[David 'Duck' Clare]

Hi all

I was wonderring what you all do re bank accounts, at the moment i run it all through my other company accounts but Im now getting to a point where i need to seperate the two 'companies'.

I thought about the following:

1. set up a trading as account i.e. david clare t/a BDWC

2. set up a personal account for just window cleaning payments in and out

3. set up a normal business a/c i.e. BDWC

what do you lot do?

Who do you bank with?

What are the charges like?

I'm with HSBC for my other limited company a/c and they are charging about £15 to £25 a month at the minute (the w/c cheques are killing me in charges).

Ive seen Abbey does free banking - does anyone bank with them /. what are they like?

advice welcomed especially at options 1 & 2 above

Regards DC

[marc al]

  I do the free banking with Abbey - they were very poor at setting up the account - that changed when I pointed out I had ALL my accounts, loans and insurances with them and was going to move them, not had a problem since.

   Marc

[callum macleod]

hi i looked into using the abbey the only problem i had is the local abbey is some 15 miles from me this meant i would have to post cheques which i didn't want as it would take even longer to clear!! so didn't bother changing.

[windows_chepstow]

It's not a legal requirement to have a seperate bank account for your business.

It's also not difficult to maintain records of your takings either; you don't need a business account for that.

Each Saturday morning I take my cheques to my local Halifax branch and they process them for free; no charges what-so-ever.

At Christmas; because I realise it must be a pain for the girls (who always give me a nice smile); I drop them off a big box of quality street.

[RO-Sheen]

I've got my account with lloyds TSB who offer 18 months free banking, BUT and a big BUT..........after I opened it I was told at a business enterprise centre that sole traders do not legally have to open a business account.  One of the girls on the course told us that she argued with her local bank as she didnt want to have to pay for cashing cheques and eventually they let her open a personnal account with her name and underneath her name she has her company name!

DONT LET BANKS BULLY YOU INTO OPENING BUSINESS ACCOUNTS!!!

When my 'free banking ends in 14 months I will demand a new account (in my name) or I will close all of my accounts and move somewhere else!

[Paul Coleman]

Hi all

I was wonderring what you all do re bank accounts, at the moment i run it all through my other company accounts but Im now getting to a point where i need to seperate the two 'companies'.

I thought about the following:

1. set up a trading as account i.e. david clare t/a BDWC

2. set up a personal account for just window cleaning payments in and out

3. set up a normal business a/c i.e. BDWC

what do you lot do?

Who do you bank with?

What are the charges like?

I'm with HSBC for my other limited company a/c and they are charging about £15 to £25 a month at the minute (the w/c cheques are killing me in charges).

Ive seen Abbey does free banking - does anyone bank with them /. what are they like?

advice welcomed especially at options 1 & 2 above

Regards DC

David.
I use Abbey.
the first 100 cheques per month are free and up to £3,000 in cash.  You must use the cashpoint to make the deposits though.  I've not had any problems with them myself.  If they offer youy that poxy Electron card to use with your account, upgrade it to a VISA ASAP as some places don't take Electron (though Esso now do I'm told).  Also, Electron can only be used at point of sale so no good for ordering stuff over the phone.**

**  I'm only repeating what others have told me in the past so no responsibility taken for errors.

[davidbarlow]

I started window cleaning in 2000 with my son after losing a job in factory I had done for 30 years. I was so gutted but now I am so pleased to be my own boss you would not believe it. Anyway we set up a free banking account with Nat West for 18 months but after that it started to cost an arm and a leg but the business was growing we didn’t mind at the time. Eventually we split the round between our selves to make it easer to manage. Closed the account and used our personal account for cash cheques. I was put under pressure from my local Halfax saying I was clearing to many cheques through my account and they talked me into taking out a free Bank of Scotland account. I record my cheques every month (in case they go missing) and post them off in a freepost envelope. The only problem is you need a float as it takes a while for them to clear. The only charges are £25 a year for a business VISA that I use for fuel and it gives me a float, about 45p every cheque you write but you don’t need to write cheques, and £100 a year for overdraft facilities which I do not have. The clearing of the cheques are fee and I have a hell of a lot of cheques.

[rosskesava]

We also bank with Lloyds wonderfull TSB. They seem ok and we got 2 years free banking for a business account.

Before that we were with Abbey National untill they got a bit funny about the number of cheques each week.

Before that HSBC (the Midland).

When our free banking runs out I will find another bank with an offer of 'free banking for business accounts' and change our account name yet again on the pretense of being a new business. Our actual trading name remains the same, it's just who the cheque is payable to that changes. Our business name is 'Cops' but our account name is 'Brighton Shines'. It's never caused a single problem.

As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to banks I will lie through my teeth to get free banking.

As Tosh wrote, you don't need a separate account but it does make things simpler though. Well for me it does.

[spotless2000]

See this thread for more info.

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=16249.msg117329#msg117329

 

[Count Phil]

Lloyds business banking is to be avoided at all costs! Its like 70.00 a month for an average 25 000 turnover. For what? Nothing.

[Justin H]

Hi.I banked with Lloyds TSB for 19 years now.( 9 as a window cleaner) and last month they pretty much insisted that I open a business account.I told them I would think it over and get back to them.
I have since opened a free business account with the Alliance & Leicester.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Can't wait to tell Lloyds TSB!
The woman I talked to wanted me to give her a quote for her house that is three stories with lots of windows.Wonder if she'll still need a quote?
If they start to try and bully you, just open another account.Don't pay fees for next to nothing.
Justin H

[Ali_D]

My partner's got a Lloyds TSB Business Account (free for 18 months) and they're forever making errors on the account, which gets quite confusing sometimes.  Will be using Alliance and Leicester when I (eventually) launch my cleaning business.

Ali

[David 'Duck' Clare]

For a little info a very close friend of mine is a Branch Manager with the Alliance & Leicester and he is adament that I dont open an account with them (mainly because you cant use the branch network but only the post office but also as A&L is not a clearing bank their 'non-standard' charges are higher and they take one day longer to clear cheques due to their non-clearing status).

Apparently 1 out of every 4000 cheques sent to them in the post gets lost, where as in the branch network it is 1 in every 48000.

DC

ps ive set up a personal a/c with the Nationwide now further to the advice above.

DC

[Ali_D]

Won't be going with A&L then.  How does everyone find the Abbey National?

Ali

[leander]

I bank  with the Royal Bank of Scotland (Business Account) and have done since I started.  Banking is free and they even supply free envelopes to send your cheques. They might take an extra day or two to clear because they go to Edinburgh, but what the hell...it's free!