dunroving

I'm not sure if this should be in the US forum or this one, but here goes:

Resident in the UK
Bank accounts in the US and the UK

Recently did some independent work for a US university, and provided an invoice, as requested, with a business name. However, the invoice specifically requested payment to be made in my own name.

Bottom line is the (US) check (written in US dollars drawn on a US bank) has the business name written on it as payee, so clearly I would have a problem paying it into my bank account (which is in my name).

How simple is it to open a business bank account in the UK, with the business name, and would I need to set up a sole tradership to open a bank account in the business name?

I know I could simply contact the university to request a replacement check with my name on it, but unfortunately this isn't a simple option (long story).

Any business owners or sole traders out there who can advise me on a simple way around this?

Bevm

I don't know about the UK, but we had a business account once in Canada.

IIRC, we had to register the name -- which included a search to make sure it's not already in use, or close enough to one in use to cause confusion. The fee wasn't very large. Once we had the document, the bank opened an account without any hitch.

Bev

dunroving

Thanks, Bev.

Does anyone know if you have to have a registered business name in the UK in order to open a bank account with the same (or similar) name?

I'm thinking for example that you can open a bank account called "D S Smith Mortgage Savings" (am I correct?). So can you also open an account called "D S Smith Speedy Removals"?

Bevm

Again, no expert, but I think that'd be fine. However, D S Smyth Mortgage Savings wouldn't pass. The purpose is to prevent someone opening an account with such little differences that the bank could process cheques without noticing. I remember a case where somone working for a charity did that and fed a lot of donation cheques to their account before being caught.

Ask your bank, Dunrovin.


Bev

dunroving

A related question - how easy have people found it to pay US checks (drawn in dollars on a US bank) into UK sterling bank accounts?

I used to be able to use US checks to pay off my Barclaycard, but have never tried paying into a bank account.

rebs

I've paid a couple of US checks into my Nationwide account with no problem - takes a couple of days to show up in the account. They were only for small amounts, so I didn't really take any notice of the exchange rate though.

citizenmarie

Sorry, don't know about the UK, but in the US there are a couple of basic options -- perhaps similar in the UK:

1) simple one: sole proprietorship - name of your business can be anything "DBA Bloggs Design" (doing business as). But your business bank account name should include your full name, so that checks can be made out either in your name or in the name of the business. eg: Fred Bloggs Design. Nothing special you need to do.

2) more complicated, fees, lawyers, paperwork: form and LLC, or you have to incorporate -- your business becomes a legal entity and has it's own SS number, like a person.

You know, my bank actually helped me open the business account and explained the first option (best option for me) ... I imagine you have asked your bank?

dunroving

Thanks, I have got online and looked at the Barclays site to find out about business accounts. These days, the concept of actually talking to someone at the bank seems alien, but I suppose I could do that, too. I think it may actually be quite straightforward from what I have found out so far.

Thanks for the tip about including my actual name in the business account number (the DB Bloggs Fancy Decorating Design thing).

Pistolpete2

I had the misfortune of being sent a sterling cheque from the UK here in St Lucia. I googled for Barclays deposit instructions but nothing came up so I telephoned my "branch" which is provided with a skype connection through the Barclays website. One ends up in a "tunnel" of key prompts generated by the telephone banking system. Ultimately I was as always talking to somebody in India who asked, after a long pause, whether St Lucia was part of the United States with a view to finding me a branch within walking distance. After further delay when I explained, once again, that the nearest branch is probably four thousand miles away, they gave me the standard deposit instructions for mailed deposits which are to a PO Box in Leicester after double-checking having got them wrong the first time.

Proper instructions on the Barclays main website which I use for Personal Banking would have been so much more convenient. But I do love Barclays Personal Banking.

Good luck with these Barclays connections!

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