Commercial group. LLC as a commercial organization

The main criterion by which the classification of legal entities in Russian legislation is established in Art. 50 of the Civil Code, which considers commercial and non-profit organizations.

Both groups are full participants in civil circulation. However, there are significant differences between them, causing special legal status each.

Concept and main features of commercial organizations

The law does not contain the concept of a commercial organization, which is close to the scientific one, but its main features are formulated in Art. 48, 49 of the Civil Code, as well as in parts 1 and 2 of Art. 50 GK.

Signs of commercial organizations:

• The main goals of the activities of such legal entities are to make a profit. This means that the organization's charter must contain a corresponding provision. Officials may pay attention to its presence or absence during registration. Its absence serves as grounds for refusal.
• Commercial organizations, as a rule, have general legal capacity. This means that such legal entities have legal grounds to engage in any type of non-prohibited activity. The exception is municipal and state unitary enterprises. They can carry out actions within the framework of the purposes for which they are created. Legislation regulating the position of market participants in various fields economy, can also set restrictions. Examples can be found in financial sector. Organizations performing the functions of banks or insurance companies cannot engage in other activities.
• Mandatory state registration. Only after this does the legal entity become a participant in civil transactions.

The concept of a commercial organization

Characteristics of commercial organizations according to their main characteristics allows us to formulate the concept of this legal entity.

A commercial organization should be understood as a legal entity whose main goal is to make a profit, capable, as a rule, of carrying out any activity not prohibited by legal norms.

Concept and main features of non-profit organizations

The above articles of the Civil Code contain characteristics of commercial and non-profit organizations. This classification makes it possible to distinguish the latter according to a number of characteristics.

• The main distinguishing feature is the purpose of establishing non-profit organizations. Such a structure performs functions other than those of a commercial legal entity and they are not related to making a profit. The goals can be humanitarian, social, political and other aspirations.
• Non-profit organizations have limited legal capacity. It is determined by the purposes of creation. At the same time, entrepreneurial functions that meet this requirement are also possible.
• Another sign is the inability to distribute profits among the founders. If available, it serves as an additional financial basis for achieving the goals for which such an organization was created.
• Special organizational and legal forms. As in the case of commercial legal entities, there is a closed list that defines the types of these organizations.
• To start activities, state registration is required. In some cases, it is much more complex and involves a larger number of necessary actions. An example is the registration of political parties carried out by the Ministry of Justice.

Non-profit organization concept

The provisions of the law characterizing these legal entities allow us to derive the most complete concept.

Non-profit organizations should be understood as duly registered legal entities of certain organizational and legal forms, the goals of which are to achieve results in the social, humanitarian, political and other spheres not related to profit-making, capable of performing functions within the specified framework and not distributing received financial resources between the founders.

How to distinguish a commercial organization from a non-profit?

This classification of legal entities can be carried out according to their main characteristics.

The characteristics of for-profit and non-profit organizations provide a clear picture of how one differs from the other.

Differences can be found in the text of the constituent document. Comparing their initial sections will help establish the goals for creating organizations. The difference will be the presence or absence of profit as the main one.

However, not every citizen has access to documents from organizations. In this case, types of organizational and legal forms will help. It is by their name that an organization can be classified as commercial or non-profit.

Forms of commercial organizations

The list of types of commercial organizations is given in Part 2 of Art. 50 GK. These include:

• Economic societies. This is the most common form. Among them there are joint stock companies, including public and non-public (PJSC and CJSC, respectively) and limited liability companies.
• Production cooperatives. Their peak occurred during the perestroika years. However, today this is a rare type of commercial organization.
• Economic partnerships are even less common than production cooperatives.
• Business partnerships.
• Municipal and state unitary enterprises.
• Peasant (farm) farms.

Forms of non-profit organizations

The legislation provides for a large number of forms of such legal entities (Part 3 of Article 50 of the Civil Code). Therefore, it is easier to act by elimination.

Non-profit organizations should include all legal entities that are not commercial. In practice, forms such as political parties, funds, public organizations, consumer cooperatives, homeowners' associations, bar associations and education.

