ESL Podcast 712 - Types of Business Entities
tax accountant - a person who helps many clients record their financial transactions and fill out forms for paying taxes
Tax accountants have to work a lot of hours in March and April right before taxes are due, but they have more free time during the rest of the year.
business entity - a single business and especially the way it is structured
How many new business entities are created each year on average?
mom-and-pop - owned by a married couple; referring to a family-owned business
Kianka creates graphic designs for mom-and-pop businesses that aren't big enough to hire full-time graphic designers.
tax implication - the way that a particular action or decision results in one paying higher or lower taxes
Because of the tax implications, it's better to get married in December than in January.
liability issue - related to concerns about being sued, having risk, or being blamed for something and having to pay money as a result
Any business that works with young children has a lot of liability issues.
to sue - to take someone to court and legally demand money from him or her because one believes one has been hurt by something that he or she has done
You can be sued if your dog bites someone.
safeguard - a precaution; something that one does to protect oneself from something that might happen
Should we buy travel insurance as a safeguard in case our flight is canceled?
lawsuit - a legal case; the process through which one person legally demands money from another person after being hurt by something he or she has done, where a judge decides whether and how much money should be paid
Dorian filed a lawsuit against his employer for not having provided appropriate safety equipment at the factory where he worked.
to bankrupt - to make a person or business very poor by taking away all the money
Feeding four teenage boys is going to bankrupt us!
corporation - a large company that legally is separate from its owners
Twenty years ago, Jodi never imagined that her small business would become such a large corporation.
LLC - limited liability company; a type of business entity that has some characteristics of a corporation and some characteristics of a partnership
We decided to form an LLC so that if the company were ever sued, at least we wouldn't lose our home and personal savings accounts.
sole proprietor - a person who is the only owner of a business and receives all the profits, but is also responsible for all the debts and liabilities
Do you work as a sole proprietor, or are you on the company's payroll?
to go into business with (someone) - to open a business with another person; to start a business by sharing the costs (and future profits) with another person
They met in college and always talked about how much fun it would be to go into business together.
partner - a person with whom one works closely, especially a person who shares ownership of a business or project
Your proposal sounds interesting, but I can't agree to it before speaking with my partner.
transferring of interests - the process of giving away or selling one's partial ownership of something to another person
They were best friends while they owned the business together, but when Marlah decided she wanted to do something else, they started fighting over the transferring of interests.
duration - how long something lasts; the period of time when something exists or is active or applicable
They've agreed to provide free technical support for the duration of the contract.
lawyer - attorney; a person who has studied the law and received a license and whose job is to advise other people about the law, write contracts, and more
When Gregory was arrested, the first thing he did was hire a lawyer.