Sole trader business account and accounting software options.

[davetza]

I’m in the process of helping my wife get setup as a sole trader for a very small business she is running. Currently considering getting her a RBS business account mainly to take advantage of the free FreeAgent offer. Are there any options I should be considering. I already use FreeAgent for my Ltd so am familiar with it.

[courtg9000]

Probably FreeAgent or Xero.
Might be worth a chat with your accountants though.

[davetza]

A bit more research shows Mettle might be a better options than RBS.

[mikedefieslife]

I think FreeAgent for the win, but if you already have an accountant check that they work with FreeAgent, as some may be more familiar Xero. Both are much of a muchness, though at the time I was looking Xero couldn't file SA returns, plus FreeAgent was a British company, so that was nice. RBS own it now though hence the free subscriptions.

Joining Mettle and making two transactions a month will get you a FreeAgent subscription for free. Mettle isn't without its caveats though (talked about in an overview in the link below), but if you don't need to pay in cash often, or cheques, or deal with international payments, it should be fine. https://moneysavinganswers.com/busin...tle_by_Natwest

I previously had a FreeAgent subscription of around £140 a year, so it was a no-brainer to open a Mettle account just for the free subscription and use it as a backup.

If she ever expects to get a cheque though, then RBS would be better especially as cheques can be paid in via the app. Massive time-saver.

[d000hg]

RBS/Natwest only offer free FA to business account holders, does a sole-trader definitely qualify (I assume probably yes?) If they do I don't really see the benefit of Mettle or these other trendy new app-banks unless there are other extras thrown in?

FA seems the really obvious choice especially if one of you is familiar with it. Xero isn't really ideal for a one-person ST setup where they aren't familiar with such things (we recently switched our B&M business from FA to Xero), as it's more complicated and fully featured, aimed at larger businesses.

Other well-known alternatives I haven't used include Quickbooks and SAge (just google FreeAgent Alternatives). Worth pointing out FA costs quite a bit less for ST than Ltd but is still about £15pcm if you don't get it for free.