Categories: Business Entities

Protecting Your Personal Assets with a Professional Corporation

The name of the game this week is “Professional Corporation,” which happens to help protect your personal assets. That’s right, we have a triple “P” ABCs of MyCorp post, so buckle up for some serious alliteration.

A Professional Corporation is one of the more common types of entities for business owners to choose. The paperwork is a bit on the extensive side (especially compared to an entity like a Sole Proprietorship) but all that paperwork is well worth it because, as our title suggests, a Professional Corporation protects your personal assets.

A Professional Corporation does this by separating you (and your personal assets) from your business. This means that if your business were ever in deep trouble and owed some big time money, you wouldn’t be obligated to hand over your house or other assets.

This can make accounting trickier than if you opted for a simpler entity but, like I said, the protection makes it well worth it. You’ll also be paying taxes based on what you choose to pay yourself from your business. This means more money towards growing your business, and what business owner doesn’t want that?

So if you’re doing some entity shopping, be sure to keep the Professional Corporation as an option, especially if you’re looking for something protective.

Deborah Sweeney

Deborah Sweeney is an advocate for protecting personal and business assets for business owners and entrepreneurs. With extensive experience in the field of corporate and intellectual property law, Deborah provides insightful commentary on the benefits of incorporation and trademark registration.

Education: Deborah received her Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Pepperdine University, and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of West Los Angeles and San Fernando School of Law in corporate and intellectual property law.

Experience: After becoming a partner at LA-based law firm, Michel & Robinson, she became an in-house attorney for MyCorporation, formerly a division in Intuit. She took the company private in 2009 and after 10 years of entrepreneurship sold the company to Deluxe Corporation. Deborah is also well-recognized for her written work online as a contributing writer with some of the top business and entrepreneurial blogging sites including Forbes, Business Insider, SCORE, and Fox Business, among others.

Fun facts/Other pursuits: Originally from Southern California, Deborah enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, Benjamin and Christopher, and practicing Pilates. Deborah believes in the importance of family and credits the entrepreneurial business model for giving her the flexibility to enjoy both a career and motherhood. Deborah, and MyCorporation, have previously been honored by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s List of the Valley’s Largest Women-Owned Businesses in 2012. MyCorporation received the Stevie Award for Best Women-Owned Business in 2011.