Business account – things to pay attention to

Financial management constitutes a very important skill when conducting business activity. What is more, every business, even in form of sole proprietorship, needs a bank account. The selection of the bank that the business owner will entrust their cash to and use for settlements with contractors or authorities should not be based solely on checking the amount of monthly fees. When making the decision on opening a business account, you should pay attention to many additional factors that will help you choose the proper type of account. 

At the initial stage of business activity, the entrepreneurs should separate private and business finances. Thanks to the separation of transactions into personal and business, you gain: 

• a clear overview of the company’s finances, 
• control over revenue and expenses, 
• a simple assessment of the productivity of particular business, 
• no access to private transactions by the company owner, 
• classification of all expenses related to owning the account as tax-deductible costs. 

The best solution to the above for an enterprise would be to open its own bank account so that the entrepreneur gets access to financial offers and services required for business operations. What one should pay attention to when choosing a business account? 

What are the types of bank accounts?

Starting from the basics, meaning familiarizing with the offer of the bank, the list of fees and commissions, you should think of the number of accounts and their purpose, which would help you choose the correct package. Among types of bank accounts, it is possible to list the following: 

• current account – to handle ongoing transactions, 
• auxiliary account – to dispose of funds for a specific purpose, 
• foreign currency account – to handle transactions in a currency other than Polish zloty, 
• payroll account – to settle remunerations for employees, 
• deposit account – to handle sums of deposits (e.g. security deposits). 

Nowadays, banks more and more often try to meet the needs of their customers and offer favorable packages connected with e.g., the number of employees or the type of conducted business. By identifying the individual needs of a company and meeting simple requirements, costs of such an account will still be low. What is more, one should also think of using electronic banking instead of paying standard visits to the bank. By ordering an online transfer, the fees will not be much higher than in the case of deposits and withdrawal at the bank. Sometimes they are even free of charge. 

How to choose the right business account?

In order to choose the correct bank account, you need to analyze the possibilities offered on the bank market. In many cases, services are offered in a package with favorable products and services. For example, such benefits may include savings accounts, overnight deposits or free anti-virus software. When choosing the business account, you should also pay attention to the information on reliability of the transaction system and the possibility of connecting it with the company’s financial and accounting system. For sure, it is advantageous when the bank account offers a wide availability of branches of that particular bank, free use of ATMs and efficient customer service. Nowadays, it is important to have the possibility of handling the company’s account through a mobile app or receive technical support from the bank through information received on a smart phone, by electronic mail or through chat. 

You should also remember that banks offer various levels of authorizations for the users of electronic banking. If the access to the account is given to more than one person, you can determine a specific range of rights for each such person. From simple browsing of accounts and transactions to input, signing and sending transfers. In such a situation, the account administrator – most often the president or head of the company – serves a crucial function. The user who serves the role of the administrator has the most authorizations and can independently decide on adding and removing users or editing their rights depending on the company’s needs. When it comes to business accounts, the transfer acceptance scheme is also very important; it displays information who can process a particular transaction and how. It is a crucial factor that provides protection of the company’s cash flows. 

Having an electronic bank account can also have a beneficial effect on the cooperation with MDDP Outsourcing. With the use of electronic banking, we can offer you a broader scope of our financial and accounting services so that you will manage your finances in an effective and secure way. 

Author: Magdalena Filipek – MDDP Outsourcing, accounting office in Warsaw