Modern life encourages us to strive for own business. But working alone is not as profitable and promising as working together. Therefore, like-minded people unite in organizations to do business together. Moreover, not only individual businessmen, but also entire economic entities unite for mutually beneficial work.

A commercial organization is a legal entity with characteristic features, the main goal of which is to earn profit. The main feature of such an organization is precisely the purpose of the work - to make a profit. Although there are other signs inherent different forms commercial structures, which will be discussed in detail in this article.

Common features of commercial organizations

All private firms, regardless of their form, have common characteristics:

Obtaining benefits, that is, income that exceeds expenses;

General creation system according to current laws, since a commercial organization is precisely a legal entity with all the ensuing rules;

Profits are always divided among those who own the organization;

Availability of common property with which the company is liable for its obligations according to the law;

The ability to exercise one’s rights, obligations, and represent interests in judicial authorities on one’s own behalf;

Financial independence.

Forms of commercial organizations

The form of further organization is chosen depending on what tasks the ideological inspirer of the creation of a private company sets for himself. Features of economic development and the formation of civic consciousness contributed to the emergence of many various forms commercial organizations. They are grouped into appropriate groups according to certain characteristics. And these groups, in turn, are also divided into subgroups.

Probably, many of us very often came across such definitions as LLC, OJSC, JSC, etc., as well as partnerships, production cooperatives, farms, unitary enterprises, and so on. Each group has a specific set of rights and responsibilities and directly depends on their industry affiliation.

Rights are inseparable from responsibilities

So, a commercial organization is a structure that unites both individual people (founders) and business entities. According to organizational and legal characteristics, all commercial firms can be divided into two large groups:

Unitary enterprises (municipal or state subordination);

Corporations.

The first group is less common. It should be noted that the rights of commercial organizations of this type are very limited. This legal entity cannot dispose of property transferred to it from the owners. And the owners, in turn, do not have corporate powers to interfere in the management of the structure. Concepts such as shares, shares, deposits are not applicable at all in this case. That is, the appointed director or general manager manages the enterprise using someone else's property. And the owners themselves can count on a certain profit. But they do not make any production decisions and cannot in any way influence the results of operations unitary enterprise.

The second option is more common. It is characterized by the presence of founders who have the corporate right to manage the company.

Corporations in different types

So, corporations involve such management of a commercial organization when the founders are endowed with broad rights and are even part of the higher authorities enterprise management. Corporations are divided into three main structures:

Business societies and partnerships;

Cooperatives (exclusively production and nothing else);

Farms (also called peasant farms).

Economic societies can also be completely different. Although they have one common feature - they combine the capital of several persons who are jointly responsible for the work of the company. Previously, there were many types of business entities. But legislators decided to combine them under three general forms. Today it is an LLC (a company with limited opportunity), JSC (joint stock company) and company with additional liability.

What is the difference between LLC and JSC

When a commercial organization is an LLC, then everyone who is part of it as owners has a share of the authorized capital formed from the contributions of the founders. All limited liability companies have common features:

The amount of authorized capital starts from 10 thousand rubles;

The liability of each founder is proportional to the amount of his contribution to the main charter;

The number of participants cannot be more than 50;

The rights and obligations of participants are prescribed in the corporate agreement and the charter.

And when the authorized capital is divided into shares, the participants are responsible for losses only in the amount of the shares they have, then there can be any number of such members of the enterprise. And they are called shareholders. This is the main difference between JSCs (joint stock companies). Such a commercial structure can be public or non-public. That is, shares are placed using an open or closed method. And the form of management is the meeting of shareholders. It is mandatory to create a board of directors consisting of at least 5 shareholders. In an LLC, it is not necessary to create such a structure, and there is no strict rule on the number of participants in the structure.

Economic partnership and production cooperatives

A commercial organization is a structure, as we have already said, that unites like-minded people with the common goal of making a profit. If we are talking about a business partnership, then two forms of such a structure are allowed - a general partnership and a limited partnership. The second formation is distinguished only by the fact that some members of the organization - individuals, do not have the right to participate in the management of the organization, but are only investors. They simply receive profit from the deposit for the fact that they replenished the pooled capital with their own funds.

