My husband and I are thinking of starting a book-keeping business with a friend of mine, and they mentioned that a Limited Liability Partnership would be a good idea.
Does anyone operate a book-keeping business as an LLP and are they beneficial? Or should we stick with a normal Ltd or even partnership agreement?
The advantage of an LLP is that the liability of the partners is limited to the amount they have invested into the company. If you trade as a normal partnership there could be further liabilities if the business became insolvent (which is why so many businesses opt for limited liability).
You may have noticed that some of the larger accountancy practices trade as LLPs to limit their professional negligence exposure. They do this because limited companies cannot become auditors.
For most small book-keeping businesses a company limited by shares (i.e. an Ltd) is generally the best entity to trade through when friends and family enter into business together. You will probably not find too many book-keepers trading as LLP's.
