Pass-through taxation and the ability to pay yourself salary and dividends make the S corporation an attractive choice for tax planning.

The federal government purchases over $600 billion of goods and services per year. By law nearly a quarter of that spending is ear-marked for small business contracts. Here are three steps to take if you are interested in having the federal government as your customer.

Once you have formed your corporation, you can elect S corporation status by filing a form with the IRS. S corporation's pass-through their income, loss and deductions to the shareholders, but can also pay salaries to the owners.

If you are looking to expand your business by reaching new markets, exporting may be one strategy to consider.

An LLC can be sued in its own right. Learn how a lawsuit is initiated against an LLC and what steps are necessary to protect its right to defend itself in court.

An LLC is taxed as a pass-through entity for federal income tax purposes, but can elect to be taxed as a corporation. States honor the federal classification for income tax purposes, but that does not exempt the LLC from franchise, sales or property taxes.

If your business needs change, you can convert from an LLC (limited liability company to a corporation or any other type of entity. The reverse also applies: you can convert another type of business to an LLC.

An LLC can be managed by its members (member-managed) or by managers who are selected by the members (manager-managed). By default an LLC is member-managed, but the operating agreement can provide otherwise.

Absent an operating agreement adopted by its members, the LLC is governed by the default provisions provided in the law of its formation state. Not only can these provisions conflict with the members' desires, they can change which exposes the LLC to rules never envisioned when it was formed.

Learn the answers to frequently asked questions about forming and operating a limited liability company (LLC).