Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Key Components of A Business Partnership Agreement

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is Australia’s corporate, markets and financial services regulator. It is an independent Commonwealth Government body, and is not only set up under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act (ASIC Act) but also administers it. It carries out most of its work under the Corporations Act.

Establishing a business is a challenging undertaking. And so, business owners end up neglecting a vital step in the process of securing the future success of their business – a business partnership agreement. This article will aim to answers some of the more commonly asked questions regarding these agreements and will attempt to outline the benefits of the agreement.

What Is A Business Partnership Agreement?
This agreement is a written document between the partners of a business, and is best prepared at the start of a business. It ensures key points about the business are covered including business funding, business structure, business management and business direction. It further outlines the various responsibilities and obligations of the partners. It is also designed in a way to determine issues in advance and the ways to deal with them should they arise in the future.

Why Do You Need A Business Partnership Agreement?
The agreement is a legally binding document that can help avoid or minimise risks to individual partners in the event of any future dispute. Because every business is unique and every partner is different, a professionally drafted business partnership agreement can help in minimising the potential for conflict by helping to manage its unpredictability and its cost.

Key Components Of A Business Partnership Agreement
A valid and a legally binding partnership agreement will be unique to your situation and will generally specify details of the following key components:
• Detailed structure of the senior executive team
• Rights and obligations of each partners
• Details of how any deadlock will be resolved
• Financial arrangements, including details of banking, accounting and auditing
• Profit and loss share of each partner
• Details of how profits and losses will be distributed
• Details of each partner’s contributions
• Business structure, direction, and objectives
• Partner salaries and benefits
• Separation of the partners in the event of a partner’s death or if a partner wishes pursue other opportunities • Partnership agreement termination or cancellation
• Details on matters relating to a business sale or buy-out
• Restrictive covenants

 What Happens If A Partner Leaves The Business?
The agreement should take this factor into consideration and provide specific provisions for situations when a partner leaves the business. It should identify requirements for the termination and/or cancellation of the agreement by a partner. What is important to note is that even if the business partnership seemingly agree on everything and the thought of ever running into disputes or any kind of conflict in the future is implausible, having a professionally drafted business partnership agreement will ensure that the goodwill of the partners and the business is kept intact with the protective features of the agreement.

Net Lawman Australia offers a comprehensive library of legal documents, including Business Partnership Agreements and Shareholder Agreements that are remarkably simple to use for all your legal documentation needs. Whether you wish to use these documents on an as-is-basis or edit them according to your requirements, Net Lawman Australia has made it very simple for you to understand real law in plain English.

0 comments:

Post a Comment