All organizations can be divided into 2 categories: commercial and non-commercial. The main purpose of the creation and functioning of commercial organizations is to make a profit. For non-profit organizations - profit is not an important goal.

Types of commercial organizations according to civil law:

Limited liability companies;

Municipal and state unitary enterprises;

Features of each type:

Partnerships (full) are commercial organizations that are created on the basis of a special memorandum of association. Entrepreneurial activity in full partnerships is carried out on behalf of the partnership. All participants in the partnership bear property responsibility for the activities of this commercial organization. Losses and profits are distributed among each participant in proportion to his contribution.

Production cooperatives are commercial organizations that carry out activities on the basis of the personal desire of citizens, with the aim of conducting joint economic or production activities. Each member of the cooperative must personally participate in economic or production activities. The responsibility of each member is subsidiary. The governing body is a meeting of members of the cooperative.

A limited liability company is an organization in which the authorized capital is divided into shares between the founders in accordance with the profit between the participants of the LLC is distributed according to their shares. Participants are not liable for the debts and obligations of their organization. The supreme governing body of an LLC is the meeting of its members.

Unitary enterprises are commercial organizations that do not have the right to dispose of property that is assigned to them by the owner. A unitary enterprise cannot be divided among the participants. The state or municipal service is recognized as the owner of the property of such an enterprise. Management body - the head appointed by the owner of the enterprise.

Partnerships (limited partnerships) are commercial organizations in which participants are liable for the obligations and debts of the enterprise with their property. In a limited partnership, unlike a general partnership, there are several investors who are liable for the risk of loss.

An additional liability company is a company founded by one or more founders. The ALC is divided among the participants into shares, which are defined in the constituent documents. ODO bears 2 types of responsibility:

* the company itself in the amount of the established fund;

* each (according to contributions).

A joint-stock company is an organization in which the authorized capital is divided into an equal number of shares in value, which certify the rights of the participant in relation to the company. The meeting of shareholders is the main governing body. The number of votes each shareholder has is distributed in proportion to the number of shares acquired. Profit is also divided in proportion to the number of shares. Joint-stock companies, in which shares can be sold not only to shareholders, are called open. Joint-stock companies in which shares cannot be sold without the prior consent of the shareholders are called closed.

Registration of commercial organizations takes place in the registration authorities. At the same time, the features of registration and creation of organizations are necessarily taken into account.

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 changes in the market economy have led to the emergence of a large number of different companies that have a number of specific differences from each other. It is these differences that are used by experts to classify legal entities into separate groups. In this article, we propose to consider various types of commercial organizations and discuss their key features.

A commercial organization is a legal entity that, after registering a company, pursues making 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 companies, municipal and state-owned companies, production cooperatives and partnerships. It should also be noted that the regulatory authorities allow the creation of commercial entities to merge with other organizations. Such a merger is referred to as unions and associations of legal entities.

Each business entity owns different assets. These assets include both property and financial resources. It should be noted that property values ​​can be both owned by the company and used on a leasehold basis. The assets of the legal entity are used to meet existing financial and debt obligations. According to the 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 engage in the development of their company in order to increase profits.

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

Commercial organization - what is it? Before proceeding to the study of this issue, you should familiarize yourself with the meaning of this structure. As mentioned above, the category of commerce includes persons who receive regular profit from their activities. Based on this, it can be assumed that the main goal of such companies is the organization of economic activity in order to extract financial resources. The funds received are distributed among the participants of a particular structure, according to the level of their investments. It should be mentioned that in the current laws there is a clear description of the organizational and legal form of such structures.

The fiftieth article of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation contains 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 varieties of commercial structures, the regulatory authorities need to make adjustments to the above legislative act.

The main classification of commercial organizations - by types of organizational and legal forms

Accepted activity classification

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

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

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

What is the difference between non-profit and commercial structures

Non-profit organizations have a number of specific differences from commercial entities. The main difference is the main goal of the company. So, commercial structures conduct economic activities in order to obtain a regular income. In addition, the direction of the subject's activity 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 the members of its management. The remaining funds are directed to the further development of the company, the development of new markets and other goals that will increase the amount of revenue. In non-profit structures, profit is most often completely absent. Speaking about the differences between commercial and non-profit organizations, one should pay special attention to the type of their activities. The first type of companies is engaged in the manufacture of commercial products and the provision of services, and the second type is engaged in the provision of social benefits to various segments of the population.

According to experts, the structures under consideration have differences in the form of employees. In the case of commercial entities, each employee of the organization receives payment for the fulfillment of his labor obligations. Non-profit organizations, in addition to the work of their staff, involve volunteers and volunteers in the performance of 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 apply to 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 received among the participants

Types of commercial organizations

The current regulatory legal acts set out the criteria for determining all forms of commercial organizations. Let's get acquainted with the description of each type of commercial entities.

