It's been a long time since I had a sole proprietorship. I was a one-man S-Corp for 30 years.
What kind of business structure do most of you use and why? Do you need a business or merchant account for it? If you just have a sole proprietorship, do you open a separate account for it, to keep from co-mingling funds? What does it take to have an account that accepts credit cards? What are good transaction rates to look for? What CC readers for my iPhone have the lowest rates? I've heard that there are some that are cheaper than a Square. Any kind of banking help anyone can offer would be of great help!!!!
Thanks,
David Lawrence
Replies
We have always been a sole proprietorship. No corporate taxes to deal with and when we do shows in other states we don't have to list as an incorporated business because most of the states we do business in have corporate taxes.
Go to IRS.gov and look at schedule "C" and you can see how easy it is.
The Square is by far the best and most common system for those who don't want the hassle of the added fees of a full blown merchant account. 2.75% is taken off the top and the balance is in your bank the following day. No other fees, period. Just make sure your phone is either Apple or Android as a windows phone won't work with the Square. And they do not care if the bank account you give them is either a business or personal account.
Thanks, Chris. Great info.
A sole proprietorship is the easiest way to go unless you have a product that could have liability issues in which case an LLC is the best way to go.
Be very careful regarding claims that a CC server is less expensive than Square. There are many unscrupulous lying dogs out there who will mislead about their service being cheaper. You may find lower interest rates but there are many hidden service charges. It's hard to beat Square on the overall cost. Square has the package deal for chipped cards and card swiped.
Thanks, Robert.