Do i have to have my name on cheques if i am in a partnership or just company name? - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

farley · Member

Do i have to have my name on cheques if i am in a partnership or just company name?

Wella · Expert

Hi farley

This is a quote from the Business Link website

Displaying a sole trader or partnership business name

Your business name, your own name, or the partners' names and business address must be clearly displayed:

wherever you run your business and deal with customers or suppliers
on all business letters, orders, payments, invoices, receipts and other business documents.

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?r.s=sc&r.l1=1073858805&r.lc=en&r.l3=1073859929&r.l2=1073859131&r.i=1073788944&type=RESOURCES&itemId=1073788946&r.t=RESOURCES

You might find the link useful as there are a few rules about names.

Hope this helps

Bill

farley · Member

Thanks for that link.....

I read on here that someone has a business account who is operating as a sole trader and it just has the business name on the bank details ie cheque book. Does anyone know which banks do this?

Terri · Senior Member

I am with the Natwest Bank and my cheque book says my name T/A my company name

Terri

farley · Member

Thats the Nat West off my list then :)
Llloyds TSB do 18 month free banking so i was hoping that they might allow cheques to be made payable to just the company name....

kjmcculloch · Guru

Sorry farley, I'm going to ask the obvious question. Why don't you want your name on anything?

Kris

farley · Member

Nothing sinister :)
I want to keep the job i have now too but dont want my boss to know i am starting my own company. So if he saw one of our invoices i would rather it didnt have my name on it. My boss isnt very understanding and would not approve of me progressing. Dont really want to go into too much detail but the only reason is that I dont want certain people to know im trading YET. When i feel i can run a small business comfortably & that i definately want to do it alone then I will become a ltd company. Dont want to put all of my eggs in one basket at the moment thats all.

Vinod · Newbie

As far as I know business name is required on the cheque book

Zoe · Senior Member

Hi Farley

Just one point - you mention you will not be registering for VAT as you won't be a limited company.

Regardless of whether you are a sole trader, partnership or limited company, you will need to register for VAT as soon as your turnover reaches £68,000 in a twelve month period. Registering before you reach this threshold is optional and that decision will depend on your type of business.

Kind regards

Zöe

BackOfficeGroup · Guru

On my Barclays account, I only have the company name but not sure if they still allow this facility?? I opened the account in 1991 so things were very different in those days!

P

farmergiles · Veteran Member

Can I just mention that there is NO LEGAL requirement to have a business bank account. If you maintain a proper cash book then you can use your ordinary account.
A lot of banks don't want you to do this, they want you as a business client then they can make money out of you once the free period is over. The revenue will also try to insist that you have a seperate account, this is only for their convenience!!

If you do have a business account then you can use your trading name as the account name, it doesn't have to show the partner names.

You are required to show the partner names on all paperwork. It is normally show on the bottom as per Ltd Co's."Fred Bloggs is the trading name of Fred & Ira Gerswin"
If you become a Ltd Co then you also have to show the name of the company at the address at which it is registered. I have a list showing on the inside of my glass front door of all Ltd Co's registered at my address.

farley · Member

Thank you for your replies. I think i will use a personal account.

farley · Member

Can someone also confirm that we dont need to register for VAT unless we sell over £60k a year irrelevant of what we are selling? My partner thinks you have to register for VAT if you are selling a product or service? I thought not?

farmergiles · Veteran Member

If you are in business and your turnover exceeds or is likely to exceed £68k in any 12 month period, then you need to register for VAT, unless you supply an exempted product.