Advantages of a partnership include the following:
- Two heads (or more) are better than one.
- Your business is easier to establish and start-up costs are shared and therefore lower.
- More capital is available for the business.
- You will have greater borrowing capacity.
- High-caliber employees can be made partners.
- There is opportunity for income splitting, an advantage of particular importance due to resultant tax savings.
- It is easy to change your legal structure later if circumstances change.
Disadvantages of a partnership include the following:
- The liability of the partners for the debts of the business is unlimited
- Each partner is liable for the partnership’s debts. This means each partner is liable for their share of the partnership debts as well as being liable for all of the debts.
- There is a risk of disagreements and friction among partners and management.
- Each partner is an agent of the partnership and is liable for the actions of other partners.
- If partners join or leave, you will probably have to value all the partnership assets and this can be costly.