Production cooperatives are not popular. With this type of commercial association, management must be carried out by all participants, moreover, in a composition exceeding five members of the organization. They are personally responsible for their own property and for the debts of their company.

Agricultural business sectors

The name speaks for itself that the field of activity of such an organization as a peasant farm is the rural industry. A farming enterprise can be created either by one owner alone or by uniting with others.

Moreover, he cannot afford to join a number of such associations. Character traits this form of commercial structure:

All members must be directly involved in the affairs of the firm;

Farmers themselves can be members of this structure;

There are other responsibilities of each farmer, prescribed and enshrined in the charter;

The company acquires its material assets, equipment and consumables with the joint money of each member of the farm.

State commercial organization

The state also has the right to engage in commerce, benefiting from its work. It's about about a unitary enterprise. This type of commercial organization is a structure that is very limited in its rights to property. Because he does not own his own equipment and premises, but only uses it all for work. A unitary enterprise allows for both municipal and state subordination, but has general signs. Let's list them:

Has a certain legal capacity;

Uses someone else's property only as a tenant;

Participates in civil circulation.

A unitary enterprise is headed by a director or general director. It is he who is responsible for all decisions as the sole leader. Collective leadership does not exist in this form.

Commercial subsidiaries

There are also commercial legal organizations such as “subsidiaries”. A subsidiary business company is not responsible for the debts of the parent company, but is jointly and severally liable for all those transactions that are entrusted to it. And the main enterprise has the right to assign tasks to its “subsidiaries”, drawing up tasks for the future and current plans. The relationship between this dominant structure and its subsidiaries is reflected in the relevant documents, which spell out the rights and obligations of the parties. There is also such a thing as a dependent economic company. It depends on another organization having:

20% of the authorized capital of a limited liability company.

And if an enterprise acquired 20 percent of voting shares or began to own 20% of the authorized capital, according to the law it must publish this information.

Which is better - individual entrepreneur or LLC?

For those who want to create their own business, many books have been written, lectures and seminars are held. But a common question was and remains: what exactly to open - IP ( individual entrepreneurship) or LLC? It is no coincidence that some people choose the first option. Because opening an individual entrepreneur does not require a lot of time and large financial investments. Moreover, for beginners it is important that fines and taxes are small. Because no one is immune from mistakes and low profitability. And reporting for individual entrepreneurs is much simpler. In addition, managing your own money is easy and pleasant. There are also disadvantages, including:

The risk of losing the property of an individual entrepreneur due to unfulfilled obligations;

The types of activities of individual entrepreneurs are limited;

Interest must be paid in Pension Fund.

An LLC has other pros and cons. Among the advantages is that there is no risk of losing money and property if you are just one of the founders, because the organization itself, and not an individual, is responsible for debts. Another plus is that the possibilities of such a reputable organization are much wider. The LLC can even be sold as unnecessary. And the LLC does not pay contributions to the Pension Fund if for some reason it suspends its activities. And the cons:

More complex and lengthy registration procedure;

Strict requirements for authorized capital;

Special rules for withdrawing earned funds;

Complex financial reporting;

High fines.

As is the form, so are the finances

Each commercial company creates a set of financial relations that allow solving social and production issues through the use of its own funds. The finances of commercial organizations depend on their legal form. For example, the state form in to a greater extent depends on the infusion of budget funds. Many unitary enterprises receive government subsidies, thus minimizing the risk of bankruptcy. Whereas organizations do not state form property rely more on their own strength.

Their budget is formed, as a rule, thanks to the investments of the founders. However, commercial and non-profit organizations can count on budget injections. Although now is the time when state-owned unitary enterprises are increasingly relying on other sources of financing, as budget injections are being reduced. The state thus encourages enterprises to think more about the effective use of their own capabilities, finding new sources of income, and cutting costs. Such sources can be interest and dividends on securities, income from transactions with currency and foreign exchange values, expansion of the service sector, and the introduction of competitive ideas.

