Titel: En studie av enskild firma, handelsbolag och aktiebolag - Vilka fördelar och nackdelar finns inom respektive företagsform? Nivå: C-uppsats i företagsekonomi Författare: Camilla Köhler och Petra Alperud Wennemyr Handledare: Markku Penttinen Datum: 2013-februari   Syfte: Syftet är att utreda skillnaderna mellan enskild näringsverksamhet, handelsbolag och aktiebolag och dess fördelar och nackdelar. Genom den empiriska forskningen presenteras för- och nackdelar med respektive företagsform, sett ur företagarens perspektiv utifrån beskattning, finansiering, risker, bransch och storlek.      Metod: I denna uppsats har en deduktiv ansats använts. En kombination av kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod har utnyttjats. Teori har insamlats via litteratur, elektroniska dokument och vetenskapliga artiklar. Intervjuerna har genomförts via besöksintervju och telefonintervju, där två organisationer intervjuades. Enkäter har skickats via mail efter telefonkontakt eller personlig kontakt med de olika företagen. Tio företag av varje företagsform fick besvara enkäterna. Empirin har sedan jämförts med teorin i en analys.   Resultat & slutsats: Det är svårt att fastställa för- och nackdelar inom respektive företagsform då en fördel för en person kan vara en nackdel för någon annan. Resultatet av enkätundersökningen visar på att de som idag har aktiebolag är nöjdast med företagsformen, främst på grund av den begränsade ägarrisken. Den främsta fördelen i enskild firma är enkelheten i företagsformen och att det inte krävs något startkapital. Fördelen med handelsbolag anses vara att det inte krävs startkapital samt att det är enklare och kräver mindre administration jämfört med ett aktiebolag. Nackdelarna som framkommer inom enskild firma och handelsbolag är bland annat att förmåner inte kan utnyttjas, vinsten inte kan sparas i bolaget och utdelning inte kan ske. De största nackdelarna med aktiebolag är att det är krångligt att starta och lägga ned. Inom mindre verksamheter ses enskild firma som en fördel medan det i större företag med anställda och stor omsättning är mer fördelaktigt med ett aktiebolag.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: En intressant fråga är varför så många företag går i konkurs inom fem år och hur de ska göra för att överleva. Ett andra förslag är varför så få företag söker bidrag och vad detta beror på.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Uppsatsen presenterar vilka fördelar och nackdelar som finns inom de tre vanligaste företagsformerna. Uppsatsen skrevs för att vara behjälplig för en person som vill starta företag. Studien ger kunskap om vad som krävs vid uppstart av de olika företagsformerna och hur företagaren ska tänka när företagsform ska väljas.   Nyckelord: Enskild firma, handelsbolag, aktiebolag, beskattning, finansiering, risker. / Title: A study of sole proprietorships, partnerships and limited companies  -What advantages and disadvantages are there in each type of enterprise ?  Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Camilla Köhler and Petra Alperud Wennemyr Supervisor: Markku Penttinen Date: 2013 – February   Aim: The aim is to investigate the differences between sole proprietorship, partnership and limited companies and its advantages and disadvantages. The empirical research presents the advantage and disadvantage with the respective enterprise form, from a perspective of an entrepreneur basis of taxation, finance, risk, industry and size.   Method: This study is built on a deductive approach. A combination of qualitative and quantitative method has been used. Theory has been collected through literature, electronic documents and scientific articles. The interviews were conducted through visit and telephone interview, where two organizations were interviewed. Questionnaires have been sent after telephone contact or personal contact with the different enterprises. Ten of each group of enterprises were asked to answer questionnaires. The empirical data where then compared with the theory in an analysis.   Result & Conclusions: It is hard to determine advantage and disadvantage of each enterprise form when an advantage for one person can be a disadvantage for someone else. The results of the questionnaire survey shows that those who currently have limited companies are most satisfied with the enterprise form, primarily because of the limited ownership risk. The main advantage of the sole proprietorship is the simplicity of the corporate form and that it does not require any initial capital. The advantage of a partnership is considered that there is no initial capital needed and that it is simpler and requires less administration compared with a limited company. The disadvantages that emerge within the sole proprietorship and partnership are that benefits cannot be used, the gain cannot be saved in the company and the dividend cannot be done. The main disadvantages of limited companies is that it is complicated to start up and close down. In smaller businesses private firm is seen as an advantage while in larger companies with employees and high turnover it is more beneficial with a limited company.   Suggestions for future research: An interesting question is why so many businesses go bankrupt within five years, and how they should act to survive. A second suggestion is why so few companies are seeking grants and what causes this.   Contribution of the thesis: The thesis presents which advantages and disadvantages of the three most common forms of enterprise . The thesis has been written to be an instrument for a person who would like to start up an enterprise. The study gives understanding about the upstart in several type of enterprises and how the entrepreneur should think when the enterprise form should be selected .   Key words: Sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited companies, taxation, financing, financial risks.

