Opening a business bank account: the document checklist

Opening a business bank account is usually the first thing a new company does after its paperwork arrives, and the first place owners discover that banks have their own checklist, set by federal customer-identification rules, not by the state that formed the company.

Keeping business money separate isn't just bookkeeping hygiene. For LLC and corporation owners, commingling personal and business funds is one of the classic ways courts justify piercing the liability shield.

The standard checklist

Nearly every bank asks for: your EIN with its confirmation document; your formation document (state-stamped articles for an LLC or corporation, a DBA registration for a sole proprietor operating under a trade name); government photo ID for every person on the account; and beneficial-ownership details, name, address, date of birth, and ID for the people who own or control the company, which banks must collect under FinCEN's customer due-diligence rule.

Two more items come up constantly: an operating agreement (banks routinely want it for LLCs, especially multi-member) and an account-opening resolution, a short document naming who is authorized to open and run the account. Bring an opening deposit; minimums vary by bank and account type.

Why banks are this strict

It isn't the bank being difficult, federal know-your-customer rules make the bank legally responsible for verifying who is behind every business account. That's why a missing document usually means a second trip rather than a friendly exception.

Make it one trip

Call the branch before you go and ask exactly what they need from a new business of your type, five minutes that regularly saves a week. Every bank sets its own requirements, so the call is worth making even when you think you have everything.