Opening a business bank account

The four documents

The EIN confirmation letter from the IRS — the CP 575 if you applied by post or fax, or the PDF the online application generates. Save it somewhere permanent; the IRS won't reissue the original, only a confirmation letter.

Your formation document as the state returned it — articles of organization, certificate of formation, whatever your state calls it, with the state's stamp or seal on it. A copy of what you submitted isn't the same thing.

The operating agreement, particularly with more than one member, because it tells the bank who's authorised to act for the company.

Government photo ID for every person who'll be a signer, and often proof of address alongside it.

The ownership question, and why it isn't nosiness

Every US bank has to identify the people behind the entities it banks. In practice that means collecting name, address, date of birth and an identification number for each individual owning 25% or more, plus one person with significant control over the company.

So bring those details for co-owners who won't be signing on the account and may never visit the branch. Turning up without them is one of the more common reasons an appointment turns into a second appointment.

What actually goes wrong

A name mismatch. The EIN letter says Bright Street Bakery L.L.C. and the state says Bright Street Bakery LLC, and the bank's system won't accept the pair. Compare the two documents the day the EIN arrives; correcting the IRS record is straightforward and slow, and doing it before you're sitting in a branch is much better than after.

Missing signers. Plenty of banks want everyone who'll be on the account present at opening.

A good standing problem. If you're forming and banking months apart and an annual report has come and gone, a bank pulling your status may find you delinquent.

For non-resident owners, this is where the process genuinely gets harder — bank policies on owners without an SSN or a US address vary enormously between institutions. That's worth asking a specific bank before assuming, because the EIN alone doesn't settle it.

Why this matters more than it looks

The account isn't administrative tidiness. It's the primary evidence that your LLC is a real, separate thing from you.

When someone argues that a single-member LLC is just its owner with paperwork — the argument for piercing the veil and coming after you personally — the answer is a separate bank account, an operating agreement, and filed annual reports. An LLC whose money runs through a personal current account has effectively surrendered that argument in advance.

So the rule is boring and absolute: every dollar of business income and expense through the business account, pay yourself by transfer, and never buy personal things on the business card because it's convenient.

Choosing one

Look at monthly fees and what waives them, transaction and cash deposit limits if you handle either in volume, whether it integrates with your accounting software, and how easily you can add a card for someone else.

Online-only banks are usually cheaper and faster to open. A branch relationship still matters if you deposit cash regularly or expect to want credit from the same institution later.

Open a business savings account at the same time and route your tax reserve into it automatically. It's the single habit that makes quarterly estimates uneventful.

Common questions