what is the difference between a company and a firm?

Answer 1

These words are usually used interchangeably. The only times I can think of where they are slightly different is with professional practices. We say law firms, not law companies. Then again, we say medical "practices" rather than medical firms or medical companies. For the most part, though, if you're talking about regular corporations, the two words are synonyms.

Answer 2

Company And Firm

Answer 3

Why do people always copy from another site and paste it here to claim it as their own answer. Paligarism.

Anyway, Firm usually denotes a business organisation where there are more than one member. Its usually a Partnership Firm. Rarely it is used to refer a company. A word Company denotes a company as registered under the Companies Act (or if outside India, then registered according that law of the land)

Both has more than one member. But registering a company is mandatory while a firm need not be registered. Firm is rather an ambiguous broader term than that of Company which is a definite and specific term.

Answer 4

A company is usually incorporated under companies Act where as firm is un incorporated organisation. It may be registered or not registered.

Usually Company can be a private limited or public limited

in former the shares are owned by promoters of the company and the company's liability is upto its paid capital, in case of later the shares of company is floated and sold to individuals i.e. the capital is raised from public and the company becomes a public property, here too the company's liability is upto the share held by the individual and total number of shares issued. If the the company is diluted the company has to pay all share holders according to their share holding pattern.

The private limited company is a upgraded version of partnership firm, the partnership firm is registered with registar of companies of State govenrment with a partnership deed, but it is not compulsary to register a partnership deed. It partnership deed has MoU and Articles of Association, same applies to limited company whether public or private.

Also a firm can be sole proprietorship, where there is single owner or promoter who is liable for its losses as well as profits. It can be reigsterd proprietorship or unregistered proprietorship.

If the proprietorship firm or partnership firm applies for sales tax, export license, that is enough and the firm is deemed to be registered (as per law a firm can be registered either with Central Govt or State Govt or both), even if the firm applies for a PAN card in its name that is enough.

In case of any loan default the proprietor or partners is liable and there porperties can be attached whereas in limited concern's only the property owned by the company can be attached.

When fileing taxs like IT etc, partnership, limited (PVT or public) companies should separately file returns and pay taxes and there promoters or directors separate, where that is not the case of proprietorship where it makes no difference if tax is paid in the name of firm or owner.

Answer 5

I believe the only difference is that a firm may or may not be a limited company with shareholders, private or public. It could be a sole proprietorship, ie Joe's Plumbing, where there is only one owner and the tax department treats his business and his personal income as one entity. A company has been registered and has shareholders . The tax department treats income for the shareholders and the company as separate entities.

Answer 6

a Co. itself is a body N it doesnt have any owner but it has board of directors.. while a firm has its owner N owner has all the powers in it.. while in co., board of directors decide by having statistical criteria..

Answer 7

In law, a company refers to a legal entity formed which has a separate legal identity from its members, and is ordinarily incorporated to undertake commercial business. Although some jurisdictions refer to unincorporated entities as companies, in most jurisdictions the term refers only to incorporated entities. It has been judicially remarked that "the word company has no strictly legal meaning",[1] but is taken to mean a specific form of entity created under the laws of the relevant jurisdiction. Because of the limited liability of the members of the company for the company's debts and the separate personality and tax treatment of the company, it has become the most popular form of business vehicle in most countries in the world.

Lacking a concise definition of their own, companies are often defined by reference to what they are not. Companies are separate and distinct from:

* sole traders
* partnerships
* trusts, although conceptually trustees managing a trust fund for the benefit of beneficiaries is in many ways similar to the directors managing the company's assets for the benefit of the shareholders.
* guilds
* unincorporated associations of persons, or clubs

Modern companies are generally formed for one of three purposes:

* non-profit companies, formed for social, charitable or quasi-charitable purposes to provide the sponsors with the benefit of limited liability and to form an administratively convenient mechanisms for the administration of the organization.
* small business companies, usually formed by either sole traders or partners to take advantage of limited liability and (sometimes) as a means of tax avoidance, whilst still retaining overall control in the hands of the founders.
* public investment companies, formed to enable members of the public to invest in a business or enterprise without actually becoming involved in the running of it (which is left to the board of directors).


A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law.

Function

The primary service provided by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent their clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions and other matters in which legal assistance is sought. Smaller firms tend to focus on particular specialties of the law (e.g. patent law, labor law, tax law, criminal defense, personal injury); larger firms may be composed of several specialized practice groups, allowing the firm to diversify their client base and market, and to offer a variety of services to their clients.

[edit] Organization

Law firms are organized in a variety of ways, depending on the jurisdiction in which the firm practices. Common arrangements include:

* Sole proprietorship, in which the attorney is the law firm and is responsible for all profit, loss and liability;
* General partnership, in which all of the attorneys in the firm equally share ownership and liability;
* Professional corporations, which issue stock to the attorneys in a fashion similar to that of a business corporation;
* Limited liability company, in which the attorney-owners are called "members" but are not directly liable to third party creditors of the law firm;
* Professional association, which operates similarly to a professional corporation or a limited liability company;
* Limited liability partnership (LLP), in which the attorney-owners are called "partners", but are not liable to third party creditors of the law firm, except in certain limited circumstances.

In many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, there is a rule that only lawyers may have an ownership interest in, or be managers of, a law firm. Thus, law firms cannot quickly raise capital through initial public offerings on the stock market, like most corporations. In the United States this rule is promulgated by the American Bar Association and adhered to in almost all U.S. jurisdictions.

The rule was created in order to prevent conflicts of interest. In the adversarial system of justice, a lawyer has a duty to be a zealous and loyal advocate on behalf of the client. Also, as an officer of the court, a lawyer has a duty to be honest and to not file frivolous cases. A lawyer working as a shareholder-employee of a publicly traded law firm would be strongly tempted to evaluate decisions in terms of their effect on the stock price and the shareholders, which would directly conflict with the lawyer's duties to the client and to the courts.

In the United Kingdom lawyers are divided between barristers, who plead in the higher courts and give expert opinions on points of law, and solicitors who act directly for clients. Even though barristers are traditionally seen as the senior branch of the legal profession, and the most distinguished British lawyers are generally barristers, most barristers are self-employed sole practitioners (although they share facilties in sets of rooms known as "chambers", usually at one of the four Inns of Court). All the main UK law firms are firms of solicitors.