Business and Personal Finance Dictionary

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• CORPORATION
  
  A legal entity that functions separate and apart from its owners. A corporation is a legal "person" created separately from those who own & operate it. As an artificial "person", the corporation's debts and taxes are separate from its owners (founders), thereby, offering personal liability protection of all business structures. Because the corporation continues to exist even after the death of a founders, it offers estate planning advantages. Raising capital to finance expansion, equipment, or development; without borrowing, is another fundamental reason for incorporating. Many companies that were unable to secure traditional financing as a sole proprietorship, have been literally "born" overnight by stock offerings.
  
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