Which Corporate Entity is Right for Your Florida Business?

It’s not all that difficult to choose which corporate entity is right for your Florida business. Here are your choices, and a little bit about each type of corporate entity. Annually in Florida there are about an equal amount of for profit corporations filed as there are Limited Liability companies formed. Usually the choice of business type is one of these.

We didn’t mention Non-Profit companies here, as they are quite a bit different from regular corporate entities. A Non-Profit is designated as such only after IRS approval which may take months to secure.

Limited Liability Company

In the year 2007, over 135,000 limited liability companies (LLCs) as they are usually called, are a blend of business combining some features of both partnerships and corporations.

Florida limited liability companies may choose whether they wish to be  taxed as partnerships or corporations. Limited liability companies must register with the Florida Division of Corporations to legally do business in Florida. Fill out our simple online LLC form here.

Profit corporations

In 2007, over 135,000 new “for-profit” businesses registered in Florida state with the Florida Division of Corporations.

Corporations are separate legal entities than the individual that owns them. Each corporation must file with the Florida Division of Corporations. We assist you with that matter when you fill out our easy to follow incorporation forms here on this site.

The two types of corporations are the C-Corporation and the S-Corporation. With a C-Corporation, the corporation rather than individuals pays taxes and assumes liabilities. Florida’s corporate tax is just 5.5%.

An S-Corporation allows up to 75 shareholders to share income and expenses and to report income/expenses on their individual end of year income tax returns filed with the IRS.

Non-Profit Companies

These start out as profit corporations until they are later designated as Non-profit companies after complying with all IRS requirements as governed by the Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3.

The Non-Profit company exists foremost as a provider of programs and services that benefit others which ordinarily would not otherwise be provided by local, state, or other government offices. Non Profits can earn a surplus, but the earnings are not distributed to employees or any individuals, they are held by the company and reinvested toward future programs and services.

There exist many grants and other programs to help non-profit companies succeed. Google, YouTube, Flickr, and many other online properties have special programs designed to help non profit organizations advance their good cause and help others.

Sole Proprietorship

We don’t recommend doing business in this capacity as there are a couple of drawbacks to it. Serious drawbacks. One benefit is ease of creation. Sole proprietorships are easy to set up and easy to disband.

Profits for this type of entity are taxed at the sole proprietor’s individual federal tax rate as reported tax form Schedule C or CZ. Florida sole proprietorships don’t file FL business (corporate) income tax returns. Sole proprietor owners have virtually unlimited personal liability for any legal debts or other obligations their Florida business incurs during it’s lifetime. Familiarization with Florida’s “homestead laws” are important because they limit this liability somewhat.

Partnerships

Partnerships are not that popular, just over 3,000 partnerships filed documents with Florida state to become registered in Florida during 2007.

Partnerships are easily formed. Florida business partnerships are unincorporated and allow for 2+ persons to share liabilities and join capital for the business. Florida business income from the partnership is reported on each partners individual tax return. Limited partnerships must register with Florida state, and the fee initially is $965 and $500 annually in years following.

Choose the type of business entity that is right for your business carefully. Accountants are great sources of knowledge, but can often times try to swing you into incorporating with them at very high cost. Your best bet is to make an appointment with your accountant, ask all the questions you need and return home to fill out our simple online incorporation forms for just $195 for profit, non profit, and Subchapter S companies or just $265 for LLC companies. Don’t pay more, there’s no need to – we give you rush service at no cost to you.

Florida Incorporating Costs: What’s Fair?

If you’ve been shopping around before you do your incorporating you’ve surely found out one thing. There are dozens of websites to choose from. The next fact you quickly become attuned to is that each site offers to help you complete your Florida company incorporation for varying amounts of cash.

What is a fair rate for Florida incorporating costs?

We don’t really pretend to know what’s fair or not – we have been charging the same rate for Florida incorporating costs on our sites for nearly a decade. What we did originally was this…

We looked at all of our competition – just four companies back then, and we priced our service lower than all of them. We had no idea how much it would cost us per person to incorporate them and we didn’t understand the whole process quite frankly. The first few months in 1999 were eye-openers and we didn’t make much money at all. We knew we wanted to keep our prices fair and reasonable – but really didn’t know what that was. We decided on $195 for all types of Florida incorporation except the LLC, which we put at $265.

Fast forward to 2009. There are now over sixty companies competing in the same space. Google loves us because we were one of the first, so we have that going for us.

We’ve helped over 10,000 new businesses incorporate in Florida and we’re helping more than 1,000 each year. We’ve had not one person complain about our rates – so we know we’ve got our incorporation services priced fairly and reasonable.

We’ve seen companies come and go – but, this LegalZoom is taking another approach entirely. You’ve seen their ads on TV and heard them on radio. I’ve seen them on the internet. They are spending millions and millions of dollars on advertising. It’s the American way – right? Spend 10,000,000 in advertising to get $15,000,000 in sales. It’s an amazing business and it’s running full-steam ahead. All of this success despite the fact that they charge a couple of hundred dollars more for the basic incorporation than we do here at Start Florida Business because they don’t offer what everyone really needs unless you’re ordering the most expensive – level 3 package.

Here we do it quite differently. We add on no extra incorporating costs. We GIVE YOU the help you need to incorporate your Florida Subchapter S, Non Profit, or LLC. We process your forms the SAME DAY and don’t charge any extra fee. With LegalZoom and other companies sometimes your incorporation isn’t processed for weeks.

So, just some differences between us and them.

If you’re sure you want to incorporate. If you’re sure you don’t want to spend a couple hundred dollars for extras you probably don’t need. If you’re sure you want to incorporate today – and not wait for weeks of processing, incorporate with us at one of our 4 online forms:

Subchapter S Incorporation >

Profit Incorporation >

LLC Incorporation >

Non-Profit Incorporation >

Incorporating Your Business

Incorporating your business is, what we consider, an absolutely necessary step.

Incorporating your Florida business accomplishes a number of things for you.

1. You can enjoy a limited protection of your personal assets as the corporation becomes an entity of it’s own, separate from your personal assets. In the case of legal action against the company, your personal things: savings, home, automobiles and other valuables might be untouchable unless you’ve committed fraud or other harmful activities.

2. Your business will be seen as official and the credence your company gets with incorporation will be seen by others – including lenders, as professional and “serious”. Unincorporated companies are not seen as good investments and not very professional when compared to incorporated companies.

3. You can enjoy a number of tax benefits – depending on the type of incorporation entity you choose. There are significant tax advantages to the various corporation types – and researching what those advantages are is crucial! Finding and hiring a great accountant to help you take advantage of tax benefits is highly recommended. Accountants are worth every penny they charge – and they can show you!