A Limited Company is an artificial legal personàP, Atrill, & E,Mclaney, Accounting and Finance for Non- specialists, Third Edition, p85. (VERY GOOD BOOK FOR THIS TOPIC!!!)In other words a company has as many rights and responsibilities that a genuine person would have, apart from one exception this being those created by the Registrar Of Companies. There are two types of company there is the private company and the public company. A Public Company (PLC) is defined as àone whosememorandum states that the company is a public company, and has registered as suchàF, Wood, Business Accounting, Fifth Edition, P355. It must have a minimum of two members, and there is no limit tohow many can join, and the company must have an authorised capital,which is normally at least ã50,000. A Private Company (Ltd) may beformed by two or more people, a family or a small group ofshareholders could own it, where the shares of ownership are not soldto the public.
Shares basically limit the company, and this is wherethe liability of the members for the debts of the company is limitedto how much they invest into it. The creditors can charge no furthercontribution from the shareholders to meet their claims against thebusiness, and that there liability is limited by guarantee.
Limited Companies are required to have their books and annual finalaccounts audited by an independent qualified accountant. The annualreport contains a profit and loss account, a balance sheet, and muchother information. The auditorÃÂs job is to make sure ÃÂ The balancesheet shall give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of thecompany as at the end of its financial year; and the profit and lossaccount shall a give true and fair view of the profit or loss of thecompany for the financial yearÃÂ (Companies Act...