Financial features by industry

On financial situation Firms are largely influenced by industry affiliation. For example, financial commercial organizations, as industries with great financial risk, are required to have a sufficient financial foundation, additional cash reserves, and insurance. We are talking about credit institutions and insurance companies. Commercial firms with low profitability are considered to be agricultural and, oddly enough, utility and resource supply enterprises. Therefore, the law limits the ability of these firms to supplement their funding sources by issuing securities. Increased tariffs for social insurance from accidents at work and occupational diseases Legislators also require from those industries in which there is an increased risk of occupational “sores” and injuries - coal mining, gas, chemical and oil industries. Even the scale of the commercial firm itself is influenced by industry factors.

When organizing commercial activities, it is necessary to take into account that large-scale enterprises include mechanical engineering, shipbuilding and ship repair, metallurgical plants, in a word, almost all heavy industry. And trade and consumer services are realized through small and medium business, often without requiring large scales. That is, depending on the specific industry, requirements are formed for the organizational and legal form of a commercial structure and, accordingly, for its financial mechanism.

Any form, but the essence is the same

Thus, the organizational forms of commercial organizations are very diverse. And this is good. Depending on your goals and objectives, your field of activity and creative ideas, you can choose the most suitable option. And from the right choice successful operation will depend. However, success consists of many factors, but that’s another story.

According to regulatory documents, a legal entity is an organization that owns a number of assets that are used to pay off various obligations. Constant change market economy became the cause of large quantity various companies, which have a number specific differences from each other. It is these differences that experts use to classify legal entities into separate groups. In this article we propose to consider different kinds commercial organizations and discuss their key features.

A commercial organization is a legal entity that, after registering a company, pursues making a profit as the main goal of its activities.

“Commercial organization” - the essence of the concept

Legal entities engaged in economic activities for the purpose of generating revenue are classified as commercial entities. According to the established procedure, this classification includes various societies, municipal and state companies, production cooperatives and partnerships. It should also be noted that regulatory authorities allow the creation of commercial entities to merge with other organizations. Such mergers are called unions and associations of legal entities.

Each business entity owns various assets. Such assets include both property and financial assets. It should be noted that property assets can be either owned by the company or used as a lease. The assets of a legal entity are used to meet existing financial and debt obligations. According to established rules, such companies have the right to use only those assets that are owned by the organization to cover debt obligations. Members of the management of such a structure have the legal right to develop their company in order to increase profits.

All profits received are distributed according to the level of investment of each member.

Commercial organization - what is it? Before you start studying this issue, you should become familiar with the meaning of this structure. As mentioned above, the category of commerce includes persons who receive regular profits from their activities. Based on this, it can be assumed that the main goal of such companies is to organize economic activity for the purpose of extracting financial resources c. The funds received are distributed among the participants of a particular structure, according to the level of their investments. It should be mentioned that current laws have a clear description of the organizational and legal form of such structures.

The fiftieth article of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides a number of criteria that determine the organizational and legal forms of entities belonging to the category of commerce. This means that in order to introduce new types of commercial structures, regulatory authorities need to make adjustments to the above legislative act.

The main classification of commercial organizations is by type of organizational and legal forms

Accepted classification of activities

All commercial entities can be divided into two conditional groups. The first group includes corporations managed by founders and members of the management team who have corporate rights. It is important to note that this group includes several subgroups. Such subgroups include farms, partnerships and production societies.

The second group includes all municipal and state companies. Distinctive feature of these business entities is the lack of ownership of assets received from the business owner. This means that the management level does not have corporate rights to manage the company.

As a rule, such organizations are created under close government control.

What is the difference between non-profit and for-profit entities

Non-profit organizations have a number of specific differences from commercial entities. The main difference is the company's main goal. Thus, commercial structures conduct business activities in order to obtain regular income. In addition, the direction of activity of the subject should be taken into account. As practice shows, commercial structures work for the benefit of only the founders. Non-profit companies strive to provide comfortable conditions for all participants in the structure, which is the basis for achieving the maximum level of social benefits.

In commercial organizations, all profits received by the enterprise are distributed among members of its management. The remaining funds are directed to further development companies, development of new markets and other goals that will increase revenue. Non-profit structures most often have no profit at all. Speaking about the differences between for-profit and non-profit organizations, you should pay attention to Special attention on the type of their activity. The first type of company is engaged in the manufacture of commercial products and the provision of services, while the second type is engaged in the provision of social benefits to various segments of the population.

