Admission of a Partner

To expand one’s business, individuals seek out the admission of a partner. According to the Partnership Act of 1932, the admission of a new partner to a firm is legally allowed if the existing members of the firm agree to it. After the admission of a partner, there is a reconstruction of the agreement that takes forward a company’s business. The partnership firm is thus reconstituted. The inclusion of a partner in the firm could be due to the need for a capital advancement, or it could be due to administrative requirements.

Need for Admission of a New Partner:

There could be ample reasons that lead to the admission of a partner in the firm. Let us go through these reasons now:

1. The new partner has a promising reputation and intends on adding their goodwill to the existing firm.
2. The company requires funds during its growth.
3. The new partner possesses a certain skill set to ensure the company’s growth with their cognizance and prowess.

With the inclusion of a new partner, the previous partnership is put to an end with the introduction of a new partnership.

Adjustments that need to be made on the Admission of a Partner:

There are a few things that are to be done when a new partner joins a firm. The list of changes that have to be made is as follows:

1. Computation of fresh profit sharing ratio.
2. Treatment of goodwill.
3. Reassessment of assets and liabilities.
4. Accounting of assembled profits and losses, and reserves.
5. Alteration of funds in terms of the fresh profit sharing ratio.

Treatment of Goodwill on the Admission of a New Partner:

Goodwill is an abstract asset that makes a firm obtain a higher profit than others. On the admission of a partner, the treatment of goodwill is done to compensate the partners already existing in the firm for their loss in the future profits made by the firm. The new partners pay the amount as their share of Premium of Goodwill to the existing partners to compensate for their sacrifice for the new partner’s admission. 

Different cases during Treatment of Goodwill on the Admission of a Partner:

A few cases of the treatment of goodwill by the new partner to compensate for the existing partners’ sacrifice from the future profit include:

1. The goodwill share is brought in monetary form or kind by the new partner.
2. The goodwill is paid discreetly by the new partner.
3. The goodwill is not brought in the form of cash or kind. 
4. The goodwill is kept hidden.
5. The goodwill is paid partly by the new partner.

Circumstances related to the Treatment of Goodwill on the Admission of a Partner

There are three ways that determine the treatment of goodwill on the admission of a partner. These circumstances are as follows:

• The amount of goodwill is paid discreetly by the new partner:

In this situation, no entries are passed in the book. The new partner pays the existing partner a compensation that is kept on the exterior surface of the firm.

• The new partner’s portion of goodwill is brought in the form of cash

This particular situation is when the new partner’s portion of goodwill is in the monetary form. This situation further has two sub-cases that include: the amount of goodwill being held to the firm and the amount being withdrawn by the existing partners.

• The goodwill portion is not brought into the firm in the monetary form

The new partner’s capital account is debited equally to their goodwill share in the revaluation method. At the same time, the existing partners’ capital account will be credited to the share of the new partner’s goodwill in relation to their sacrificing ratio. 

Hidden Goodwill:

In a case when the goodwill’s worth is not put up for questioning in a firm while the admission of a new partner, the protocol of moving forward might stay. The goodwill in this term is known as hidden goodwill. In this situation, the goodwill’s worth has to be calculated on the basis of two terminologies. In order to calculate a new partner’s hidden goodwill’s worth, the firm’s total capital along with the profit sharing ratio of the other partners is required.

Factors affecting Goodwill:

Goodwill is affected by the factors mentioned below:

• The nature of the products, benefits, risks, raw material and many more things are involved
• The total time since the firm has existed
• The location of a firm may affect its goodwill
• The profit rate’s trend affects goodwill too

The administrative skills and management of the firm.

Conclusion:

In this article, we mastered the meaning of admission of a partner in a firm and various factors related to the working of this admission. We came across the need for the admission of a new partner, adjustments made after the admission of a partner, and the different scenarios involved in the treatment of goodwill when a new partner joins an existing firm. In the end, the different cases and situations involved, along with the factors of goodwill and its treatment, were mentioned.