Do most people here use a separate company account for their expenses? Like a check book and a debit card (and/or credit cards) with their company name?
If so, did you have to register your company as a separate entity (LLC, corp, etc), or can a sole proprietorship get business accounts?
Would a sole proprietorship need to register as one, or can you just go down to your bank and setup a checking account with a business name on it, no questions asked?
(should this have been in asset protection / taxes?)
If you have a company that is not a separate entity, your headed for disaster. But you can get business bank accounts as a sole proprietor. If you choose to pay for business expenses out of your personal accounts then you will have to keep extra good records for tax purposes.
Get a separate entity, and separate bank accounts!
So,
setup entity
once setup, go to local bank, setup accounts
purchase business stuff only with your debit card / checkbook, for your business account, and things will be much easier come tax / audit time?
So, that’s pretty much the basic way of making sure my business and myself are separate, and therefore keeping an entity legit? Any other things, besides keeping funds clearly separated, that are important for this?
Does every move I make through my corporation need to be documented, all things like those in this list:
http://www.mycorporation.com/corpres.htm
If you don’t run it 100%, will it be ignored in court?
veilside…
okay man, slow down.
first -
when you register either a DBA - which is a local County Clerk filing, you can get what’s called an EIN number - Employee Indentification Number - it’s like a social security number for businesses - sort of.
LLC, CORP, LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS and other entities of this nature, require a bit more intense filing with your Secretary of State (i will not comlicate things any further than that) File in your own state - done.
my advise is this, do not do anything without simply going out and READING SOME BOOKS. you can’t ask the questions you’re asking and get sufficient help in a forum like this.
the whole “purchase business stuff with debit card/checkbook…things will be much easier come tax/audit time” is way off in many different ways.
“set up entity”
“goto local bank, setup accounts”
there’s alot that has to be done to do these things. owning/running a business is a labor-intense activity. managing finances of a business is not in anyway, easy. introduce a credit card with interest, a loan/mortgage, expenses, etc…and from the looks of it - you will be very overwhelmed.
goto your local library and take out Business for Dumbies [absolutely no pun intended man - it’s just a very basic book on business]. read it or pm me for personal contact.