According to experts, the structures in question have differences in the type of employees they employ. In the case of commercial entities, each employee of the organization receives payment for fulfilling their labor obligations. Non-profit organizations, in addition to the work of their staff, involve volunteers and volunteers in performing various works. The last difference between these structures is the company registration procedure itself. To register a commercial company, the owner of the company or a person representing the interests of the founding council must contact the tax authority. A non-profit structure is registered by the justice authorities.

A non-profit organization does not aim to make a profit and does not distribute the profits between participants

Types of commercial organizations

The current regulations set out the criteria for determining all forms of commercial organizations. Let's take a look at the description of each type of commercial entity.

General partnerships

Full partnership - a feature of this form is the presence of folding capital, which is based on investments by members of the founding council. All income received is divided proportionally, according to the amount of invested capital. It should be noted that all members of the partnership bear general responsibility for financial obligations. The property of the partnership can be used to pay off credit debts. According to experts, today this form of commerce is registered quite rarely.

Producer cooperatives

This form of commercial structures is often called artels. Such companies are created by bringing together citizens to organize a joint business. Each participant in a cooperative engaged in the production of commercial products can make a personal contribution to the development of the organization, through labor participation or financial contributions. It should be noted that in this case, a commercial structure can be organized by both ordinary citizens and legal entities.

In addition to production cooperatives, there are such types of organizations as:

1. Consumer cooperative.
2. Insurance and credit cooperation.
3. Construction and economic cooperatives.

When such a company is formed, a “Charter” is created, which sets out the level of responsibility of all its participants. According to the established rules, to create a cooperative it is necessary to assemble a founding council of more than five people.

LLC (limited liability companies)

Such organizations can have either one owner or belong to the founding council. As a rule, the board of founders consists of legal and individuals. The authorized capital of such an organization consists of shares of capital contributed by members of the company. It is important to note that all members of the company are not responsible for the financial and other obligations of the company. This means that only the property and assets of the company itself are used to repay loans and debt obligations. G The main distinguishing feature of such organizations is the presence of mandatory rights for each founder. According to statistics, this organizational and legal form is used by the majority of companies operating in Russia.

Commercial organizations have all the characteristics of a legal entity

Quite often you can hear the question: Is an LLC a commercial or non-profit organization? According to the definition of current regulatory documents, this form ownership refers to commercial structures, since the main goal of an LLC is to make a profit. Based on this fact, we can conclude that companies belonging to this category have the right to engage in any type of business. It should be noted that in order to work in certain areas, organizations need to obtain licenses and other permits.

JSC (joint stock companies)

The organizational and legal form under consideration is most often used by entities belonging to the category of medium and large enterprises. The entire authorized capital of such companies is divided into shares. The main distinguishing feature of such organizations is the limited liability of security holders. Today the following classification of joint stock companies is used:

• closed societies;
• public organizations.

Each of these structures includes several subgroups. Thus, business partnerships are one of the types of public joint stock companies (joint stock companies).

State and municipal unitary enterprises

The structure under consideration has a number interesting features. The main difference of this structure is the absence of ownership rights to the company’s property assets. According to the established rules, municipal unitary enterprises have property values ​​that cannot be divided between the owners. This means that all assets and funds of the company cannot be divided into shares or contributions. It should be emphasized that all property assets belong to the company under economic management rights. According to experts, the owners of such companies are liable for financial obligations solely with the assets of the company.

Team partnerships

This structure is based on a share fund created by two categories of persons: general partners and limited investors. The first group of individuals carries out the business activities themselves on behalf of the entire company. It should be noted that these persons are liable for financial obligations not only with the property assets of the company, but also with personal values. Persons acting as investors are liable only for the investments made. According to experts, this form of organization is registered quite rarely.

According to the rules established by current legislation, the category of full participants includes only private entrepreneurs and owners of organizations. Both organizations and ordinary citizens could receive the status of investors.

