Could anyone recommend: Best bank for Business Account

DrFroggies

Hi guys,

I've recently set up (registration and revenue etc all sorted) my own business (sole trader for now) and I've thankfully got my first clients in place etc but haven't yet set up a business account.

I'll be getting my first income as a freelancer/sole trader in the next week or so but still haven't set up a business account and I'm not sure which bank would be the best to go with and what factors I should be keeping in mind?

I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me some advice (a) on what factors I should keep in mind and (b) what bank would be considered the best to open a business account with as I really want to have all monies from the business going into the business account from the outset.

Any advice is massively appreciated.
Thanks!

Graham

Here's 815 previous posts discussing the same subject, they should get you started:

http://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?subforums=1&forum=106&query=best+bank

VincePP

Frankly they're all the same.

If you've banked as a personal customer with one, then do business banking with them. It will get it set up a lot easier.

Or see what you need from a bank and get one that suits you - i lodge cash, so extended opening and safe parking was one of the things i looked for.

Most also give offers such as reduced charges for new business.

DrFroggies

Graham wrote: »

Here's 815 previous posts discussing the same subject, they should get you started:

http://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?subforums=1&forum=106&query=best+bank

Cheers. Yeah have read previous posts and googled etc but only a couple for example in that list are recent enough (in the last year or so) and most are redirects to previous posts...which normally would be fine...but my thinking is that things have (I'd assumed) been changing quite regularly with banking in recent years given the circumstances.

And I suppose what I was hoping for is maybe someone being able to give me an idea of what I should be keeping in mind or sidestepping based on personal - and recent - experience (I've read through the banks information of course but I've often found boards a great place for getting information on the real experience not the blurb if you know what I mean)...so I'm hoping someone can tell me if there's something I should keep in mind (ie. am I better off just opening a separate personal account and using it for my business or are there certain essentials that I really should have a specific business account for)...if this was covered in detail in a post from say two years ago I'd assume it probably wasn't relevant anymore because or the recent changes in the financial situation...hence I'm hoping for relevant recent experience information...hopefully

VincePP wrote: »

Frankly they're all the same.

If you've banked as a personal customer with one, then do business banking with them. It will get it set up a lot easier.

Or see what you need from a bank and get one that suits you - i lodge cash, so extended opening and safe parking was one of the things i looked for.

Most also give offers such as reduced charges for new business.

Thanks Vince! Yeah that's kind of what I was thinking, so you reckon it wouldn't make much of a difference if I just went with my own bank (which would be my preference if they're all pretty much the same in terms of Business banking) I saw on one of the other threads someone state that business accounts were expensive? Would that be true? From what I could see on my own banks website you actually would have less charges in the first couple of years...I didn't see anything to suggest that it would be more expensive on the site?

Thanks again for taking the time!

buck65

We recently switched our banking to AIB from BOI. Charges were around half, we negotiated this, also online facility is far more user friendly than BOI's archaic one.

Graham

DrFroggies wrote: »

but my thinking is that things have (I'd assumed) been changing quite regularly with banking in recent years given the circumstances.

Things haven't changed much if at all unless you're trying to borrow money.

For sole traders the general consensus appears to be stick to using a separate personal account for your business activities.

Apart from the costs of business banking (which may or may not be free for the first XXXX), online business banking varies from being ultra-crap to just plain old crap.

Most banks will allow you to open a personal account with an account name along the lines of 'Dr Froggies T/A Froggies Super Stuff Service'.

SBG387

I like Graham's suggestion of going with a separate personal account for now. It's probably the easiest to set up and the fees are easier to understand. As you are a sole trader, I don't believe this is forbidden.

Apart from that, if you do want to go with a business account, I think it depends on what you need.

If you get paid frequently by cheque, don't underestimate the value in having a branch nearby. It's a pain having to travel just to lodge a cheque. The longer you leave it, the more likely it is that you'll lose the bloody cheque. Or forget to bring it with you on the day you happen to be passing a branch! Most of my clients pay electronically so it's not an issue for me.

I recently switched from AIB to Ulster because AIB's online business banking solution was over-complex for my needs (Ltd company but really just myself doing everything) and they wanted to charge me 260 pa for the privilege of using it.

