What is a partnership, and what are its forms?

There are several different forms of partnerships. Each such form has distinctive characteristics and features, from which the pros take the disadvantages of such ways of business organization. In order to get a deeper understanding of this question about what a partnership is, first of all it is necessary to understand the definition of the partnership and its types.

Definition of partnership

In simple words, a partnership is a specific form of business ownership, which is characterized by the presence of two or more founders. That is, each founder takes a share in the total capital of the enterprise. Such a share is determined by the amount of the contribution to the statutory fund. And the amount of liability for the obligations of the enterprise is already determined by the type of partnership itself.

To understand what a partnership is, the definitions of its various types that can function in the territory of the Russian Federation according to the legislation will also help.

The first type is a full partnership

With full partnership, all partners assume the responsibility for responsibility to the enterprise with all their means. At the same time, if a new founder has appeared, he will be responsible not only for the new obligations of the enterprise, but also for those that were before its entry.

Management decisions in this form of partnership are taken at the general meetings of the founders either by a unanimous decision or by taking into account the majority of votes.

Each participant can represent the enterprise and make decisions, if the constituent agreement does not specify that all the founders conduct business jointly. If this is indicated, then the decision must be taken by agreement of all partners. Legislation has established that founders can be either organizations that operate on a commercial basis, or individual entrepreneurs.

What is a limited liability partnership, and why is this type of organization the most popular?

This partnership of owners is characterized by the fact that each founder is responsible only according to his share in business. The size of shares is determined by the constituent documents. All other property is considered personal and inviolable for each of the partners. And this is very tempting for modern businessmen.

To date, this form of legal organization is the most common in the Russian Federation. Probably, this is due to the fact that most of the participants do not want to fully answer for the obligations of the enterprise, but they want to bear responsibility only within their share.

With this form of organization, the founder can only be one for the entire partnership. At the same time there are restrictions on the maximum number of participants - no more than 50. The legislation of the Russian Federation establishes a minimum statutory fund of a limited liability partnership in the amount of ten thousand rubles.

Decisions are made at the meetings of the founders of such a partnership. And the audit commission (supervisory board) supervises their work.

Mixed partnership - all the best in one kind

With a mixed partnership, all founders are divided into internal members and external members who are simply depositors. Complementarities (internal members) are responsible for the obligations in full volume of their property, that is, by all their means. At the same time, external investors (limited partners) - only within their deposits. The essence of the partnership of this form of organization is to combine some of the distinctive features of the previous two species.

Decisions in such a partnership are usually complementary. They manage all the activities of the enterprise. They determine what will be the activities of the partnership and the vectors of its development. The commanders are simply investors who do not make managerial decisions.

A mixed partnership may issue shares for the amount of limited partners' deposits. Such a partnership will be called a joint stock company.

In the end, after studying information about what a partnership is, what its forms are, you can understand what kind of partnership is needed for specific purposes, because each of them is good in its own way.