A commercial organization is a clearly defined legal form of organization

Companies with additional liability

This form of commercial activity was abolished in two thousand and fourteen. A distinctive feature of an ALC is the presence of one or more founders. The authorized capital of such companies is divided into several shares, the size of which is determined by the constituent documentation. All members of the founding council of such a company bear financial responsibility in the form of their own property values.

The main characteristics of commercial organizations

The main feature of a commercial structure is the general goal of economic activity, aimed at generating a stable income. The current legislation has a clear definition of all existing organizational and legal forms of such companies. All finances received by these structures are distributed among its owners.

It should be noted that all commercial entities have exactly the same characteristics as legal entities. This means that the owners of the company are responsible to regulatory authorities, business partners and other persons for both their own property values ​​and the assets of the company. Each established commercial entity has a number of rights and obligations. This indicates that these citizens can be called upon as defendants and plaintiffs in legal proceedings.

Conclusions (+ video)

Experts in the field of entrepreneurship say that today in Russia there are more than a dozen different forms of commercial entities, differing in internal structure. This fact indicates that every person who wants to engage in business on behalf of a legal organization has the legal right to choose the most suitable form of business, based on their preferences and goals.

All existing organizations are divided into two main groups: commercial and non-profit. Each of the presented forms operates on the basis of current legislation, while pursuing different goals. What a commercial organization is, the formation of its finances and the main differences from a non-profit organization will be discussed in the article.

The essence of a commercial organization

A commercial organization (CO) is a legal entity whose main purpose is to generate profit and distribute it among all participants.

In addition, KO has the features inherent in legal entities:

• the presence of separate property in ownership, economic management or operational management;
• possibility of renting out property;
• fulfillment of obligations on the basis of property owned by them;
• acquisition, exercise on behalf of property of various rights;
• appearance in court as a plaintiff or defendant.

Finance of a commercial organization

Finance of commercial organizations is the main link financial system. They cover most processes aimed at production, distribution, and use of GDP in monetary terms. There is another definition, according to which enterprise finance represents monetary or other relationships that arise in the implementation of different types entrepreneurship, as a result of the formation of personal capital, target funds, their use, and further redistribution.

From an economic point of view, CI finances are subject to grouping between the following individuals and groups:

• founders when creating an enterprise;
• organizations and enterprises in the production and further sale of goods, works, services;
• divisions of the enterprise - when determining sources of financing;
• organization and employees;
• enterprise and higher organization;
• enterprise and CO;
• financial state system and enterprise;
• banking system and enterprise;
• investment institutions and enterprises.

At the same time, CI finances have the same functions as state or municipal finances - control and distribution. Both functions are closely related.

The distribution function involves the formation of initial capital, its further distribution in such a way as to maximally take into account the interests of all economic divisions of the organization, producers of goods and the state.

The basis of the control function is keeping records of expenses associated with the production and sale of products, monitoring the procedure for the formation and distribution of funds.

The basis for financial management of commercial organizations is a certain financial mechanism, represented by the following elements:

• Financial planning is an indispensable condition for the existence of any enterprise. Planning is required not only when opening a CO, but also at the entire development stage. During planning, expected results and income are compared with investments, and the capabilities of the enterprise are identified;
• financial control over organizations whose form of ownership is non-state by government agencies authorities is carried out in terms of fulfilling obligations to tax authorities, as well as when using funds from state budget. This happens when KO is received sums of money as state aid. Types of control – audit, on-farm;
• analysis of the implementation of forecasts and plans. The implementation of plans is not necessarily checked here. This analysis is more aimed at identifying possible reasons deviations of planned indicators from forecast values.

Modern classification of activities

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation defines the following forms of criminal codes:

• A business partnership is a CO in which authorized capital is divided into shares among all its participants. Participants are liable for the company’s obligations with their own property;
• business company - an organization where the authorized capital is divided into shares between participants, but they are not liable for the obligations of the company with their property;
• production cooperative - an enterprise that unites on a voluntary basis citizens who take collective, personal, labor or other participation in activities and make share contributions;
• state or municipal unitary enterprise - an enterprise created by the state (municipal authorities). In this case, the enterprise is not vested with ownership rights to the property assigned to it.

