Hobby Biz Bank Account

falcieri

On the back end of this, I've just a look for free business accounts and only Tide and Counting Up seem to be listed. Does anyone have experience of these? I note when reading up on Counting Up, it isn't strictly 'free' and there are some charges for basic day to day banking I do like bank transfers etc. I don't think there is truly any such thing as a free business account at the moment.

falcieri

trailingspouse wrote: »

Please don't listen to anyone who thinks it's OK to run a business from a personal bank account.


As to costs - our limited company pays £5.50 per month in bank charges. If your business isn't able to afford that, you really should be thinking about doing something else.

I agree without a doubt that running a limited company through one would cause all sorts of problems. That's a lot of money going in and out there.

AnotherJoe

Why not just PayPal for the majority of transactions would seem to be the obvious solution

Pennywise

falcieri wrote: »

I have been running my business officially for 6 years and I've never had a business account. They cost money. As long as your accounts are in order and it's clear what money belongs to what, you don't need to waste money on a business account unless you really want it in a business name.

How would it affect your business if your bank suddenly froze your bank account, as they are perfectly entitled to if you are breaching their terms & conditions. I know of a few small businesses this has happened to and it causes a lot of stress and wasted time to sort out.

charlotte1994

Careful with HMRC though, I don't make much money each year from selling online but I have to declare it, they changed my tax code and so I pay more tax each month from my pay packet. I didn't tell them for about 4 years, thinking I didn't need to, but I ended up owing HMRC over £300 :eek: I told them I couldn't afford it, but they assured me that it would just come out of my income tax. I got heavily taxed, now paid it all off, and my tax code has changed again so I'm no longer paying as much. Good luck with your little business! You could also set up a business PayPal account if you wanted to! :T

trailingspouse

No falcieri running any sort of business from a personal account could land you in breach of the terms and conditions of your personal account. Yes, you can get away with it - but that doesn't mean it's OK to do it. And if you are prepared to bend the rules on that aspect of your business, what other rules are you bending? Better to keep it all above board.



I used the example of my company to show that bank charges don't have to be onerous - although I accept it depends how you get paid/make payments (all of ours are electronic).


Santander, NatWest and TSB are all offering free banking for start-ups for a year (18 months at Santander if you're already a Santander personal customer).



OP - I hope your new enterprise is successful!!

Zanderman

falcieri wrote: »

On the back end of this, I've just a look for free business accounts and only Tide and Counting Up seem to be listed. Does anyone have experience of these? I note when reading up on Counting Up, it isn't strictly 'free' and there are some charges for basic day to day banking I do like bank transfers etc. I don't think there is truly any such thing as a free business account at the moment.

Starling? They don't charge monthly fees or for online transactions.

They and other app-based business accounts may well charge for some things - but could in effect be free if you don't need those things.

falcieri

Pennywise wrote: »

How would it affect your business if your bank suddenly froze your bank account, as they are perfectly entitled to if you are breaching their terms & conditions. I know of a few small businesses this has happened to and it causes a lot of stress and wasted time to sort out.

If the account I use for business transactions was frozen it wouldn't cause me any problems. My business is not my sole income. I have other jobs and savings which are used for other reasons because self employment is unpredictable. I am not a big company. I am one person, working in my spare room with irregular amounts going in and my transaction amounts are relatively insignificant.

falcieri

charlotte1994 wrote: »

Careful with HMRC though, I don't make much money each year from selling online but I have to declare it, they changed my tax code and so I pay more tax each month from my pay packet. I didn't tell them for about 4 years, thinking I didn't need to, but I ended up owing HMRC over £300 :eek: I told them I couldn't afford it, but they assured me that it would just come out of my income tax. I got heavily taxed, now paid it all off, and my tax code has changed again so I'm no longer paying as much. Good luck with your little business! You could also set up a business PayPal account if you wanted to! :T

I've been registered with HMRC since day one. I run meticulous accounts and declare everything right down to the last business mile and I think everyone should do that just to be sure. Nearly everything I earn comes down through Paypal and an online sales platform so it's all very clear what belong where and I log everything. It's definitely a good idea for anyone no matter how small your platform.

falcieri

Zanderman wrote: »

Starling? They don't charge monthly fees or for online transactions.

They and other app-based business accounts may well charge for some things - but could in effect be free if you don't need those things.

Thanks for this. They look interesting. I'll take a look.