[Pure Glass]

Do you use a personal or business account??

I'm paying in cash and around 200 cheques a month, but only account I can find is Santander who like to charge 50p a cheque after the 100 cheque pay ins.

Bank are nagging me to look at a business account, but I'd rather just stick to my other personal current account.

What do you biys and girls do? What are the advantages of a business account over what I'm doing?

Ta

[christopher b]

personal better but Mr Tax man realy dont like it! Santandare is best all the others charge, im going over to them next month at moment those who will remain nameless get over £30 per month out of me

[Sean Dyer]

santander are poo dont bother, just closd mine going to my personal bank for business account they are gonna give me 18 months free

[sunshine windows]

Use Santander business account and open a savings account linked directly to the business account (works off the same bank card).

Unlimited cheque deposits with no charge on the savings account. Just transfer funds as necessary.

Used to use personal account at nationwide but they cottoned on and the manager was a do gooder.

Regards,
Lance

[Pure Glass]

Do you use a personal or business account??

I'm paying in cash and around 200 cheques a month, but only account I can find is Santander who like to charge 50p a cheque after the 100 cheque pay ins.

Bank are nagging me to look at a business account, but I'd rather just stick to my other personal current account.

What do you biys and girls do? What are the advantages of a business account over what I'm doing?

Ta

Apologies- I meant boys rather than question anybodies preference!!

Note to self.....check spelling before posting  

[Johnny B]

I have a personal account with the Co-op. I pay in a few cheques per month, for which no charges are made. Works well enough for me.

I used to be with the Halifax, who once buttonholed me to open a business account while I was in the bank. They sat me down to sell me the benefits of having such an account. I explained that my credit rating was poor, so I didn't believe they could help, but they said they would check to see what they could do. Half an hour later, they came back with the news ... 'Sorry, your credit rating is not good enough!'

As I am a sole trader, I keep scrupulous records, so I don't see the need, especially as I can't get a business account anyway!

John.

[bobby p]

i got badgered by a  real smaRMY beggar in HSBC who was alerted i was paying in just 2 cheques to my personal account. hes hounded me since  ,so much so that im going to close up my account .those two £8 cheques could have been from a card game or a late xmas gift,but he smelt a small biz and wont let it go

 ive since opened 2 building society accounts and both never question me,though i bet they would if i was paying in 200 cheques !

[Klean07]

I did 18 months free with Hsbc then same with Bank of Scotland which ran out last year. I pay around £20 charges at moment. However when my overdraft is in the black I'll be closing it down and using my personal bank.

[Crystal-clear]

Legally you dont need one and a bank by law cant refuse you to use account cos you are paying in a few cheques a month , it would be crazy, if you are to be forced i think, think about how many self employed couldnt afford a bus acc

[Paul Coleman]

Do you use a personal or business account??

I'm paying in cash and around 200 cheques a month, but only account I can find is Santander who like to charge 50p a cheque after the 100 cheque pay ins.

Bank are nagging me to look at a business account, but I'd rather just stick to my other personal current account.

What do you biys and girls do? What are the advantages of a business account over what I'm doing?

Ta

Santander can be a pain.  If you receive BACS transfers they don't supply the references - leaving you to guess who paid.  However, I find depositing cash and cheques with them is OK as I  live near a branch and can do this 24/7 free of charge (up to the limits).  So I do cash and cheques with Santander.  BACS transfers with Co-op (post office queues are long so BACS only for Co-op).  Two accounts for one business.  If you converted enough of your cheque payers to BACS, you could do something like that (Co-op do show the references).

[Londoner]

Legally you dont need one and a bank by law cant refuse you to use account cos you are paying in a few cheques a month , it would be crazy, if you are to be forced i think, think about how many self employed couldnt afford a bus acc

Absolutely right! The banks just want to screw you for more charges, thats all it is. There was a lot of moaning going on at Lloyds when we paid in cheques. finally got the "manager wants to see you". He said I really needed to open a business account. I said I just had with Santandair over the road - at the recommendation of Money Saving Expert (which was an out and out lie). The moaning seems to have stopped.

[WinTech]

I did 18 months on a Lloyds business act free. Now Im charged and have been a little anoyed at their charges for a small bussines man.

It is tax deductable but I would prefer not to have to pay any at all.

[Helen]

Here we go again, we want something but we don't want to pay for it.  Take out of the equasion the fat cats at the top of the banking system, and then where is the money coming from to pay the lower level staff at the banks?
Business account bank charges are tax deductable, so why change to a personal account, where they are not?
Keeping your finances separate is easier accounting and as long as everything ties up, your personal accounts do not have to be shown to the accountant/tax man

[PAIN IN THE GLASS]

The way round this is to open a business account, most branches offer free banking for between 12months and 18months , after this change to another bank. Problem solved.

[Richard iSparkle]

i've got a business account so that it's really easy to see what my business expenses are, and what my personal spending is.

it just keeps it easy for me to manage.

guess it depends on how big your business is, or how big want it to get.  if you've not got employees, work out of home etc etc then you may be ok with a personal account.  if you have big plans then imho just bite the bullet and save yourself some hassle.
 

[Blue Frog Systems]

Changed from a personal acc to a Lloyds business.

I can see where all the payments have come from so dont have to ring up customers to ask if they paid and when.

First 18 months are free and then costs after that. I dont mind this as it saves me a load of hassle.

[LWC]

I did 18 months on a Lloyds business act free. Now Im charged and have been a little anoyed at their charges for a small bussines man.

It is tax deductable but I would prefer not to have to pay any at all.

I had a business account with lloyds also which was nice when it was free lol. But i serisouly cracked down on spending last year and one of those accounts wasnt doing me any good, id be paying at least £30 a month...for what? Nothing.

My accountant noticed it to at my end of year accounts and queried it and said your paying alot in charges why is this...there is no explanation. Just making more money for banks. Also was a right pain if id paid loads of cheques into business and youd have to wait the 5 days to clear before i could use in my personal.

Now i just use my personal and things have been a lot better, i still have to wait to the funds to clear BUT the funds are showing and keeping my account healthy.

My opinion as someone said before unless youve got huge big plans, stick to your personal, if they start whinging tell them youll go elsewhere then, theylll soon stop whinging.

[4Taz]

I use Santander no problems at all - they do supply customer references in two different ways.

I've had no difficulties identifying which payment is from whom.

Banking is free & pay-in at any Post Office - very convenient.

[alfynokes]

I now only use my santander account (as it is now), and have no problem checking customer references on my statements and online to see who has paid.