According to Art. 50 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation there is only a list of the above-mentioned commercial organizations. Therefore, without first amending this legal act, it will not be possible to introduce any other law on CR.

What is the difference between a for-profit organization and a non-profit?

First, we should briefly discuss the similarities between the two types of organizations.

There are not very many of them:

• both types of enterprises operate in a market environment, therefore, in the course of operation, they can act as sellers of goods, works or services, or their buyers;
• each such enterprise must earn financial resources, manage funds, invest them in different directions;
• The goal of each enterprise is for income to fully cover current expenses. The minimum task is the ability to work without losses;
• Both organizations are required to maintain accounting records.

Thus, it can be argued that the operating principles of commercial and non-profit organizations are identical. However, there are quite a few criteria by which they differ from each other.

Difference	commercial organization	Non-profit organization
Field of activity	Created for the purpose of making a profit	Created to achieve goals that have nothing to do with the material base
Original target	Increase in own value, increase in income of all owners	Carrying out work specified in the organization’s charter related to the provision of services without subsequent receipt of profit by persons included in the founders
Important area of ​​activity	Production, sale of goods, works, services	Charity
Profit distribution procedure	All profits received are subject to further distribution between participants or transferred for the development of the company	The concept of “profit” does not exist. Its founders operate with the definition of “targeted funds”, which are allocated for the implementation of specific activities, but are not subject to distribution among participants
The target audience	Consumers of goods, works, services	Clients, members of the organization
Organization staff	Working personnel are hired on the terms of civil law contracts (CLA)	In addition to employees working on GPA terms, the staff includes volunteers, volunteers, and the founders themselves also take part in the work
Sources of income	Own activities, share in the profits of third-party companies	Funds, government, investors, business (external receipts), membership fees, rental of own premises, transactions on stock markets (internal receipts)
Organizational and legal form	LLC, JSC, PJSC, PC (production cooperative), municipal unitary enterprise, various partnerships	Charitable or other foundation, institution, religious association, consumer cooperative, etc.
Limitations on legal capacity	Universal or general. They have civil rights, fulfill obligations on the basis of which they are allowed to engage in any activity if it does not contradict current legislation	Limited legal capacity. They have only those rights that are reflected in the statutory documents
The body that carries out the registration of the enterprise	Tax office	Ministry of Justice

These are the main differences between the two types of enterprises. Another nuance is accounting. Non-profit organizations have much more complicated accounting, so their founders have to use the services of highly qualified accountants.

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the following possible forms organization of business activities:

business partnerships

business companies

production cooperatives

state and municipal unitary enterprises

A business partnership is a commercial organization whose authorized capital is divided into shares (contributions) of its participants (founders), who are liable for its obligations with the property they own.

A business company is a commercial organization whose authorized capital is divided into shares (contributions) of its participants (founders), who are not liable for its obligations with the property they own and risk only their shares (contributions).

A production cooperative (artel) is a commercial organization that unites citizens on a voluntary basis on the basis of membership, personal labor and other participation, and making property share contributions.

A state (municipal) unitary enterprise is a commercial organization created by the state (municipal governing body) and not endowed with ownership rights to the property assigned to it by the owner.

Three of the above four forms of entrepreneurial activity represent one form or another of combining separate, individual, private capital.

The main advantages of combining capital compared to individual entrepreneurship are as follows:

pooling of capital allows you to quickly increase it, and therefore quickly expand this or that commercial activity;

distribution of responsibility for the safety and efficient use consolidated capital;

freeing up time for businessmen for personal life, education, recreation, treatment, etc.;

combining the experience and knowledge of capital owners, expanding opportunities to attract highly qualified specialists in all areas of activity;

the owners of the combined capital bear the risk only within the limits of their contributions.

Production cooperative

A production cooperative as a form of organization of entrepreneurial activity may not differ economically from a business partnership or company. It is assumed that members of a production cooperative take personal labor participation in its activities. However, on the one hand, the same thing can happen in small business partnerships and societies, and on the other hand, the law does not exclude the possibility of membership in a production cooperative of legal entities and forms of participation in its work other than labor.

