Joint Bank Account for a Sole Trader

GillianD

Why is it proving impossible to find such a thing? We used to have a joint bank account with RBS but now we are with YBS, soon to become Virgin Media, we are outwith our free banking period but I can't seem to find a provider which will allow this. I do all of the financial stuff but my hubby is the Sole Trader. I do all of the money/accounts stuff and all of our accounts, personal or otherwise, are joint. Would I be best advised to just open a new personal bank account and use for the business? All advice welcome folks 

ThisnotThat

I don't see why you would need to be a joint account holder. Being an account signatory would be sufficient for you to manage the account.

colsten

Either you are a sole trader or you are not. You could formally ask your bank whether they allow third party access, or simply continue to do your husband's account as you do now.

The terms of all personal accounts stipulate that personal accounts must not be used for business purposes, and there have been numerous posts about banks enforcing this rule.

NB. To squash any rumours that YBS will become Virgin Media: I think you mean that Yorkshire Bank is in the process of being renamed into Virgin Money.

colsten

Starling Bank are apparently working on access for accountants and bookkeepers, which sounds what you are after. Might be worth contacting them.

Zanderman

The term "Joint Bank Account for a Sole Trader" makes little sense surely? 

A sole trader is just that, a sole trader.

If someone else is involved in the business formally it's a partnership not a sole trader. 

If someone else is involved informally then they shouldn't have access to the accounts should they?

Unless acting as an accountant perhaps, as colsten suggests above.  But access for accountants is limited too.

It seems to me the obvious option is open a sole trader account - and there are several free options for these - and login in as your partner, never admitting your involvement. That's against the t&c but it would work and only be a problem if detected (which should be easy to minimise as a risk).

Or formally register as a business partnership.  But I think there are no free accounts for partnerships, only introductory offer periods.  Have you tried TSB (25 months free business banking)?.

GillianD

To clarify, my husband and I have every account as a joint account and as we previously had a joint business account. He is a sole trader; I do the accounts and all finance related tasks but am not a paid employee. Our ‘partnership’ is marriage, not business.

I could do as suggested and ‘pretend’ to be him but I feel that dishonest and shouldn’t have to do so especially when I often make payments using my phone (biometrics etc).

Yes the TSB account is the one I was looking at but they take 4 weeks to process and despite staff telling me I can be added as a joint account holder, the online form didn’t allow for that, presumably as he is a sole trader.

Sorry re YBS – yes I meant Virgin Money of course.

Starling is great but not a real bank is it? Also I wouldnt call myself a bookkeeper/accountant - just a wife who has learnt to manage a business online (big up to Free Agent!!)  

GillianD

As sole trader's don't have to have a business account, I wonder whether I should just open a new joint personal account to use for the business

etienneg

GillianD said:

As sole trader's don't have to have a business account, I wonder whether I should just open a new joint personal account to use for the business

Whilst there is no requirement IN LAW for a sole trader to have a business account, if you read the T&Cs for any personal account you will see that using it for business purposes is forbidden BY THE BANK. Don't confuse these.

As colsten remarked above, banks often enforce this rule, and it's usually by closing the account (along with any others held at the same bank), which would be very disruptive for any business. There's also the possibility of a marker for "abuse of account" that would make it difficult, if not impossible, to get an account elsewhere. If you feel that logging in as your husband (with his knowledge and permission) is dishonest, you should certainly think that using a personal account for business purposes is likewise!

NSG666

I think you are overcomplicating it by suggesting you need a joint bank account. I have a Sole Trader business account with Santander. Although I do all of my own banking I set my wife up so that she has authority to do everything that I can e.g. manage payments and transfers. I didn't do anything dodgy and the person I authorised could be anyone (it's my responsibility). I didn't see it as a bad thing that if I got run over by a bus she could at least access the funds and transfer them into our joint personal account.

Think of it in terms of personal credit cards which can only be held by one person who is responsible for any activity on that account but can still authorise someone else to have their own card which is debited from that account.

GillianD

Thanks all. TSB it is then!

colsten

GillianD said:

Starling is great but not a real bank is it? 

Not sure what your definition of 'real bank' is. If you want a bricks & mortar, then obviously they don't fit as they are digital only, but they have a UK banking licence in just the same way as e.g. TSB have. To me, Starling are a real bank.