". He is holding a tray of muffins, and standing in front of the pastry case and the register which says "Bob's Bakery." Text reads: "Sole proprietor business in the U.S.–Pro: the owner is in complete control and gets all of the profits. Con: The owner's personal finances and business finances are one and the same. 73% of all business in the U.S. are sole proprietor businesses"
What You Need To Know About Starting a Sole Proprietorship
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Starting a Sole Proprietor Business
business partnerships, partnership types
Selecting a Business Partnership Type
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What to Include in a Partnership Agreement
Articles of Incorporation
Articles of Incorporation for a Business
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How S Corps and LLCs Pay Taxes
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Changing Your Business Legal Type
Discussing tax forms
LLC Income Tax Options for LLC Owners
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What Is a PLLC?
a young woman running a single member LLC
Single-Member LLCs and Operating Agreements
Business owners discuss the process of forming a limited liability company
Partnership vs. LLC: What's the Difference?
What to Include in an LLC Operating Agreement
What Should I Include in an LLC Operating Agreement?
A business person sitting in front of a laptop
Member-Managed LLC vs. Manager-Managed LLC
Businessmen discussion over a tablet
LLC - Limited Liability Company Myths
A limited liability company operation agreement with pen
How LLC Ownership Works
Shareholders in a board meeting
What Is a Shareholder or Stockholder of a Corporation?
Businessman leading presentation at a stock corporation
What Are Stock Corporations?
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Series LLC - Is it Right for Your Business?
What is a business partnership?
What Is a Business Partnership?
Two businessmen shaking hands
Why Your Business Partnership Needs a Written Agreement
Non-Stock Corporations Explained
Non-stock Corporation
Members of an LLC
Who Can Be Members of an LLC?
Business Partners
What Is a Limited Partnership?
Small business owner on phone doing paperwork in workshop
What Does Limited Liability Mean?
Business owners discuss the process of forming a limited liability company
What Is a Limited Liability Company?
An Owner Taking a Draw From His Company Illustrated as a Man Hauling Away Fruit From a Tree
What Is an Owner's Draw?
Male and female businesspersons gathered around a conference table
What Is a Corporation?
A group of three young women and two men of different ethnicities are in a business meeting in a modern day office.
What Is a Closely Held Corporation?
Man on ladder hanging a banner
Certificate of Organization for a Limited Liability Company
Businessmen clapping during the annual meeting of a corporation.
What Happens at the Annual Meeting of a Corporation
Negotiating a Commercial Lease
7 Tips to Get the Best Terms for a Commercial Lease
Business people shaking hands in conference room
How to Negotiate a Business Sale
Single-member LLC owner reviewing a receipt while sitting at a desk in their office.
How a Single-Member LLC Pays Employment Taxes for Employees
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What Is a Reasonable Salary for an S Corporation Officer?
Male business owner checking inventory of jeans in new retail space
Single-Member LLC Tax Questions and Answers
Changing Articles of Incorporation
How Do I Change My Corporate Articles of Incorporation?