Business bank accounts

Business structures such as ‘sole trader’ may not be required to have a separate bank account, but it could be a good idea to consider getting one. Read our 4 reasons to separate business banking from personal article to find out why. 

Structures such as ‘limited liability company’ and ‘corporation’ are required to have a separate bank account for tax purposes.

There are different types of business bank account, so your choice may depend on the size and nature of your business, the way it operates and how you manage cash flow. Some of the options available include: 

• Business transaction accounts (also known as a current or cheque accounts) for everyday banking

• Business savings accounts for surplus funds with anytime access

• Business term deposit accounts for surplus funds held for a fixed term

• Foreign currency accounts for making and receiving payments in a choice of foreign currencies

• Other specialist accounts for certain industry sectors such as agriculture and not-for-profits.

When comparing business bank accounts, some of the factors you may wish to consider are set up costs, fees, transaction limits, ease of use, online access, and the ability to switch funds between accounts.

You might want to talk to a business banker in your local branch to discuss your specific needs. Or for a few tips, read our How to set up your business banking article.

This really depends on what your business needs are.

If you’re a sole trader or run another type of small business, you’ll find there are a number of bank account options with different fees and features available and the type of bank account for your business might not be for others. For this reason, it’s important that you do your research and weigh up your options against your business needs and objectives.

For example, when choosing a business transaction account, features such as the number of free transactions could be particularly important to businesses with a high volume of payments. Whereas businesses with a low volume of transactions may be more focused on paying lower fees.

This is why Westpac offers a choice of Business One transaction accounts designed to support a variety of small businesses.

You can open a number of Westpac business bank accounts online without having to go into a branch, depending on how your business is structured and whether or not you’re already a Westpac customer. Usually, it takes just a few minutes.

If you’re a sole trader, sole director or two-director company, you can use this tool to find an account and start opening it online.

It’s worth doing some research to help you identify the right business bank account for your business needs. You could start by comparing Westpac business bank accounts on our compare business bank accounts page.

Switching banks may be simpler than you think, including moving your business finances from a personal account to a business bank account. Read our Switching banks for your business article.