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Good bank account for a startup?

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Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#11
post #8

I'm in a similar situation and I just wanted to share the little hangup I ran into: I have a Delaware LLC and I live in California. When I tried applying for a Wells Fargo account in California they said I need a Foreign Qualification, which also means I would have to pay the California minimum franchise tax of $800/year. I'm sure there's an easy way around this but I just set it aside because it's not a priority for…

IANAA: I think you owe that $800 to California if you're operating any business inside California, regardless of whether it's registered in California or not.

Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#12
I live in PA. I have a DE registered LLC.

You don't mention the number of transactions you do per month or your typical account balance. These will determine which business checking product you need.

I went with PNC Bank's Free Business Checking. http://tr.im/pncbizcheck

- No monthly fee - No minimum balance - Max free transactions: 200/month - Max free cash deposit: $5,000/month

Here is why I chose PNC:

1: PNC Business Checking has RemoteDeposit: A scanner that you can use to scan checks at home and deposit online yourself. (Optional: extra service fee of $50/month)

2: The application over the phone was painless, took 5 minutes, then 15 minutes at my local PNC branch. Walked out with working bank account and starter checks.

3: Good Merchant services for when you want to accept credit cards online

4: 800+ locations/branches (Eastern USA mainly)

So far (two months in) PNC gets 5/5 from me.

EDIT: added optional

Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#13
post #11
post #8

I'm in a similar situation and I just wanted to share the little hangup I ran into: I have a Delaware LLC and I live in California. When I tried applying for a Wells Fargo account in California they said I need a Foreign Qualification, which also means I would have to pay the California minimum franchise tax of $800/year. I'm sure there's an easy way around this but I just set it aside because it's not a priority for…

IANAA: I think you owe that $800 to California if you're operating any business inside California, regardless of whether it's registered in California or not.

If I'm running a website and I just happen to live in California, does that count as operating a business in California?

Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#14
Wells Fargo is the best for merchant services (next day deposit) and also have a great service stack for things like payroll. I had a company that used them for both and they were great. We also had a savings account with a regional bank (WCB). The small guys work harder for your business and will pay a better % (even in liquid accounts) and you may need the relationship someday for a line of credit.

Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#15
I slipped in before the change to Chase and got a free Wamu business checking account. I use this account

https://www.wamu.com/business/checking_account/free_checking...

No monthly fee or minimum balance, up to 250 checks per month.

Large bank and getting larger with Chase acquiring, I didn't see a similar Chase plan so I think I should be grandfathered in as they move to Chase.

This is the closest I found to a "personal account for business"

Works great for me, sounds very similar to the PNC deal also mentioned.

Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#16
post #3

As with most things in life bank fees like this are more often then not are negotiable. Make an appointment with the branch manager or business specialist at your BoA branch and voice your concerns about fees like these, and how they would make it difficult for you to continue banking with them. For anyone thinking of opening a separate account for business the first place to start would be the bank you use for your…

The whole thing was sketchy. They told me there wouldnt be fees, so when fees showed up, I complained and they said they would remove them. When the fees didnt go away, I asked to be refunded. They said they could only refund the last 3 months of fees since they had "no record" past that, even though I had the account for a year.

Anyway, I just didn't want to deal with them anymore so I closed the account.

Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#17
post #5

Getting hit with low balance fees and caring about $13 a month both suggest to me that this is a color-of-the-bike-shed decision until you get bigger.

This is mostly a hobby business that I want to run lean without much plan for growth. I'm looking for more efficient business accounts that better match my uses.

Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#18
post #5

Getting hit with low balance fees and caring about $13 a month both suggest to me that this is a color-of-the-bike-shed decision until you get bigger.

This is mostly a hobby business that I want to run lean without much plan for growth. I'm looking for more efficient business accounts that better match my uses.

A hobby business is not a business, it's a hobby and hobbies cost money.

If you plan on this being a business you have to figure out first how much turnover you have to make to make a go of it, and if $13 / month for a bank is a make-or-break decision then I would suggest you look long and hard at whether or not this is a feasible endeavor.

For sure it is possible that you'll be doing this expense out-of-pocket for a while, but then you just put all these expenses against your future revenues.

A typical small business, including all overhead, such as administration, tax filings, equipment and so on will cost you at least $200 / month, so if your projected profits when this thing is up and running are lower than that you really should reconsider your plans.

This is not meant to demoralize you, I just think that if you doubt about spending $13/month that you have other issues than choosing the right bank.

I chose mine for reliability, easy access to international banking, the fact that my balance is insured to a serious amount and so on, the 'costs per transaction' and 'monthly fees' were the least of the considerations.

The recent crisis has born out the wisdom of that decision, by going with a large but cooperative bank they were hit very little by the affairs that caused their main competitor to now be mostly state property.

Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#19
post #13
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAA: I think you owe that $800 to California if you're operating any business inside California, regardless of whether it's registered in California or not.

If I'm running a website and I just happen to live in California, does that count as operating a business in California?

Yes. B/c you are headquartered in Cali, where 100% of your employees are physically located (and where they work; telecommuting doesn't count).

EDIT: BUT if you are running a sole proprietorship (i.e., D.B.A. "fake company name"), then the fee is much less ($100-$150 for the DBA registration).

Re: Good bank account for a startup?

#20
post #8

I'm in a similar situation and I just wanted to share the little hangup I ran into: I have a Delaware LLC and I live in California. When I tried applying for a Wells Fargo account in California they said I need a Foreign Qualification, which also means I would have to pay the California minimum franchise tax of $800/year. I'm sure there's an easy way around this but I just set it aside because it's not a priority for…

> I'm sure there's an easy way around this but I just set it aside because it's not a priority for me.

What part of your experience/knowledge with govts, particularly CA's, suggests that "get around" will be easy?

CA will go after you if you earn options/start a company in CA, move out, and then sell.

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