<p>Small firms often have inadequate access to the capital necessary for sucessful management. The Swedish Government introduced in the mid-1990s allowance rules that facilitate retention of profit for sole proprietorships and partnership firms. The tax credits arising from the allowances give certain benefits as a source of financing compared to traditional forms of credits. Among the more essential benefits are that the payment for some parts of the tax credit can be put on hold almost indefinitely, or alternatively never be paid. The firms are free to use these means, and the responsibility of future payment of the postponed tax debt stays with the individual firms. The comprehensive purpose of the dissertation may be stated as to increase the understanding of small Swedish firms, especially sole proprietorships, utilizing possibilities for allowances for income smoothing and internal financing. At the beginning the dissertation describes case studies, comprising a smaller selection of microfirms. With a starting-point from the accounted and reported income-tax returns, alternative calculations are made where additional positive tax and finance effects appear possible to obtain. One purpose of these studies is to increase the insight regarding the possibilities of income smoothing and internal financing that arise from utilizing these allowances. </p><p>These studies also illuminate, to what extent and in what way they are being used in reality. Another objective of these studies is to give a more substantive insight into the technics behind the different allowances, appropriation to positive or negative interest rate allocation appropriation or dissolving of tax allocation reserve appropriation or dissolving of “expansion fund” Theories regarding the creation of resources, through building of capital, and theories on financial planning and strategy are studied. The purpose is to find support for the choice of theoretical grounded underlying independent variables that can be used in cross-sectional studies to explain the use of the possibilities of appropriations. Theories of finance that are of greatest interest, in the operationalisation of these variables, are theories that discuss the choices of different financing alternatives for small firms. The “pecking order theory”, describes the firm’s order of priority when choices of finance alternatives are made. The concept of “financial bootstrapping” expands the frame for different forms of financing choices that especially very small firms have at their disposal.</p><p>The last part of the theoretical frame deals with the phenomenon of “income smoothing,” which can be translated as leveling out profits/losses. A number of financial and non-financial variables are supported by and operationalised from these financial theories e.g., return on sales, capital turnover, quick ratio and debt-to-equity ratio, respectively age, gender and line of business. Cross-sectional studies are implemented for the taxation years of 1996 and 1999, on databases that have been extracted from Statistics Sweden. The group of 87,276 sole proprietorships included in the study were required to complete tax returns and pay taxes for the business activity according to the supporting schedule, N2, information from the sole proprietorships’ income statement and balance sheet in an accounting statement that comes with the income tax return form. The possibilities of allowances are considered as dependent variables. The intention of the cross-sectional studies is to survey and describe the utilization of possible allowances, with the support of the financial and non-financial independent variables. The connection of these variables to the decision of sole proprietorships to appropriate to the tax allocation reserve is also summarized in a logistic regression model. A number of theoretically based propositions are made for the purpose of observing how the variables are connected to the chances that sole proprietorships actually appropriate to this form of allowance. Appropriation to the tax allocation reserve stands out as the most practiced form of allowance. The studies also clarify that utilization varies among different forms of allowances, but that not all firms that have the prerequisites to utilize the possibilities really do so to the full. A further utilization of the different possibilities of allowances is often conceivable. For the sole proprietorships that are not utilizing these possibilities, the allowances should be considered eligible as a contribution to internal financing and to increase access to capital.</p>

Small firms often have inadequate access to the capital necessary for sucessful management. The Swedish Government introduced in the mid-1990s allowance rules that facilitate retention of profit for sole proprietorships and partnership firms. The tax credits arising from the allowances give certain benefits as a source of financing compared to traditional forms of credits. Among the more essential benefits are that the payment for some parts of the tax credit can be put on hold almost indefinitely, or alternatively never be paid. The firms are free to use these means, and the responsibility of future payment of the postponed tax debt stays with the individual firms. The comprehensive purpose of the dissertation may be stated as to increase the understanding of small Swedish firms, especially sole proprietorships, utilizing possibilities for allowances for income smoothing and internal financing. At the beginning the dissertation describes case studies, comprising a smaller selection of microfirms. With a starting-point from the accounted and reported income-tax returns, alternative calculations are made where additional positive tax and finance effects appear possible to obtain. One purpose of these studies is to increase the insight regarding the possibilities of income smoothing and internal financing that arise from utilizing these allowances. These studies also illuminate, to what extent and in what way they are being used in reality. Another objective of these studies is to give a more substantive insight into the technics behind the different allowances, appropriation to positive or negative interest rate allocation appropriation or dissolving of tax allocation reserve appropriation or dissolving of “expansion fund” Theories regarding the creation of resources, through building of capital, and theories on financial planning and strategy are studied. The purpose is to find support for the choice of theoretical grounded underlying independent variables that can be used in cross-sectional studies to explain the use of the possibilities of appropriations. Theories of finance that are of greatest interest, in the operationalisation of these variables, are theories that discuss the choices of different financing alternatives for small firms. The “pecking order theory”, describes the firm’s order of priority when choices of finance alternatives are made. The concept of “financial bootstrapping” expands the frame for different forms of financing choices that especially very small firms have at their disposal. The last part of the theoretical frame deals with the phenomenon of “income smoothing,” which can be translated as leveling out profits/losses. A number of financial and non-financial variables are supported by and operationalised from these financial theories e.g., return on sales, capital turnover, quick ratio and debt-to-equity ratio, respectively age, gender and line of business. Cross-sectional studies are implemented for the taxation years of 1996 and 1999, on databases that have been extracted from Statistics Sweden. The group of 87,276 sole proprietorships included in the study were required to complete tax returns and pay taxes for the business activity according to the supporting schedule, N2, information from the sole proprietorships’ income statement and balance sheet in an accounting statement that comes with the income tax return form. The possibilities of allowances are considered as dependent variables. The intention of the cross-sectional studies is to survey and describe the utilization of possible allowances, with the support of the financial and non-financial independent variables. The connection of these variables to the decision of sole proprietorships to appropriate to the tax allocation reserve is also summarized in a logistic regression model. A number of theoretically based propositions are made for the purpose of observing how the variables are connected to the chances that sole proprietorships actually appropriate to this form of allowance. Appropriation to the tax allocation reserve stands out as the most practiced form of allowance. The studies also clarify that utilization varies among different forms of allowances, but that not all firms that have the prerequisites to utilize the possibilities really do so to the full. A further utilization of the different possibilities of allowances is often conceivable. For the sole proprietorships that are not utilizing these possibilities, the allowances should be considered eligible as a contribution to internal financing and to increase access to capital.