BOI's business banking solution is no better (from what I hear) although I do know of at least one Ltd company where they allowed the business account to be accessed through Banking365 (their personal online banking solution) and this works well for the Ltd company owner (similar to me, only himself operating the business).

Ulster's online solution is the same for business customers as it is for personal customers. And there are no quarterly fees for using it. I wrote a detailed post on my experience last week - I don't have enough posts to be allowed paste in a full URL but look for the thread titled "Switching business bank accounts" on here.

AIB and Ulster both offer 2 (or 3?) years of free banking for new businesses. Not sure if BOI does.

Finally, Ulster did suffer a few prolonged outages last year (or was it 2014?); far more serious than AIB or BOI have recently experienced. Whether past performance is a sign of future performance, who knows. All depends on the quality of the cheap labour they've outsourced management of their core systems to!

buck65

buck65 wrote: »

We recently switched our banking to AIB from BOI. Charges were around half, we negotiated this, also online facility is far more user friendly than BOI's archaic one.

I've just had the misfortune of starting out on this for an Irish company I just registered. I have business accounts with banks abroad that my online banking was setup in about 5 mins with everything I need and a simple security device. The thinking and design around this BOI one is like something out of the dial up days!

Joseph

AIB

DrFroggies

buck65 wrote: »

We recently switched our banking to AIB from BOI. Charges were around half, we negotiated this, also online facility is far more user friendly than BOI's archaic one.

Half? Okay so BOI's out then!

Graham wrote: »

For sole traders the general consensus appears to be stick to using a separate personal account for your business activities.

Yeah that's kind of the feeling I'm getting.

Graham wrote: »

Most banks will allow you to open a personal account with an account name along the lines of 'Dr Froggies T/A Froggies Super Stuff Service'.

Oh that's good to know...I'd certainly go for that option if I'm sticking to personal with my own bank as I already have 2 accounts with them under my own name.

SBG387 wrote: »

I like Graham's suggestion of going with a separate personal account for now. It's probably the easiest to set up and the fees are easier to understand. As you are a sole trader, I don't believe this is forbidden.

Yeah it may sound silly but that was one of the things I was wondering...if I would be breaking some kind of rule if I ran my business through a specific personal account.

SBG387 wrote: »

I recently switched from AIB to Ulster because AIB's online business banking solution was over-complex for my needs (Ltd company but really just myself doing everything) and they wanted to charge me 260 pa for the privilege of using it.

€260 per year just for use!!!!:eek:

SBG387 wrote: »

Ulster's online solution is the same for business customers as it is for personal customers. And there are no quarterly fees for using it. I wrote a detailed post on my experience last week - I don't have enough posts to be allowed paste in a full URL but look for the thread titled "Switching business bank accounts" on here.

AIB and Ulster both offer 2 (or 3?) years of free banking for new businesses.

Well that's good to hear! I actually have an account with Ulster (personal) so if I did go the business account route and BOI seem to be generally considered the least attractive and I certainly wouldn't fancy AIB's €260 fee heaped on me just for general use...I think Ulster would be the best option.

Deleted User wrote: »

I've just had the misfortune of starting out on this for an Irish company I just registered. I have business accounts with banks abroad that my online banking was setup in about 5 mins with everything I need and a simple security device. The thinking and design around this BOI one is like something out of the dial up days!

So definitely not BOI then!

Joseph wrote: »

AIB

But the fees...

Graham

DrFroggies wrote: »

Yeah it may sound silly but that was one of the things I was wondering...if I would be breaking some kind of rule if I ran my business through a specific personal account.

As a sole trader there is no separate business, you are the business. it doesn't get much more personal.

Ash.J.Williams

DrFroggies wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've recently set up (registration and revenue etc all sorted) my own business (sole trader for now) and I've thankfully got my first clients in place etc but haven't yet set up a business account.

I'll be getting my first income as a freelancer/sole trader in the next week or so but still haven't set up a business account and I'm not sure which bank would be the best to go with and what factors I should be keeping in mind?

I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me some advice (a) on what factors I should keep in mind and (b) what bank would be considered the best to open a business account with as I really want to have all monies from the business going into the business account from the outset.

Any advice is massively appreciated.
Thanks!

i've just done same and went to AIB business and they were great. In fact i think they might be the best for this. Takes a week or two. No charges for two years.