General partnerships

General partnership - a feature of this form is the presence of share capital, which is based on the investment of members of the founders' council. All income received is divided proportionally, according to the amount of invested capital. It should be noted that all members of the partnership are jointly responsible for financial obligations. The partnership's property can be used to repay credit debts. According to experts, today this form of commerce is registered quite rarely.

Production cooperatives

This form of commercial structures is often referred to as artels. Such companies are created with the help of the association of citizens to organize a joint business. Each member of a cooperative engaged in the production of marketable 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 prescribes the level of responsibility of all its participants. According to the established rules, in order 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 entities and individuals. The statutory fund of such an organization consists of capital shares 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 most companies operating in Russia.

Commercial organizations have all the features inherent in a legal entity

Quite often you can hear the question: is LLC a commercial or non-profit organization? According to the definition of the current legal documents, this form of ownership refers to commercial structures, since the main purpose 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 considered organizational and legal form is most often used by entities belonging to the category of medium and large businesses. The entire authorized capital of such companies is divided into shares. The main distinguishing feature of such organizations is the limited liability of securities holders. To date, the following classification of joint-stock companies is used:

• closed societies;
• public organizations.

Each of these structures includes several subgroups. So, business partnerships are one of the varieties of public joint-stock companies (joint stock company).

State and municipal unitary enterprises

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

Team partnerships

This structure is based on a savings fund created by two categories of persons: general partners and limited partners. The first group of persons carries out the economic activity itself 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 a contributor are liable only for the investments made. According to experts, this form of organizations is registered quite rarely.

According to the rules established by the current legislation, only private entrepreneurs and owners of organizations belong to the category of full participants. The status of contributors could be obtained by both organizations and ordinary citizens.

Commercial organization clearly defined legal form in the law

Companies with additional liability

This form of commercial activity was abolished in 2014. 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 are financially responsible in the form of their own property values.

The main features of commercial organizations

The main feature of a commercial structure is the overall goal of economic activity, aimed at obtaining 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 subjects of commerce have exactly the same characteristics as legal entities. This means that the owners of the company are responsible to the regulatory authorities, business partners and other persons for both their own property values ​​and the assets of the companies. Each establish a business entity has a number of rights and obligations. This indicates that these citizens can be called up as defendants and plaintiffs in court proceedings.

Conclusions (+ video)

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

Each person has heard more than once about such a concept as a commercial organization, moreover, many of them work in such structures. But in addition to everything else, there is a completely different subject of economic relations, the essence of which is directly opposite - this is a non-profit organization. What is the difference between commercial and non-profit organizations? Let's consider this question in more detail.

Definition

commercial organization is a business entity whose main purpose of functioning is the acquisition of profit. In other words, all the actions of management and employees are aimed at increasing their well-being. The profit received in the course of ongoing activities is distributed among all participants who organized the company, or invested in the enterprise. Commercial organizations can have a variety of forms of management, and, in accordance with this, rights, obligations and responsibilities.

Non-Profit Organization (NPO) sees the creation of any social benefits for the state and the population as its main goal. These include charitable events, cultural programs, sports competitions, scientific conferences, public health or environmental events. A non-profit organization never pursues the goal of making a profit, since it acts on a voluntary basis to achieve public benefits. And since such an organization does not receive profit in the form of cash or other tangible assets, it cannot distribute it among its founders. In other words, members of a non-profit organization work as volunteers, that is, they do not receive income from their activities.

Comparison

The differences between commercial and non-profit organizations are significant, and the most important feature of the classification is profit. So, a commercial organization is founded only in order to receive money from its activities. But a non-profit organization pursues a completely different goal - not to make a profit, but to represent the interests of the population in order to create socially significant benefits for humanity. In addition, the organizers of a commercial company receive income in the form of dividends or a percentage of net profit, while the founders of a non-profit association work on a voluntary basis.

Findings site

1. A commercial organization is founded solely for the sake of making a profit, a non-profit organization, on the contrary, does not pursue the goal of extracting material benefits;
2. The founders of a commercial organization create benefits for themselves in the form of receiving funds from activities, while a non-profit organization is founded to create favorable living conditions for people and achieve socially significant social benefits.

According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, all legal entities are divided into commercial and non-commercial. Commercial legal entities have as the main goal of their activities the extraction of profit. Non-commercial legal entities do not have the main goal of making profit and do not distribute it among the participants.

