This is a partial adjusted trial balance of ramon company

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LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1

Identify the forms of business organization and the uses of accounting information. 

Suppose you graduate with a business degree and decide you want to start your own business. But what kind of business? You enjoy working with people, especially teaching them new skills. You also spend most of your free time outdoors, kayaking, backpacking, skiing, rock climbing, and mountain biking. You think you might be successful in opening an outdoor guide service where you grew up, in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

FORMS OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATION Your next decision is to determine the organizational form of your business. You have three choices—sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation.

SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP

You might choose the sole proprietorship form for your outdoor guide service. A business owned by one person is a sole proprietorship. It is simple to set up and gives you control over the business. Small owner-operated businesses such as barber shops, law of�ices, and auto repair shops are often sole proprietorships, as are farms and small retail stores.

PARTNERSHIP

Another possibility is for you to join forces with other individuals to form a partnership. A business owned by two or more persons associated as partners is a partnership. Partnerships often are formed because one individual does not have enough economic resources to initiate or expand the business. Sometimes partners bring unique skills or resources to the partnership. You and your partners should formalize your duties and contributions in a written partnership agreement. Retail and service-type businesses, including professional practices (lawyers, doctors, architects, and certi�ied public accountants), often organize as partnerships.

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Alternative Terminology notes present synonymous terms that you may come across in practice.

CORPORATION

As a third alternative, you might organize as a corporation. A business organized as a separate legal entity owned by stockholders is a corporation. Investors in a corporation receive shares of stock to indicate their ownership claim. Buying stock in a corporation is often more attractive than investing in a partnership because shares of stock are easy to sell (transfer ownership). Selling a proprietorship or partnership interest is much more involved. Also, individuals can become stockholders by investing relatively small amounts of money. Therefore, it is easier for corporations to raise funds. Successful corporations often have thousands of stockholders, and their stock is traded on organized stock exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange. Many businesses start as sole proprietorships or partnerships and eventually incorporate.

Other factors to consider in deciding which organizational form to choose are taxes and legal liability. If you choose a sole proprietorship or partnership, you generally receive more favorable tax treatment than a corporation. However, proprietors and partners are personally liable for all debts and legal obligations of the business; corporate stockholders are not. In other words, corporate stockholders generally pay higher taxes but have no personal legal liability. We will discuss these issues in more depth in a later chapter.

Finally, while sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations represent the main types of business organizations, hybrid forms are now allowed in all states. These hybrid business forms combine the tax advantages of partnerships with the limited liability of corporations. Probably the most common among

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these hybrids types are limited liability companies (LLCs) and subchapter S corporations. These forms are discussed extensively in business law classes.

The combined number of proprietorships and partnerships in the United States is more than �ive times the number of corporations. However, the revenue produced by corporations is eight times greater. Most of the largest businesses in the United States—for example, Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, General Motors, Citigroup, and Microsoft—are corporations. Because the majority of U.S. business is done by corporations, the emphasis in this textbook is on the corporate form of organization.

ALTERNATIVE TERMINOLOGY

Stockholders are sometimes called shareholders.

USERS AND USES OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION The purpose of �inancial information is to provide inputs for decision-making. Accounting is the information system that identi�ies, records, and communicates the economic events of an organization to interested users. Users of accounting information can be divided broadly into two groups: internal users and external users.