Does anyone here own a small business and have a bank account for it?
My brother is in the throes of setting up a company to own and run a shop. His research suggests Santander, and the Money Saving Expert web site appears to agree. Although most of the business transactions in this day and age are electronic, a bank's attitude to cash is important too.
Obviously he's going to go with someone who has a branch in the town, but I'd best not name the town on a public forum.
I do already have an interest in the business, I run the website and I have to declare a shareholding in Santander.
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Santander thus far, but that may be about to change, but for now I would support that view. Practical against stuffy old pedantic Brit crap.
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I cannot say that I have any experience with Santander specifically as a 'business' bank, but my wife and I have several accounts with them.
Five or six years ago, I used to say that Santander was to banking what Ryanair was to flying; it was possible to travel with them, but you had to read the small-print and listen carefully to their rules. Santander generally had a reputation for bad service. BUT IMHO, that has all be changed in the past 2 or 3 years - they have done a Skoda with their brand - and I would definitely recommend them nowadays.
I don't know if you can run a business through a 123 current account, but they certainly work well for personal banking.
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I run a business. They know this. It is not a Business account.
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As a sole trader, it is possible with some home bank accounts to use them for the business too. Not that helpful for record keeping and in this case, out of the question as there are two other employees.
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Not helpful for record keeping?
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Intermingling personal and business money is a bad idea for all sorts of reasons. Perfectly possible to be self employed with considerable turnover but making little profit and therefore eligible for means tested benefits like Working/Child Tax Credit (or a 'Social Tariff' for utilities).
Much more difficult to demonstrate entitlement if your business transactions go through your personal bank account.
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Poppycock. Everything through one account identifying business from private.
Why do people complicate the simplest matters. It's worked for us for thirty eight years. Revenue approved accounts every year on time for every one of those years.
Don't want anything from social. They can stick it where the sun don't shine and if we did then demonstrating the facts would be a piece of cake.
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Not helpful for record keeping?
Exactly. If you have one place where all incomings and outgoings are, not mixed up with personal bills, you've always got a business record irrespective of any bookkeeping. The business not only employs my brother, but two other folk and the odd part timer.
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Everything goes through the one account. If it's private we identify it as so. 38 years of Rev' approval can't be wrong surely?
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>> Everything goes through the one account. If it's private we identify it as so. 38
>> years of Rev' approval can't be wrong surely?
>>
If it works for you fine, although I'm another one that keeps their business and personal banking accounts 100% separate.
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>> If it works for you fine,
Exactly.
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Myself & ex owned four retail stores, with a different set of accounts for each one. A trial balance each week on each set of books. And if you wanted to build up a 'store' then sell it, each business had a full individual set of accounts. In those days we had to process up to a hundred cheques a week, and there were large amounts of change ( cash) being taken out of the bank each week.....for which we paid handsomely. Our suppliers gradually stopped accepting cash in payment for goods as it was an insurance risk, but otoh increasing card sales reduced the cash handling fees, and our trade body negotiated a good deal on processing card fees. Apart from Amex which we never accepted.
We used YBank and HSBC. Obviously the bank fees could be offset against gross profits.
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I had to set one up in a bit of a rush 4 or so years ago. I did all the research and went with the favoured one - I forget which one that was now. However they turned me down. No reason, and I have a clean credit history, so does my address and all my family. So I went to the ones who do my personal banking and they agreed straight away. So all I'd say is don't spend too long thinking about it as they may just turn you down.
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In my experience it depends on the quality of the branch staff and how you get on with the local business manager, rather than the bank brand itself.
I can say that our Barclays branch has consistently been supportive and pro-active over 20 years since starting the company. But their head office and internet banking support people are frustratingly useless and unhelpful. The branch manager feels that too. Often he has had to use his insider influence on our behalf in order to get problems sorted out.
So would I recommend Barclays as a whole as a business-friendly bank ? No, definitely not.
But this particular local branch - wholeheartedly yes.
So really it comes down to personal recommendation from another local business user.
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Mrs B needed to open a business account last year. Went with HSBC as she already banked with them - made the process quite straightforward
No idea if it was a good deal (18 months free) or if there were much better deals
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Best business bank acount - MD
