Bank account in business name ?

spixplay

I am hoping to start an events business in a couple of years I have been organising events for charities for the last 6 years, A friend has suggested I give myself a business name, blog my past achivements and continue to do my charity work using the business name. To get myself known and in addition do some other events. I dont expect a large if any turn over for the next couple of years but it occurred to me that if I am doing events using a business name I would need to set myself up a bank account in that name and register myself with the tax man.


Any advice would be appreciated x

Premier_2

spixplay wrote: »

I am hoping to start an events business in a couple of years I have been organising events for charities for the last 6 years, A friend has suggested I give myself a business name, blog my past achivements and continue to do my charity work using the business name. To get myself known and in addition do some other events. I dont expect a large if any turn over for the next couple of years but it occurred to me that if I am doing events using a business name I would need to set myself up a bank account in that name and register myself with the tax man.


Any advice would be appreciated x

What advice are you seeking exactly?

You seem to know what you want to do ... and how to do it

spixplay

Which comes first the tax man or the bank account and is it possible just walk into a bank and set up an account even though it may not be used for a while?

Horace

If you are self employed then register with the tax man now as if he thinks you have been working for yourself without registering then you could face a hefty fine.

Most banks will give you free business banking for a year or two. So after you have registered with the HMRC then get a bank account.

You could be (your name) trading as xyz events - and be a sole trader. Remember you will need public liability insurance as well as professional indemnity insurance.

Premier_2

spixplay wrote: »

Which comes first the tax man or the bank account

Neither is dependent on the other. Do them both.

spixplay wrote: »

and is it possible just walk into a bank and set up an account even though it may not be used for a while?

Yes, of course. They may request an opening deposit, but this can be as small as £1.

paulwf

Just one word of caution. I signed up with HSBC and got 18 months of free banking. Setting up the company took around a year so I got free banking whilst not much was going in or out of the account but not long after things started ramping up the bank charges kicked in!

There are of course several ways around this but just remember if there is a bank you like and they offer a limited period of free banking try not to waste it.

CleanShirt

If there isn't going to be any/ much turnover for the events business idea, then you would probably be better waiting until you ramp things up in a few years time, or when the time comes your getting a legible turnover of 1-3k plus. That way you get the most of any free business banking offers. Otherwise you will be getting free banking when you aren't really utilising it and paying loads when you starting up properly.