Business & Personal Banking

[ukpartydj]

I'm going to run out of free banking with Natwest soon and been figuring out their charges... from what I understand I'll be paying £15 a month for using the account - I can deal with that but at £180 a year and rising as I get more and more work it's an expensive I'd be happy to cut out.

Now from what I understand the benefits of a business bank account are that I can ask people to pay - "UK Party DJ" on cheques and I can withdraw more than £300 at a cash machine.
Whilst these are nice perks I'm not so sure I want to pay £180 a year for such petty things.

So does anybody actually know what the difference actually is? And whats to stop me just opening another personal account and using it solely for my business?

I feel I must be missing something important here otherwise how would Natwest get away with charging that much for about the same usage as my personal account, which is free!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

If you don't want a business account and don't want to pay the charges, then use a second current account. But then why call yourself UKpartyDJ? Just use your own name. Much easier and no charges.

[ukpartydj]

If you don't want a business account and don't want to pay the charges, then use a second current account. But then why call yourself UKpartyDJ? Just use your own name. Much easier and no charges.

I find it more professional to ask somebody to pay UK Party DJ then to ask them to pay me. But that only crops up when I get paid by cheques really.
Odd how one account is free and another charges 40p+ per transaction because it's called a "business account" if thats the only thing I might as well swap to halifax and get paid for using them :)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I find it more professional to ask somebody to pay UK Party DJ then to ask them to pay me. But that only crops up when I get paid by cheques really.
Odd how one account is free and another charges 40p+ per transaction because it's called a "business account" if thats the only thing I might as well swap to halifax and get paid for using them :)

If you start working with Hotels and corporates, it looks very suspect to pay funds into a personal account. Have a look around - I only pay £5-£10 a month with Barclays and I suspect my turnover is a lot more than yours.

If you open a business account it is good for your credit rating and if and when you want to take out business loans or get business credit cards etc.

I use Barclays and get charged £5.50 per month, plus 30p per statement, 75p per credit (slip), 30p per cheque and 79p per non-automated debits.

[surround sounds]

I am with natwest and I get free business banking for 2 years

[ukpartydj]

I use Barclays and get charged £5.50 per month, plus 30p per statement, 75p per credit (slip), 30p per cheque and 79p per non-automated debits.

Apart for the odd couple pence here a there that is a very similar tariff to what I'm on.
Last month would have cost -

£3.96 - Cash deposited in branch (However I'm assuming that with a paying in slip I could reduce both this and the cheques in charge to 76p per slip?)
£4.40 - Bank transfers in
£2.00 - Bank transfers out
£0.90 - Standing orders
£1.20 - Direct Debits
£0.71 - Cheque out
£0.66 - Cheques in

Maybe I just need to adjust my banking practises slightly.


I am with natwest and I get free business banking for 2 years

That's what I've got, want to plan ahead if I'm going to change banks to save any headaches further down the line.

[yourdj]

Apart for the odd couple pence here a there that is a very similar tariff to what I'm on.
Last month would have cost -

£3.96 - Cash deposited in branch (However I'm assuming that with a paying in slip I could reduce both this and the cheques in charge to 76p per slip?)
£4.40 - Bank transfers in
£2.00 - Bank transfers out
£0.90 - Standing orders
£1.20 - Direct Debits
£0.71 - Cheque out
£0.66 - Cheques in

Maybe I just need to adjust my banking practises slightly.



That's what I've got, want to plan ahead if I'm going to change banks to save any headaches further down the line.

Just do bank transfers with clients and not cheques. I get cheques from my venue but thats it.
2/3 a week at 70p or what ever it is. £15 a month is not much and you get more security and other benefits.
Main thing is it looks professional, even though mine is still called "bogfrog" :p

Need to change that to "your DJ"

[SamV]

I'm in the same boat the moment. But I've had a Barclays account and I really do not want to go back. Any others offering a good service?

[SoundONE]

even though mine is still called "bogfrog" :p

Need to change that to "your DJ"

ROTFLOL if my business account was called bogfrog, I think I would just use my real name Toby that don't sound too pro for a wedding DJ, I do love reading your posts, there great. :)

[ukpartydj]

That is a bit of an odd name ... so when you had a meeting with your bank manager he asked "what would you like the account to be called" and you said ... "bogfrog"??? Did you used to clean toilets before you found your way into DJing?