TAKEAWAYS
- Why you need a business checking account
- How to find the right business checking account for your home improvement business
- How Hearth can help your business with Hearth Business Checking
Before we talk about how to shop for a business checking account, you need to know about the benefits.
Why you need a home improvement business bank account
Keeping your personal and business finances separate
Mixing your personal and business accounts can lead to disaster. Business-specific bank accounts can protect your personal assets if your business runs into any financial or legal issues.
Prevent headaches during tax season
Keeping your business finances in one place helps whenever it’s time to pay the federal or state government. Having to comb over transactions to find your business expenses to figure out how much you spent on your business is no one’s idea of fun. Also, the federal government and IRS mandate that any incorporated company must have a business bank account.1 This means that if you intend for your company to grow or to change your incorporation status, you’ll need to have business accounts.
Business financing institutions require business bank accounts
You may feel like you’ll never need business financing, but there may come a day when you need business financing to help bridge a gap in your cash flow or an opportunity comes up that requires capital to get off the ground. Be prepared to show that you have the appropriate financial system in place to accept business financing.
Easier to manage your money
Ultimately, it is easier to manage your business’ money when everything is in business accounts. You can manage cash flow and monitor where you’re spending the most.
How to find the right home improvement business bank account
There is lots of advice flying around about what the best type of business checking account is right for your business, but here’s a quick look at what to think about when finding the right business checking account for you.
Focus on speed
Not all banks have the same processing speed or capabilities when it comes to transactions and when your money becomes available. We don’t need to tell you that speed to your cash is crucial in the contracting business. Look at the bank’s terms and conditions to understand how long it takes to process ACH (eChecks), credit and debit card transitions, and wire transfers.
Research their technology
The number of physical bank locations is on the decline nationwide.2 Banks are creating powerful apps that give their customers the power to complete tasks from anywhere. When shopping for a bank, research what capabilities their mobile and online applications offer its customers.
How do they handle ATMs
Paying for getting your own money out of an ATM feels like a punishment. Several banking institutions offer no ATM fees for some or all ATM networks. Find out what your bank’s policy is regarding ATM fees.
What types of benefits do you get?
Banks want to open as many accounts as possible, and your business banking account can benefit from introductory offers and member benefits. Typical offers and benefits include no minimum balance requirements, no monthly fees, and cashback programs. As enticing as these may be, read the fine print to learn about how long these offers last and any limitations put on these benefits.
Get Hearth Business Checking for your home improvement business
Hearth Business Checking is a new way to get your cash faster. Hearth members can access ACH, credit, and debit card transactions quicker when using Hearth invoices and payments together with their Hearth Business Checking account.
ACH (eCheck) payments are available to use as soon as the next business day compared to 4–7 business days. And, credit and debit card payments are available as soon as two business days. This significantly reduces the amount of time you have to wait to use your cash.
Hearth Business Checking also gives you 1% cashback* on transactions made with a Hearth debit card. And Hearth Business Checking members have access to 55,000 ATMs nationwide to access their cash with no withdrawal fees*.
To learn more or apply to Hearth Business Checking, visit our website.
1 Business News Daily, “Why You Need a Business Bank Account, and How to Choose One,” 2022 link
2 Fox Business, “Bank branches to disappear by 2034: new research,” 2021 link
The above content is for informational and/or educational purposes only. It does not constitute professional financial advice. If you have more questions, please reach out to a financial advisor for more information.
Hearth is a technology company, which is licensed as a broker as may be required by state law. Hearth does not accept applications for credit, does not make loans, and does not make credit decisions; this site does not constitute an offer or solicitation to lend. Hearth may be compensated by third-party advertisers. However, the compensation will not impact how or where the product may appear on this site. The offers on the site do not represent all available financial services, companies or products. NMLS ID# 1628533 | NMLS Consumer Access.
Hearth is a financial technology company and is not a bank. Banking services provided by Blue Ridge Bank N.A, Member FDIC. The Hearth Visa® Debit Card is issued by Blue Ridge Bank N.A. pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.
*Subject to the Hearth Checking Promotional Program Terms and Conditions. You may be charged a fee by a non-Hearth ATM if it is not part of the 55,000+ ATMs.
