Child Minder Business Account

Keith

Hi,

My wife is going through the process of becoming a child minder. She is expecting an income of under £1k per month.

I think that she should have a separate account for all incomings and outgoing rather than her personal account.

Obviously with such low income we don't want an account paying a fee.

Would it be a problem if she uses a separate personal account for her small business?

Thanks
Keith

InsideInsurance

It would almost certainly breach the terms of the account and so risk the bank pulling the account

Keith

Thanks, I'll take a look at the various small business accounts then. I wonder if her bank costs can be added to her acceptable expenses for tax relief

jackyann

2 excellent sources of advice on all aspects of being a childminder:

1. your local children's centre / early years advice service should have addvisors specifically for childminders
2. this website: http://www.pacey.org.uk/ go to the childminders' section

Biggles

For a part-time occupation, I doubt that the bank would have an objection to her using her personal account while or until the business builds.

Probably no harm in asking them.

angelsmomma

I used a second current account when I was a childminder a few years ago.

I also have a second current account now for the rents on my properties. They know that is what it is for and did not have a problem with it. Mine is with the Halifax and I get the £5 a month interest in it too.

jonesMUFCforever

OP you want a business account without a fee - fair enough but would you look after my kids as I don't want to pay the fee??

Yes business bank charges are tax deductable.

Caladan

I'll take the consumers side on this one - A small, low income job with a few credits a month is unlikely to cost the bank much in processing (but don't get me wrong - your partner isn't going to make the bank any profit, so really it's fair play to charge for the service) doesn't really need to go through a business account considering if she was employed rather than self employed the costs wouldn't be much different.

I wouldn't actually suggest talking to the bank, as if you do they'll be pretty much obliged by company policy to tell you it's against the T&Cs and it may just mean the account is flagged up for review.

Very small business probably wont be picked up, so I don't think it's really worth the risk.

If there are going to be lots of cheques and/or cash payments in and out of the account though then I'd argue on the side of the bank and say it should be a business account. Not to mention the fact it should actually be a business account anyway.

jonesMUFCforever

The giveaway is always the same - paying NI contributions through the account!
Very easy to pick up.

ses6jwg

Against terms and conditions of a personal account but the chances of having the account closed are slim to none.

Yorkie1

ses6jwg wrote: »

Against terms and conditions of a personal account but the chances of having the account closed are slim to none.

Interested to know why you say this with such confidence?

There have been quite a few threads on this forum where accounts have been closed for exactly this reason.