The consulting industry is one of the most diverse markets within the professional services industry, and as such, there is a wide spectrum of types of consultants in the industry. Financial consultants assess a client's financial situation to present a plan on how to better manage the company's finances. In most cases, the separation between the company and the owners also protects the personal assets of the owners of the corporation against business liabilities. However, if you decide to run the business under a different name than your own, you may have to submit what is known as a Doing Business As certificate to the state.
When deciding between these four business entities, ask yourself first if you want or need to become a consultant. If you want to run a consulting firm that requires little maintenance, a sole proprietorship is probably the best option, but it leaves you with the personal responsibility for your business. In other words, there is a list of codes available for different industries and companies that can be selected according to their specific activity, such as the business activity code for consulting. For your company's tax return to be complete, you must enter the codes assigned to your company.
To avoid this situation, you must give the impression that you and the company are separate entities, for example, maintaining separate bank accounts for your business and personal assets. While these four options are the main types of business structures that will apply to you, there are also trust structures and nonprofit organizations, but consultants don't usually use them. The corporation also has to elect a board of directors, which will delegate business activities to people in the company known as officers. Unlike sole proprietorships, C corporation shareholders are generally exempt from personal liability for business debts, even if one of the shareholders has a significant stake in the company.
Understand that you have a variety of options for your company when it comes to choosing your structure; choosing your company structure depends on what works best for you. A consultant in this area provides advice on how best to use technology to improve a client's business. They are looking for the experience of a human resources consultant to restructure the business and create a management team suitable to work in the new market. This process involves identifying the industry in which your company operates, describing the type of product or service you offer, and who your company is targeting.
This type of consulting could be the perfect match for those of you who have a degree in finance, economics, or business.