Commercial legal entities by civil law include:

1) general partnerships;

2) limited partnerships (limited partnerships);

3) limited liability companies;

4) additional liability companies;

5) joint-stock companies;

6) production cooperatives;

7) state and municipal unitary enterprises.

A general partnership is created by the participants on the basis of a memorandum of association. General partners carry out entrepreneurial activities on behalf of the partnership and bear joint and several full liability for its debts with all their property. The procedure for managing a partnership is determined by agreement of the private owners (partners). Profits and losses of a general partnership shall be distributed among its participants in proportion to their shares in the share capital, unless otherwise provided by the memorandum of association or other agreement of the participants.

In a limited partnership, general partners are liable for the obligations of the partnership with their property and participate in the entrepreneurial activities of the partnership. Along with general partners, a limited partnership has one or more contributors (limited partners) who bear the risk of losses associated with the activities of the partnership, within the limits of the amounts they have contributed and do not take part in the entrepreneurial activities of the partnership. You can be a general partner only in one general partnership or only in one limited partnership. The management of the activities of a limited partnership is carried out by general partners according to the rules of management in a general partnership.

A limited liability company (LLC) is the most common type of commercial organization. A limited liability company is a company founded by one or more persons, the authorized capital of which is divided into shares of the sizes determined by the constituent documents. Participants of a limited liability company distribute profit among themselves in proportion to the shares contributed to the authorized capital. Members of an LLC are not liable for the obligations of the Company. The property liability of an LLC is limited by the size of the authorized capital. The supreme body of a limited liability company is the general meeting of its members.

An Additional Liability Company (ALC) is a company founded by one or more persons, the authorized capital of which is divided into shares of sizes determined by the constituent documents. The liability of an ALC is higher than that of an LLC. For the obligations of the ALC, not only the company itself is liable in the amount of the authorized capital, but also the participants - with their property in the same multiple for all of the value of their contributions.

A joint-stock company (JSC) is a legal entity whose authorized capital is divided into a certain number of shares of equal value, certifying the obligations of the company's participants in relation to the company. A joint-stock company owns separate property, which is recorded on its independent balance sheet, can acquire and exercise property and personal non-property rights on its own behalf, be a plaintiff and defendant in court. The supreme governing body of a joint-stock company is the general meeting of shareholders. The JSC participant has the number of votes at the meeting of shareholders in proportion to the number of shares held. Profit is also distributed among the shareholders in proportion to the number of shares. There are two types of joint-stock companies: open (JSC) and closed (CJSC). In an OJSC, shares can be freely sold to participants to each other or to other persons. In a CJSC, shares cannot be sold without the consent of other shareholders, and shares are distributed only among its founders or other predetermined circle of persons. Joint stock companies whose founders are, in the cases established by federal laws, the Russian Federation, a constituent entity of the Russian Federation or a municipality, can only be open. In a company with more than 50 shareholders, a board of directors (supervisory board) is created.

A production cooperative (artel) is a voluntary association of citizens on the basis of membership for the implementation of joint production or other economic activities based on the personal participation of its members and the association of property shares by its members. Members of a production cooperative shall bear subsidiary liability for the obligations of the cooperative in the amount and in the manner prescribed by the law on production cooperatives. The property owned by the production cooperative is divided into shares of its members in accordance with the charter of the cooperative. The cooperative is not entitled to issue shares. A member of the cooperative has one vote in decision-making by the supreme management body - the general meeting of members of the cooperative.

A unitary enterprise is a commercial organization that is not endowed with the right of ownership of the property assigned to it by the owner. The property of a unitary enterprise is indivisible and cannot be distributed among contributions (shares, shares), including among employees of the enterprise. The property of a state or municipal unitary enterprise (SUE and MUP) is, respectively, in state or municipal ownership and belongs to such an enterprise on the basis of the right of economic management or operational management. The management body of a unitary enterprise is the head, who is appointed by the owner of the property or a body authorized by the owner and is accountable to him. A unitary enterprise is liable for its obligations with all its property. A unitary enterprise shall not be liable for the obligations of the owner of its property.

2. Non-profit organizations

Non-profit organizations are called organizations that do not have as their main goal the extraction of profit and do not distribute it among the participants. They are subjects of commercial law because they can engage in trading activities to achieve their statutory objectives without the purpose of making a profit. Non-commercial legal entities include:

1) consumer cooperatives;

2) public and religious organizations (associations);

4) institutions;

5) associations of legal entities (associations and unions).

A consumer cooperative is a voluntary association of citizens and legal entities on the basis of membership in order to meet the material and other needs of the participants, carried out by combining property shares by its members. Income received by a consumer cooperative from entrepreneurial activities carried out by the cooperative is distributed among its members. Members of a consumer cooperative jointly and severally bear subsidiary liability for its obligations within the limits of the unpaid part of the additional contribution of each of the members of the cooperative.

