Which banking and accounting combination would you choose

[Dannydee]

I'm waiting on my application for Starling to be approved or denied and I'm considering what my plan B is.

So plan A is: Starling business account + use it in tandem with Wise for international client payments.

Plan B is: Mettle business account + use it in tandem with Wise for international client payments.

With Starling you can use the Business Toolkit for £7 a month through which you get access to accounting software etc

With Mettle you get free access to FreeAgent accounting software as part of their offering.

On the surface it appears to me that you would actually save more money with Mettle since you would avoid the £7 a month you need to pay Starling for the accounting extras.

Which of these two combinations would be the best?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

I'm waiting on my application for Starling to be approved or denied and I'm considering what my plan B is.

So plan A is: Starling business account + use it in tandem with Wise for international client payments.

Plan B is: Mettle business account + use it in tandem with Wise for international client payments.

With Starling you can use the Business Toolkit for £7 a month through which you get access to accounting software etc

With Mettle you get free access to FreeAgent accounting software as part of their offering.

On the surface it appears to me that you would actually save more money with Mettle since you would avoid the £7 a month you need to pay Starling for the accounting extras.

Which of these two combinations would be the best?

What sort of business do you run and do you have any specific needs from your accounting software?

 

[Dannydee]

What sort of business do you run and do you have any specific needs from your accounting software?

It's going to be a fully digital business, offering digital products to increase productivity, workflows, etc.

I'm not sure if I have any specific needs tbh, I hadn't thought about it. From the offset I'm just going to be setting up a handful of subscriptions for website hosting, domain, etc... I'd hope it's not long before I start bringing in some paying clients.

I see myself possibly connecting something like lemonsqueezy for payments. What are the main things I should consider starting out?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

It's going to be a fully digital business, offering digital products to increase productivity, workflows, etc.

I'm not sure if I have any specific needs tbh, I hadn't thought about it. From the offset I'm just going to be setting up a handful of subscriptions for website hosting, domain, etc... I'd hope it's not long before I start bringing in some paying clients.

I see myself possibly connecting something like lemonsqueezy for payments. What are the main things I should consider starting out?

Based on what you've said I'd opt for Mettle with a free subscription to FreeAgent. FreeAgent is good, it works well. I have a lot of clients using it.

 

[fisicx]

I see myself possibly connecting something like lemonsqueezy for payments. What are the main things I should consider starting out?

Might work. Depends on your target customer.

I prefer to pay my subscriptions with a CC.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

As long as you put everything through the one bank account, you could just send a csv of all transactions (with comments/descriptions (some bank accounts allow you to label/describe)) to your accountant and they could do the rest!

 

[GLAbusiness]

OP, it's not the question you asked but I strongly advise talking to an accountant as soon as possible. It will save hassle and money in the future. There are many accountants on this forum (not me) who you could contact

MyAccountantOnLine always seems (to me) to offer good advice on the forum

 

[GLAbusiness]

OP for accounting software I would steer clear of a banks own product. Think about what happens if you move banks later. I use FreeAgent and it is very good

 

[Dannydee]

Hmm, thank you for all the replies which have given me things to consider.

I got approved for my Starling account, so it's active. Mettle have just sent me an acknowledgement email saying they were working on a lot of applications and should hopefully have it sorted soon.

So, it's likely I'll have the option to go with either. On one hand Mettle will save a few quid a year alongside having free FreeAgent access. Starling, I understand, may be the better option if you hope to eventually "go big" which is what we all want, right?


Do I really need to talk to an accountant at such an early stage? All I'll be doing in the beginning is signing up to some direct debit subscriptions, but it will be great if I can get some paying clients before long.

 

[GLAbusiness]

When I started out the first thing I did was talk to an accountant Never regretted it as I got the right structure from day 1

 

[fisicx]

Do I really need to talk to an accountant at such an early stage? All I'll be doing in the beginning is signing up to some direct debit subscriptions, but it will be great if I can get some paying clients before long.

Yes!

You will save far more in fees than you will pax in tax.

For example, they may suggest a better option for those DD subscriptions.