Plain write-ups of the business accounts an LLC can open - what each one is built for, where the fees actually land, and which kind of business it suits. The reasoning is on the page; no score is attached to it.
DollarsOpening, comparing and running an LLC’s business account.
Five entries, from opening the account to keeping it in step with the books.
What a bank asks an LLC for at account opening - the EIN, the formation paperwork, an address, and who is allowed to sign.
1002Novo, Mercury, Bluevine and Relay, read against the way a small LLC actually moves money rather than against each other’s feature lists.
1003Monthly maintenance, wire and ACH pricing, cash deposits and overdraft terms - where they sit in the fee schedule and what waives them.
1004Why an LLC’s account stays apart from the owner’s own, what mixing them costs, and the habits that keep the line clean.
1005Dividing a balance into sub-accounts, issuing cards to a team, and what a bank hands over to the bookkeeping at the end of a month.
Covered in detail in Opening the Account Right After You Form the LLC, Best Account for a Two-Member LLC and LLC Banking: Documents, Insurance and Keeping the Veil Intact.
Start here
Are online-only business banks safe for keeping my company's money?
Read the guide ExplainerDo I really need a separate bank account for my small business?
Read the explainer ShortlistWhat's the best business bank account for a new LLC?
Read it How-toWhat's the best business banking option for a two-member LLC?
Read it Head to headWhat's the best business bank account for a new LLC?
Read itThree endorsements on the back of every entry. For fees set out with their dates, see Alternatives to a Big Bank for a New LLC.
Where an account comes out ahead, it is said in a sentence with the reason attached. No scores, no stars, no tier board standing in for a judgement.
No described methodology covering work nobody did. Where a write-up rests on published terms and fee schedules, it says so and names them.
Some links here earn a commission. That never sets the order things are written in, and it is disclosed on every page where it applies.
How an entry gets from a question about banking to a line you can act on.
Deposits, transfers, cards, cash. The account that suits a contractor paid by invoice is rarely the one that suits a shop taking counter takings.
Fees live in the disclosure, not the marketing. Fee figures on these pages are dated and taken from the provider’s own pages, so you can check them yourself.
Run last month’s transactions through the pricing before switching. An account only looks cheap until your own volume goes through it.
Covered in detail in LLC Banking Terms, Explained, LLC Business Banking: Common Questions and LLC Banking: Documents, Insurance and Keeping the Veil Intact.
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