Open A Business Checking Account

 

The final step to make your business not just legal, but fully functional for your purposes, is to open a business checking account with a bank. You will need to provide the bank with your EIN number and the Fictitious Name Statement for your new business. You will also probably have to provide your personal information and it is safe to do so unless you’re on the run from the FED’s. If you do this right, your personal information will not show on your checks or the Debit Card issued by the bank. Just the Business Name will be shown (ask them to show your Business Name only and not your personal name as the business owner).

 

Some banks may insist your personal name also be on the checks and that is one reason I recommend you form a partnership rather than a Sole Proprietorship. Even if your bank insists you must have your personal name on your business checks, you don’t have to accept that. Instead, you refuse checks from the bank and order your checks form a private seller on the Internet and have them print your checks the way YOU want them. Ordering your checks online is much less costly than getting them from the bank and you’ve cut out the intermediary (the bank). I order all my checks online and get the exact style and information shown that I want. For example, you could have the address and phone number on your checks different from what the bank has on file for your business account. You could show no address or phone number if you so choose. It is your choice and NOT the bank’s choice about what information is shown on your business checks. You form the business partnership as an author would between your Given Name and your Business Name (your new identity name that looks like a person’s name). Then you have the bank only show your partner’s name (your Pen Name) on the checks and Debit Cards. You are now going to live under your Business Partner’s Name. Actors do the same thing as they live their lives and are paid under their Acting Name rather than their Given Name. You could also be an investment company where you are the brains and your partner handles the money and does the banking. You want your partner’s name on the checks and debit cards and your partners name will be the name you now assume as your new identity name and Business Name. You are going to be just like other people who work under a Business Name that is NOT their Given Name (a fictitious name as shown on the Fictitious Name Statement). You are doing what a famous Author, famous Movie Star, or a filthy rich top dog Investor does. This is a common thing in our world today. Good company to have in your new identity and indeed you are now free to become one of the privileged people who get special treatment worldwide and wherever they go. There is even a special acronym for people like this who have special status and privilege … they are known as a VIP (Very Important Person). You can become a VIP with your new business!

 

NOTE:  My personal favorite bank to open a business account at the time of this writing is Bank of America. I prefer Bank of America for two reasons. First and most importantly, you can ask them to put your photo on your new business Debit Card and only show your Business Name. You now have picture ID in your Business Name (your legal new identity name) in the form of a Debit Card with your photo on it … cool! If your Business Name happens to sound like a person’s (John Doe Enterprises for example), you have picture ID to confirm your new identity name as John Doe. If someone wants to see identification and wants picture ID, you can use your Debit Card instead of a Driver’s license, State ID Card, Student ID card, or Passport. I’m not aware of any other bank that puts your photo on a business Debit Card. Perhaps they exist and perhaps you can find one but Bank of America is your friend. They do this for personal accounts and you have to ASK them to do it for a business account.

 

The second reason I like Bank of America is this bank is a MONSTER. They have branches everywhere and you can conduct your banking business almost anywhere you may go in your new life!

 

NOTE:  Some banks may want a Partnership Agreement filed with the State and Bank of America is one of them (in my state). This is NOT a legal requirement by the state and merely a requirement of that bank. It is easy to just go online and do this for a small fee as I have done. Smaller and less-known banks are less likely to want a Partnership Agreement registered with the state. Call the bank you want to use in advance and ask them what documents they need to open a Business Partnership account. This is NOT needed for a Corporation or LLC. These more complex and costly forms of business are registered with the state as part of the normal process. Sole Proprietorships don’t have this requirement, because of a single owner of the business. Trusts are more complex and I recommend you do NOT go this route or hire an attorney and / or accountant to do it for you if you form a trust.