Foundation - a non-profit organization without membership, established by citizens and (or) legal entities on the basis of voluntary property contributions, pursuing social, charitable, cultural, educational or other socially useful goals. The property transferred to the foundation by its founders is the property of the foundation. The founders are not liable for the obligations of the fund they have created, and the fund is not liable for the obligations of its founders. The Foundation has the right to engage in entrepreneurial activities necessary to achieve the socially useful goals for which the Foundation was created, and corresponding to these goals. In order to carry out entrepreneurial activities, foundations have the right to create business companies or participate in them.

Institutions-organizations created by the owner to carry out managerial, socio-cultural or other functions of a non-commercial nature and financed by him in whole or in part. The institution is responsible for its obligations with the funds at its disposal. In case of their insufficiency, the owner of the relevant property bears subsidiary liability for its obligations.

Associations and unions are associations of commercial and other organizations for the purpose of coordinating their business activities, as well as representing and protecting common property interests. The association (union) is not responsible for the obligations of its members. Members of an association (union) bear subsidiary liability for its obligations in the amount and in the manner prescribed by the founding documents of the association.

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

The essence of a business organization

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

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

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

Finance of a commercial organization

The finances of commercial organizations are the main link in the financial system. They cover most of the processes aimed at the production, distribution, use of GDP in monetary terms. There is another definition according to which the finances of enterprises are monetary or other relationships arising from the implementation of various types of entrepreneurship, as a result of the formation of personal capital, targeted funds, their use, and further redistribution.

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

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

At the same time, the finances of KOs 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 take into account the interests of all business units of the organization, producers of goods and the state as much as possible.

The basis of the control function is keeping records of expenses associated with the release, sale of products, control over the formation and distribution of cash funds.

The basis of 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 stage of the entire development. In the course of planning, the expected results and incomes are compared with investments, the capabilities of the enterprise are identified;
• financial control over organizations, the form of ownership of which is non-state, by state authorities is carried out in terms of fulfilling obligations to tax authorities, as well as when using funds from the state budget. This occurs when KOs receive monies in the form of state aid. Types of control - audit, on-farm;
• analysis of the implementation of forecasts and plans. It does not necessarily check the execution of plans. Such an analysis is more aimed at identifying possible causes of deviations of planned indicators from predicted values.

Modern activity classification

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation defines the following forms of KO:

• A business partnership is a CO in which the authorized capital is divided into shares between all its participants. Participants are liable for the obligations of the company with their own property;
• economic society - an organization where the authorized capital is divided into shares between the 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, making share contributions;
• state or municipal unitary enterprise - an enterprise created by the state (municipal authorities). At the same time, the enterprise is not endowed with ownership rights to the property that is assigned to it.

According to Art. 50 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation there is only a list of the above commercial organizations. Therefore, without preliminary amendments to this legal act, it will not be possible to put into circulation any other law on FGM.

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

First, let's look briefly at 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, their buyers;
• each such enterprise must earn money resources, manage funds, invest them in different directions;
• The goal of every enterprise is to ensure that income fully covers current expenses. The minimum task is the ability to work without loss;
• Both organizations are required to keep accounting records.

Thus, it can be argued that the principle of operation of commercial and non-commercial organizations is 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 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	Performance of the work indicated by the charter of the organization related to the provision of services without subsequent receipt of profit by persons who are members of the founders
Important line of business	Production, sale of goods, works, services	Charity
Profit distribution procedure	All profits received are subject to further distribution among the participants or are transferred for the development of the company	The concept of "profit" does not exist. Its founders operate with the definition of “target funds”, which are directed to the implementation of specific cases, while not subject to distribution among the participants
The target audience	Consumers of goods, works, services	Clients, members of the organization
Organization staff	The working personnel is accepted on the terms of civil law contracts (GPA)	In addition to employees working on the terms of the GPA, the staff includes volunteers, volunteers, and the founders themselves take part in the work
Sources of income	Own activities, equity participation in the profits of third-party companies	Funds, government, investors, business (external income), membership fees, renting out own premises, operations in the stock markets (internal income)
Organizational and legal form	LLC, JSC, PJSC, PC (production cooperative), MUP, various partnerships	Charitable or other foundation, institution, religious association, consumer cooperative, etc.
Legal capacity restrictions	Universal or general. Possess civil rights, fulfill obligations, on the basis of which it is allowed to engage in any activity, if it does not contradict the current legislation	Limited legal capacity. They have only those rights that are reflected in the statutory documents
Authority registering an enterprise	Tax office	Ministry of Justice

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