Sole proprietors: Do you have a business checking acct?

Don't set up a business account. There isn't any advantage to a business checking account if you are a sole-proprietor. You can set up a second personal checking account to keep business and personal expenses separate. I've done it a couple of ways. I have done the second account as a dba and currently we have one account with my wife as the primary and the other with me as the primary.

 

A dba statement is no big deal. My credit union also wanted evidence that I am actually a business. They're just making sure they don't get caught up in any tax shenanigans or doing business with al-qaeda.

We happen to live inside city limits and just got a business license. A company bank account isn't required and adds a little expense, but in my opinion gives you some credibility when dealing with other businesses. Due to the amount of ACH transactions in this business, I set up a second checking account for that in order to insulate my main business account from "mistakes." It's all free at the credit union so just another thing to keep up with and no added cost.

 

just get quicken and set up a trucking section with all the necessary sections fuel, oil, tags,repairs ,parts, tires, insurance, tags , tolls, loans, etc. and that's all you need easy to do a printout for the accountant


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I dont know about other banks but when i started i just went down to the bank and opened a dba account with no issues but this was 22 years ago. For buying parts unless paying cash or using a credit cards most companys will not take a personal check they want a business check and most finace companys i have delt with want the payment comeing from an account with your busines name on it. I put everything in the dba account and then pay myself a weekly pay to cover my household bills plus a little extra and the rest stays in the dba for business costs.

 

I set-up 32 different accounts at 8 different banks with two of them out of the country. My money transfers between all these banks at least twice each week. I am figuring it is the ultimate protection against collectors. If I can't find my own money how would someone else be able to.

 

Just ignore those unmarked cars with tinted windows outside your house. They are there to "help" you.

 

If your naming your business anything other than your own personal name then you have to file a ficticious business name with your secretary of state. As far as the seperate account you dont really need one unless your like me and form an LLC or an S- corporation. Hope this helps.

 

I just have a 2nd checking for just trucking stuff and its where i deposit my checks into also. I keep everything separate, I also pay myself a set % of what I make for personal bills and living expenses. I just use my name as my trucking name and its what is on the side of truck. no actual business account or dba name. i can open as many free personal checking accts i want, but as soon as i open a business account they want to charge me a fee and a minimum balance has to be in there and then charge for number of check written, at least where i bank

you may want to check out dieselboss.com website too up at the top click on trucking software list, i use the ifta program plus accounting program to track everything about my business. Its the best software out there by far, only $50 a year. It gives me a breakdown of everything in incredible detail. I can see what % of my money is going everywhere. it will track your profit per mile and just a ton of stuff. I put in every fuel fill up in the program, calculates my ifta for me every quarter ect. I also see my net profit for the year. I watch this figure for end of year taxes i make sure i have 30% of my net profit set aside in a 3rd account for taxes.

Then i use turbo tax to file my taxes at the end of the year. ive never been happy with any on my local accountants.

maybe more of a post than you wanted but thought id share what works well for me as a single owner op.

 

Its no big deal to get the DBA (at least in Texas) and my business account is free as long as I use my debit card once a month for a purchase. I also have B of A and they did require that stuff to set things up. I like having a seperate account for the business.