Sole trader banking woes..

greengravel

Hey folks,

just set myself up as a sold trader trading under a company name earlier this month and my head is spinning as far as my banking options are concerned and would greatly appreciate some advice. I'm with BOI for my personal account but BOI business account fees are prohibitively high for me as my business is small. I did a bit of looking through Boards and many advise setting up another personal account with the same bank but to have it registered as John Smith T/A Acme Inc. When I asked my local BOI branch today they said that it would automatically be a business account if I title it T/A and I would incur fees etc. I was also told that I could set up another account with my own name but I could only cash cheques or payments made payable to John Smith and not made out to Acme Inc. Now when I registered with Revenue and CRO I did put my own name as an alternative name that I trade under for this business. When in the BOI branch my gut was telling me that I was being talked into the business account when I don't necessarily need it and would really like to avoid the fees I would be facing.

A few questions: because I have my own name down as an alternative that I trade under with Revenue can I have payments made out to me or do they have to be made out to the company?

If I can have payments made out to me does that mean I can have my second personal account with BOI for all business transactions? I don't see myself getting many or possibly any cheques in the future so it's not a big concern.

I just want to avoid making any serious missteps to be honest and any help would be appreciated!

Gloomtastic!

As a sole trader you can have payments made out to either yourself personally or your trading name and bank both in your business acccount or just have them made out to you personally and bank to your personal account.

For Revenue purposes, they are only interested in your profit at the end of the tax year - what you will pay tax on. So you’ll have to keep proper records of income v expenditure.

If you don’t want a Business Account, on your invoices just quote ‘Payments made out to Your Name’. Also include your PPS No. under your address on your invoice.

greengravel

That all makes sense to me. Thank you very much!

CeilingFly

Bank of Ireland have absolutely zero interest in small business.

Try aib, not brilliant, but a hell of a lot better.

But boi - nope. Avoid.

homik

AIB used to have Start Up Business Account with fees waived for 2 years. The business however would have had to be less than 3 years old. You might check if it is still being offered.

SEPT 23 1989

Dont keep your personal account and your business account at the same bank