As a legal entity, a production cooperative is characterized by the following features:

It is an association of citizens who organize themselves to work;

The basis of the association is membership in the cooperative;

Members of the cooperative participate in the activities of the cooperative through personal labor;

Not only personal labor, but also property participation in the activities of the cooperative is required;

Membership in a cooperative on the basis of only a share contribution without personal labor participation is in principle permitted, but in certain amounts - no more than 25 percent of the amount of share contributions. The existence of members of the cooperative who do not participate in the activities of the cooperative through their labor is also allowed. But there should be no more than 25 percent;

A legal entity can also be a member of a cooperative that contributes only a share;

Members of a production cooperative bear subsidiary liability (subsidiary liability implies that if the property of the cooperative is not enough to cover the obligations, the remaining debt is reimbursed by the shareholders) for the obligations of this legal entity in the amount established by the charter of the cooperative;

The corporate name of this legal entity must contain the actual name of this cooperative and the words “production cooperative” or “artel” (these are synonyms);

The constituent document here is the charter adopted at the general meeting of members of the cooperative;

The number of members of the cooperative must be at least 5. The maximum number is not limited;

The property base of the cooperative's activities is formed by the share contributions of the members of the cooperative.

Unitary enterprise

The main difference between a business partnership and a company and a unitary enterprise is that, firstly, the property they have belongs to them by right of ownership, and secondly, by the right of economic ownership or operational management. In practice, there is usually a second difference between these forms of commercial organizations, which is that unitary enterprises always have only one owner (the state or municipal government), while business organizations usually have several such owners (although the law allows for the possibility of having they also have only one owner).

A unitary enterprise can only be based on state or municipal property.

A unitary enterprise has the following characteristics:

1. Unlike business companies, partnerships and production cooperatives, the enterprise itself does not have the right of ownership of property. The owner of this property continues to be the founder of this enterprise. This property is assigned to the unitary enterprise itself either on the right of economic management, or on the right of operational management, on the so-called limited property right;

2. The property of a unitary enterprise is not distributed among the employees of this enterprise, is indivisible, and there can be only one owner of a unitary enterprise;

3. The management body of a unitary enterprise is sole. This is, as a rule, a director or general director who is appointed by the owner of the property of this unitary enterprise. Collegial forms of governance are not allowed;

4. The following may be the owner of a unitary enterprise:

The Russian Federation as a subject of civil law,

subjects of the Russian Federation,

municipalities.

Economic partnership

A business partnership differs from a business company in the form of responsibility of their members, or the amount of risk they bear when participating in a particular business organization. This liability can be full, i.e., include liability for the entire property of a participant in a commercial organization, regardless of the size of his contribution to its authorized capital, or partial, limited, i.e., limited to the size of his share (contribution) to the authorized capital of this organization.

A business partnership is based on a contribution to the authorized capital and full property liability of its members. A business company is based on a contribution to the authorized capital, but the liability of its members is limited only by the size of the contribution itself.

A business partnership can exist in two varieties: general partnership and limited partnership.

Full partnership – This is a business partnership in which all its participants, called “full partners,” are liable for its obligations with the property they own.

Partnership of Faith- this is a business partnership in which not all of its participants are liable for its obligations with the property belonging to them, but there are one or more participants who do not take part in the business activities of the partnership, and therefore bear the risk of losses only within the limits of their contributions.

Any person can be a member of only one general partnership or be a general partner in only one limited partnership.

A participant in a general partnership cannot simultaneously be a general partner in a limited partnership and vice versa.

The organization of any partnership is based on the personal trust relationships of its participants. Without trust, a partnership is impossible, since the risk of its participants is unlimited (except by the size of their personal property).

A business company can exist in the following forms:

limited liability company;

additional liability company;

Joint-Stock Company.

Participants in commercial organizations have the right to participate in their management, receive information about their activities, participate in the distribution of profits received, receive a portion of the property remaining after the liquidation of the organization proportional to their contribution, and have other rights under the law and in accordance with the statutory documents.

The classification of commercial organizations is shown in Fig. 3.

Rice. 3. Classification of commercial organizations