Day 8

BUSINESS CHECKING ACCOUNT

Earlier in the 100 Days of Business, I took an SBDC course about some of the most important things to do when starting a business. One of the takeaways from that class was that I needed a separate business banking account. When someone asked the instructor “When?” they needed to open the account, the reply was “before you first get paid.”

Well, I finally got my first check made out to Fire Toga LLC in the mail from my latest real estate job. Time to stop procrastinating and open up that account.

Before getting a business account you need an EIN (tax ID number for your business). This was the first thing I did to form the LLC. The documents needed were that EIN, the LLC certificate and my drivers license. Just an FYI if you are doing the same thing.

I decided to open the account in the same bank as my personal checking account to facilitate easier/quicker transfers between the accounts.

There are a lot of different options for starting a business bank account, but for a super small business like mine, a free, no-minimum deposit account was perfect. BB&T had that option, and after a few minutes I was all set. A few days later I received my business debit card. The whole thing was fast, easy, simple and free.

Keeping business and personal separate is important in terms of both the IRS and internally for the business. It also adds legitimacy to the business, since people are paying the business instead of me.

The next thing I need to consider is getting a business CREDIT card. A business needs to build credit just like an individual. However, I’m going to put that off until a later date.

Action Items:

Look into if I need a business credit card
Set up my bank account online
Talk to an accountant about business purchases on my personal credit card