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Finance
Adequate financial resources are fundamental to start,
operate and grow any business. There are also finance issues that are
unique to cooperatives, since cooperatives are structured to provide
benefits to patron members, rather than capital investors. Members, as owners, provide equity capital
in proportion to their use of the cooperative. It is part of members'
obligation as owners to share in business risk as well as business
profitability.
The
basics of cooperative finance
NEW PUBLICATION!
Cooperative Equity and Ownership: An Introduction
USDA Rural Development Library of Publications
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development -- Business and
Cooperative Programs has an extensive
library of useful publications, especially those related to agricultural producer
cooperatives. Publications on finance topics include:
Cooperative Financing and Taxation
Cooperative Information Report 1 Sec.9
What Are Patronage Refunds?
Cooperative Information Report 9
Base Capital Financing of Cooperatives
Cooperative Information Report 51
Working with Financial Statements - Guide for Cooperative Members
Cooperative Information Report 43
Consolidation of Balance Sheet Components During Cooperative Mergers
Research Report 139
Cost of Capital for Agricultural Cooperatives
Research Report 163
Additional Publications
Solidarity as a Business Model: A Multi-Stakeholder Cooperatives
Manual
Cooperative Development Center@Kent State University
Table: Comparison of Wisconsin Statute 185
- Cooperatives and Statute 193 - Wisconsin Cooperative Associations Act, UWCC Fact Sheet
Balance Sheet Ratios and Analysis for Cooperatives, UWCC Fact Sheet
Innovations in Cooperative Ownership: Converted and Hybrid Listed Cooperatives,
O.F. van Bekkum and J. Bijman, 2006
How a Banker Looks at Financial Leverage, Lee Estenson, Year in Cooperation, Spring 1996.
NCERA-194 Research on Cooperatives -
Publications