Company Accounting, Print and Interactive E-TextPreface xiii About the authors xiv Chapter 1 Nature and regulation of companies 1 Introduction 1 1. 1 The nature of a company 2 1. 2 Different types of companies 3 1. 3 Forming a company 6 1. 4 Administering a company 8 1. 5 Funding a company 9 1. 6 Background to the Corporations Act 2001 12 1. 7 Accounting regulation of companies 13 1. 8 Other important regulatory organisations 24 1. 9 General purpose financial reports and the reporting entity