Evening All ,

Whats the advantage of having a business account over a current account ?

Plus which bank to use ?

I know its a good idea to keep everything separate from personal accounts .

cheers

Your bank might complain if you use your current account as a business one. Also if you want to look professional and use a trading name your need a business account.

Thanks

No real advantages, it just costs you more money and you'll find less branches that are able to help you with anything!

i haven't had a business account in 16 years and have not paid a single bank charge in all that time. i was with HSBC for most of that time until they closed my local branch, i just used my current account, i didn't use it for anything else. I moved to Barclays about 3 years ago and i am doing exactly the same there, when we moved all of our personal accounts ( kids/joint etc ) i told their financial advisor dude what i was doing and they didn't mind. I don't have an overdraft facility as such bar for about £50.00 and have never gone overdrawn.

Gary

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Specialised Subject. The Bleedin Obvious. John Cleese

I was with HSBC and they kept posting my work cheques back to me.

I opened a business acct with Santander, and am more than happy with it.
Better levels of interest than HSBC. It costs £7.50 a month.

My headed paper says make cheques payable to me not a company name ( which is just my name with electrical after it ). They weren't keen if it was made to the company as that wasn't the name on the account.

Gary

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Specialised Subject. The Bleedin Obvious. John Cleese

Most personal bank accounts state they are not to be used for business use.

I had the same problem as Gary. Most make cheques payable to me (personal service and all that) and for years my bank take them even though the account is a different name. Then the laundering of money act came into force, but a cunning girl at the bank thought that if the statements were sent to me personally, then they could still accept either. Naturally head office thought otherwise so I just closed the account and used my normal personal account - no problems so far.

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Norman

Possibly the reason why mine were getting rejected

If you're a sole trader just using your own name, no need for a business account. If you want to use a business name then you will either need a business account, or be prepared to tell customers to 'make cheques payable to'. If you go Ltd, then no option but to have business account; same if you want to accept cards.

There's no real need for separate personal and business accounts; if you're a sole trader you're one entity anyway....you just need to have clear books showing what comes in and what goes out, to keep taxman happy.

I'm a sole trader with just one account, I use the Co-op business account on the FSB's terms. No monthly fees, no-questions-asked 1k o/d at 0.5% over base, and interest on +ve balance. And if you ever need to call them, you do get someone with a reasonable grasp of English on the other end (well, Northern English at least).

Same here norm,
I used my personal account for years, but some cheques got rejected because some customers preferred to be dealing with a company and/or business.
You will need a business a/c if you want to be Ltd.

Legh

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Why do we need Vernier Calipers when we have container ships?

http://www.leghrichardson.co.uk

"Science has overcome time and space. Well, Harvey has overcome not only time and space - but any objections."

We've been with Lloyds since time began (well 30 years) and gone through a few stages of business - sole trader, partnership, now ltd and it doesn't cost us a great deal.

They offer an electronic tariff so anything that's not a cheque doesn't cost us in charges, and most of our customers pay bacs so it's not too much of a problem.

The business manager we've been allocated for the last five years is spot on, I can text him 24/7 and he'll answer and even sorts out my personal banking when I need things sorted.

I guess it depends how big you are, what services you want from the bank and what sort of relationship you want with them.

Stu